"Institution of judiciary is to protect fundamental rights of citizens and maintain modesty of society": Justice Ujjal Bhuyan in webinar organised by NSS unit of NLUJAA

GUWAHATI: The NSS Unit of NLU Assam organized the 1st Kamrup Dialogue, 2021. The Chief Guest of the event Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, Judge, Bombay High court addressed the webinar  on "Strengthening Democracy in India: Role of Judiciary with special reference to North East India."

His Lordship began the discussion with the idea of the making of the Constitution adopted on 26th January, 1950. The Constitution aims at bringing equality in the society in percolating the idea of integrity of the society. The Preamble captures the essence of democracy and is the source of the Constitution.

In the words of Abraham Lincoln, he emphasized, democracy means, “government by the people, of the people and for the people”. He commented that  the court procedure  is inherently democratic. The role of the constitutional courts in the role of review is not for ‘perfection’ but for ‘protection’. He focused on two important democratic features: Right to Vote and protection of electoral rights.

His Lordship heralded that in a democracy, the participation of citizens has to be continuous in nature in bringing about ‘just democracy’. The presence of limits on constitutional power helps in increasing the accountability of the government. As per His Lordship, the Judiciary is the guardian and protector of the constitution. He stated that the Rule of Law and Democracy of the Nation are connected like the Umbilical Cord.

His Lordship quoted Justice AK Sikri, “Sovereignty of the people and the Substantive Democracy of the People are two normative bases of Justice.”

He reiterated that in the landmark case of Kesavananda Bharati (13 Judge Bench)where the majority held that the basic constitution cannot be changed resulting in the change of its identity. Amendment postulates the existence of the old constitution in presence of the amended constitution with new provisions. He opined that the dynamic of the judiciary should be open to discussion for enhancing the role of independent judiciary.

His Lordship specified the role of Judicial review and any form of alteration or hamper caused to it would be detrimental to the role of independent judiciary. He stipulated that the voters must have a discretion to not to vote any candidate as per their own judgement.

At the end of his speech, His Lordship quotes the words of Dr. Rajendra Prasad , “We have prepared a democratic constitution but the successful working of the constitution depends upon the willingness of the people to work together, capacity to compromise and accommodate the spectrum of opinions.”

The Vice-Chancellor of NLUJA, Prof.(Dr.) V.K. Ahuja, opined about the institutionalized courts and the effectiveness of mediation in resolving conflicts in North-Eastern India. The event was moderated by Mr. Himangshu Ranjan Nath, Assistant Professor of Law, and Program Coordinator, and convened by Mr. Aditya Trivedi and Mr. Pranav Gandhi, NSS student convenor.

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