Nov 25, 2024 07:15 PM IST
On its 75th anniversary, we, the people, must re-dedicate ourselves to attain the ideals the founding document of the Republic stands for
The Constitution of India, adopted in the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949, is the foundational law of the land that provides the essential moorings for the basic structure and principles of governance. It also establishes a framework for an enlightened social contract that lays down the fundamental rights and duties of citizens. The contract also provides a charter for inclusive development on the principle that no one should be left behind and a framework for a rule of law-based polity whose scaffoldings are the principles of equity and fairness. The founding fathers and the founding mothers of our Constitution bequeathed to us an extraordinary document — an embodiment of the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of a nation at the dawn of independence from foreign rule. The 75th anniversary of our Constitution is a fitting occasion to recognise the role played by countless Indians, who considered it their right and moral duty to engage with the Constituent Assembly and present their dreams and opinions about the future of the nation and the form and substance of its governance model through petitions and representations. The Constitution that we revere and hold sacred is as much a product of this engagement of the common people as the learned debates in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan. The words of BR Ambedkar placed the importance and essence of this sacred document in perspective when he remarked that “The Constitution is not a mere lawyer’s document; it is a vehicle of life, reflecting the spirit of the age.”
The decision of the Government of India in 2015 to commemorate November 26 as Samvidhan Diwas (Constitution Day) gave us an opportunity to celebrate and reaffirm our faith and commitment to the universal principles enshrined in our Constitution that assure dignity and well-being of every individual. Parliament joins the nation in celebrating Samvidhan Diwas this year to commemorate the 75th year of the adoption of our Constitution by the Constituent Assembly of India in the very same Central Hall that had stood witness to the momentous event seven-and-a-half decades ago.
Ours is one of world’s most comprehensive constitutions, with 448 articles, 25 chapters, and over 100 amendments. While the framers of our Constitution studied the constitutions of many nations, the fount of inspiration, wisdom, and vision were the people of India themselves — a people who had indomitably nurtured the democratic ethos over millennia, a people who had learnt to respect and cherish diversity — ekaṃ sat viprā bahudhā vadanti. The spirit of accommodation and adjustment has imparted a certain tensile strength to our constitutional fabric. Thus, while very few constitutions in the post-colonial world managed to overcome and survive the disruptive forces unleashed by rapidly changing domestic and global environments, India’s Constitution has only grown stronger in the seven-and-a-half decades since its adoption.
A notable aspect of our Constitution that many consider as key to its continuing relevance in a large, diverse, and fast-changing world is the judicious balance that the framers of the Constitution were able to strike between rigidity and flexibility by ring-fencing those provisions which, in their view, required careful consideration and wider consensus. Members of the Constituent Assembly debated the pros and cons of different positions — the desirability or otherwise, of drafting a constitution that was flexible and easily amended or that which would even require a referendum before any changes could be made in the text. The foresight and formidable drafting skills of Ambedkar deserve credit for the Constitution that we have, where a fine balance has been kept between rigidity and flexibility.
The basic structure doctrine propounded by the Supreme Court in 1973 notwithstanding, the Constitution of India still remains a remarkably flexible document. Significant amendments have been written into our Constitution over the years in response to the ever-changing milieu of a dynamic, rapidly developing nation. Some examples of recent constitutional amendments that have significant bearing on the socioeconomic development of our people include the 103rd Amendment (2019), which introduced a 10% reservation for economically weaker sections in jobs and education; the 104th Amendment (2020) that extended reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; and the ground breaking 106th Amendment Act of 2023, popularly known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Abhiniyam (2023), which guarantees representation to women for one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
Taking a cue from the refreshing modernity that the Constitution exudes, steps have been taken in recent years to repeal colonial-era laws and substitute them with contemporary and more relevant pieces of legislation. The most stark examples were the colonial-era criminal laws of the 19th century — the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Indian Penal Code, and the Indian Evidence Act. Parliament repealed these laws in 2023 and, in their place, enacted three major pieces of basic criminal laws in conformity with modern criminal jurisprudence — the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam. Parliament has consistently made efforts to enact laws that are in step with the times. The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023, the Muslim Women (Protection of Marriage Rights) Bill, 2019; the Consumer Protection Bill, 2019 are good examples, among many, that Parliament enacted to lock-step the nation with impulses of the 21st-century world.
Parliament has always made relentless efforts to fulfill the mandate of the Constitution and the trust reposed in the institution by the nation. Parliament, as an expression of the sovereign will of the people, enjoys a special place in the nation’s constitutional scheme of governance structure. The 18 general elections, the scores of elections to state legislatures, and the hundreds of urban and local body elections — and the enthusiastic participation of citizens in each of these elections in the last seven decades are a ringing endorsement of ideals and principles that the Constitution of India has stood for and defended, and the system of governance that it has incubated. As we celebrate the 75th anniversary of our Constitution, let us once again re-dedicate ourselves to the attainment of the lofty ideals that the Constitution stands for.
Om Birla is Speaker, Lok Sabha. The views expressed are personal
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