Ghatia Chandrachud said that when the road ahead is complicated, the basic structure of the Indian Constitution has been a guide and a sure direction to its interpreters and implementers.
The Chief Justice’s remarks came in the backdrop of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar’s remarks questioning the landmark 1973 judgment in the Kesavananda Bharti case.
Dhankhar had said that the judgment had made a bad leeway and that if a law questions the power of Parliament to amend the Constitution, it would be difficult to say “we are a democratic nation”.
Delivering the Nani Ek Palkiwala Memorial Lecture here, the Chief Justice said that the craft of a judge lies in interpreting the text of the Constitution while keeping the spirit of the Constitution in letter and spirit.
He said there has been a significant change in India’s legal landscape in recent decades in favor of “de-throning regulations, promoting consumer welfare and favoring commercial services”.
He said, “The basic structure of our Constitution guides like a pole star and gives a definite direction to the interpreters and implementers of the Constitution at a time when the road ahead is smooth. The basic structure or philosophy of our constitution is based on the supremacy of the constitution, rule of law, shutter review of powers, jerkiness, federalism, liberty and dignity of individual and unity and integrity of the nation.
The Chief Justice said that the emerging global economy has erased national boundaries and companies are no longer coming across borders.
He said that the constitution allows the government to change and evolve its legal and economic changes to complete social dominance.
He said, “We have come a long way from the time when you had to wait a decade to make a necessary preparation and sometimes even longer to get your car. We have come a long way from the time of control of capital issues. From time to time we need people like Nani (Palkiwala) to hold torch in their hands to light up the world around us. Nani told us that our constitution has a certain identity which cannot be changed.
Talking about Palkiwala and his many prominent cases, the Chief Justice said that he was at the forefront of preserving the core identity and principles enshrined in the Constitution.
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(This news has not been edited by ANDITV team. It is published directly from the syndicate.)
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