In a landmark academic engagement underscoring the deepening on Constitution as an evolving document, Justice B.R. Gavai, Chief Justice of India, and Justice Vikram Nath, Judge of the Supreme Court of India, addressed a distinguished gathering at the University of Edinburgh School of Law on the ever-evolving nature of the Indian Constitution and its pivotal role in safeguarding individual rights in a democratic setup.
Keynote by Chief Justice of India
Opening the session with his keynote on “The Constitution as an Evolving Document”, Justice Gavai departed from a scripted address, opting for a more engaging interaction with the audience. He began by stating:
“Though I have prepared a speech, I would not read them and like to interact with you.”
Justice Gavai offered a rich historical overview of the Constitution’s framing, acknowledging the immense contributions of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and other founding members of the Constituent Assembly. Speaking on the delicate balance between rigidity and flexibility in the amending powers of the Constitution, he cited Dr. Ambedkar’s speech from November 25, 1949:
“The Constitution is a living document. We can’t bind the future generations to stick up to the Constitution that we are adopting today, and the future generations should have an opportunity to amend the Constitution, so as to adapt to the societal economic changes that the future generations would come across.”
Drawing on landmark constitutional developments, he traced the legal journey through Shankari Prasad Singh Deo v. Union of India, 1951 SCC 966 , Sajjan Singh v. State of Rajasthan, 1964 SCC OnLine SC 25, Golak Nath v. State of Punjab, 1967 SCC OnLine SC 14 , and the historic Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, (1973) 4 SCC 225, emphasising how judicial interpretations and parliamentary responses have collectively shaped the document’s evolution:
“The Indian Constitution has been a living, organic, evolving document—adapting itself to the changes as demanded by the circumstances.”
Justice Gavai further highlighted significant amendments that have transformed the Indian legal and social fabric:
- First Amendment (1951): Introduced to enable reservations and limit misuse of Article 19.
- 42nd and 44th Amendments: Introduced and recalibrated emergency powers and strengthened the judiciary’s role.
- 73rd and 74th Amendments: Empowered Panchayati Raj and municipal institutions.
- 86th Amendment: Recognized the Right to Education as a fundamental right.
- 93rd and 103rd Amendments: Enabled reservation for OBCs in private institutions and EWS reservations.
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106th Amendment: Reserved one-third of seats for women in legislatures—awaiting implementation post-delimitation.
He concluded:
“In the last 75 years of the working of the Constitution… Parliament has risen to the occasion and provided answers by way of amendments to meet the challenges of new generations. The Constitution continues to reflect the will of the people and adapts to the changing needs of society.”
Address by Justice Vikram Nath:
“A state gains only as much legitimacy as the rights it seeks to protect.”
In a profound and deeply reflective address titled “The Role of the Constitution in Protecting Individual Rights”, Justice Vikram Nath explored the moral and constitutional foundations of individual liberty.
Drawing a comparative perspective, he invoked the Magna Carta and the principle of Rule of Law, stating:
“When we talk about the UK and Indian constitutions, despite the difference in the basic character of the two constitutions, one being an undocumented one, while the other is known as the Indian constitution, a core feature remains to be the dynamic nature of both these constitutions which constantly evolve themselves to better suit the needs of the society and protect the individual’s rights.”
Justice Nath emphasised the significance of the “Golden Triangle” of Indian constitutional law—Articles 14, 19, and 21—describing them as:
“The holy trinity for protection of basic rights in the country… An integrated reading of these three provisions tends to bank upon their interdependability to broaden and strengthen their overall scope.”
Citing the landmark case of Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, he remarked:
“Article 21 includes the right to live with human dignity based on the reasoning that the nature of man as a free agent necessarily involves free movement on his part. Such an expansion of fundamental rights is certainly possible only when the provisions allow for such flexibility and the judges on the dais exhibit the willingness to extend a bigger canvas of civil liberties to its victims. The theory of emanation has often been used by the Indian judiciary to extend the scope of constitutional rights.”
Justice Nath also referenced the theory of emanation, privacy as a fundamental right, prisoner rights, and landmark cases like Sheela Barse, Vijay Basu, and NALSA v. Union of India, noting:
“The theory of emanation, judicial activism, and the zeal to protect basic rights have been constantly employed to broaden the horizons of rights under the Constitution.”
He concluded by calling the Indian Constitution:
“A beautiful mosaic of individual and social rights. It strives to protect and work in the best interest of its citizens every day so as to create a nation where each individual has ample safeguards.”
The session was followed by a keynote addresses, a lively moderated discussion led by Dr. Devail Desai, where the Judges responded to questions on gender representation in the judiciary, AI and legal innovation, legal education reforms, and their own journeys through the legal profession.
Tanvi Dubey, Advocate-on-Record, Supreme Court of India, delivered the closing remarks.
