CJI Justice Chandrachud said that the Constitution of India is a wonderful indigenous creation with self-governance, dignity, freedom and independence. Many have interpreted the Constitution in admirable terms and suggested that if the values of the Constitution are applied to professional life, failure will not come. Speaking at the first graduation ceremony of Maharashtra National Law University in Nagpur on Saturday, he said many important things regarding the Constitution of India.
The colonists did not give
Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said that India’s colonialists did not give us a constitution, but it was drafted by people who understood the country’s situation. The Chief Justice said that the Constitution has made tremendous progress but there is still a lot of work to be done and the deep inequalities of the past still remain and we need to address them.
The young students and law graduates pointed out that silence cannot solve the problem and it is imperative to discuss it and talk about it. Young lawyers fearlessly agitate for change and want to achieve the goal of justice. Everyone should uphold the values of Indian Constitution. He said that we should not forget that the Constitution has given us the responsibility to bring social, political and economic justice and we should speak for our rights. He questioned whether it would be wrong to be guided by constitutional values. The CJI said that the inequality rooted in the past is still there today.
Citing his judgment decriminalizing homosexuality, he pointed out that we have achieved a lot, but much more needs to be done to eliminate all forms of discrimination and archaic practices in contemporary society. Exhorting the law graduates to consider the Constitution as a guide in their personal and professional life, he said that they should strive to achieve the lofty goals set by the founding fathers.
Justice Chandrachud said lawyers should differentiate between justice and charity. “We can erase someone’s pain for a moment by being charitable. But by doing this.. we lose the right to give him justice. So.. our struggle is not just charity, he said, we should see that justice is done.
Also referring to the preamble of the constitution, he said that the preamble is a small part of the constitution, but it is a weighty part. It says “We the people of India give ourselves this Constitution”. It is very important because it marks the transition from the status of people of India to that of citizens. The colonialists commented that the constitution was not given to us as a gift, our constitution is an indigenous product of self-governance, dignity and freedoms.
In the context of the emergence of the Constitution.. it was nothing great. He said that the Constitution has taken long steps towards creating a more just and democratic society. But there is a lot of work to be done. He said that the inequality rooted in our society after independence is still there today, and to overcome this, there is a need to bring awareness about the Constitution in our society.
Dr. Speaking about the problems Bhimrao Ambedkar faced (in society), Justice Chandrachud said that the people of India are eternally indebted to him. Former CJI Sharad Babde, sitting SC judge Bhushan Gavai, Acting CJ of Bombay High Court Sanjay GA Gapoorwala, VC Vijayender Kumar and many legal luminaries participated in this program.
