The Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on “November 26”, 1949. Thirty years after, under the leadership of Dr. L. M. Singhvi, the Supreme Court Bar Association declared November 26^th as the National Law Day. Thereafter, every year, this day is celebrated as the Law Day, all over India, especially by members of the legal fraternity. This day is celebrated to honour the 207 eminent members of the Constituent Assembly who are considered the founding fathers of the Constitution of India.

Shri M. N. Krishnamani, President, Supreme Court Bar Association, on a Law Day address said that the main objective of celebrating Law Day is, “We want to be a coherent democracy governed by the rule of law. In fact, true democracy and the rule of law always go together. It is the rule of law which guards the democratic polity. Therefore, the real purpose of celebrating Law Day is to rededicate ourselves to the following cardinal principles which formed the solid foundation on which this grand constitutional edifice is erected: (i) the rule of law, (ii) independence of the Judiciary, and (iii) the independence of legal profession. These three principles are intimately interconnected. The main purpose of independent judiciary and an independent bar is only to ensure that there is the rule of law.”

Law Day is an important day for the members of legal profession in India and also for the people of India. Lawyers and the Indian judiciary have time and again been the last resort of protecting rights and liberties of individuals. It is a special day we all should celebrate and recognize those who have played active role in upholding the rule of law and protected our rights and liberties.   

On this day we would like to recognize two legal luminaries who have played an important role in promoting the spirit of our Constitution through their judgments, Justice B. Sudershan Reddy and Justice G. S. Singhvi. While the former retired recently on July 7, 2011, the latter continues to serve  and is scheduled to retire on December 12, 2013. The Indian Supreme Court recently pronounced some path breaking decisions. It is interesting to note that at least one of the two above mentioned judges have been a part of the bench which has delivered such eye-opening judgments.

In Ram Jethmalani & Ors vs. Union of India & Ors, Justice Reddy criticised the Union government, strongly, for loosening its strings when it came to investigation of black money related cases and asked the government to tighten its grip over perpetrators of such crimes. He reiterated his point by constituting a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to monitor the investigation and the steps being taken to bring back black money stashed away in foreign banks. Also, Pune-based businessman Hasan Ali Khan’s bail plea was stayed and he was made available for custodial interrogation only because of the earlier directions issued by Justice Reddy (pictured).

In the Salwa Judum case, Justice Reddy came down heavily on the Chattisgarh government and the Centre for appointing tribals as Special Police Officers (SPOs) and training them to counter Maoists and held the action to be “unconstitutional” by highlighting the importance of human rights.

In 2008, he was also a part of the bench which laid down the guidelines for dealing with Public Interest Litigation, based on which the government is, presently considering a Bill. He reiterated that the High Court judges could not order suo motu investigation merely by treating anonymous letters and petitions listing allegations against individuals or institutions as PILs.

The fight for relevance of PILs has gained momentum again this year, due to Justice Singhvi’s judgment in Delhi Jal Board Appellant v/s National Campaign for Dignity and Rights of Sewerage and Allied Workers & others. The bench, in the above mentioned case, stated that it would be denial of justice if the courts denied addressing the genuine petitions filed by individuals, social workers and NGOs. The Court reminded that it is the duty of the judicial constituents of the State like its political and executive constituents to protect the rights of every citizen and every individual and ensure that everyone is able to live with dignity.

While dealing with Justice Dinakaran’s petition, the Apex Court, comprising of a bench of which Justice Singhvi was a part of, refused to be bogged down by the delay tactics used by Justice Dinakaran. It ruled that former Sikkim High Court Chief Justice, Justice Dinakaran’s known silence with regard to P. P. Rao’s appointment to the Rajya Sabha Committee for a period of almost ten months, militates against the bona fides of his objection to the appointment of P. P. Rao as member of the Committee. As a result of this decision Justice Dinakaran had to resign to save his face from an impeachment proceeding.

Further, it was Justice Singhvi’s(pictured) order in the 2G case which asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct investigation without being influenced by politicians or other influential persons, which finally led to the numerous charges, arrests and trials against the elite class of influential people who were involved in the scam. If not for his order, trial of this scam may have gone on for years without any ultimate result due to overreaching hands of corruption. This shows that Justice Singhvi is unperturbed by who is the government in the Centre and believes in only doing his job and upholding the values and goals of our Constitution.

While hearing a public suit by the All India Drug Action Network of several NGOs which challenged the government’s proposed policy on drug pricing, a bench comprising of Justice Singhvi and Justice S. J. Mukhopadhaya communicated to the central government that the prices of medicine should not shoot up further as the prices of medicine and ordinary lab tests were already too high.

On last Wednesday, a division bench of the Supreme Court, comprising of Justices Singhvi and H. L. Dattu granted bail to seven corporate accused in the 2G scam case, who had been in jail even after the charge sheet was filed and the investigation was complete. Justice Singhvi has played a balanced role here. This decision brings an end to the present trend of keeping under-trials in custody for prolonged period of time without any rational justification. While his initial order in the 2G scam paved way for the arrests and a proper investigation, the present order upheld the rights of the accused envisaged under our Constitution and other laws.

The aforementioned judgments of Justice Reddy and Justice Singhvi evidence the fact that the sacrosanct principles which have been envisaged in our diverse and elaborate Constitution by our founders are in the hands of sound judges. Their judgments have acted as eye-openers for not only the state and central government but also for the citizens of India. In an era, where the Judiciary is embroiled in controversies, these two eminent judges have continuously delivered such judgments which have upheld the values imbibed in the Constitution. On this special day, we salute you.

On this occasion, Bar & Bench spoke to members of the legal fraternity on what this day means to them and how do they plan to celebrate.

Lalit Bhasin, Vice President, The Bar Association of India and President, Society of Indian Law Firms in his Law Day message said, "Someone has said that among a people generally corrupt, liberty cannot long exist - let this Law Day be the beginning of a change of our own mind-set to eradicate corruption from justice delivery system."

Dr. Lakshmi Nath (pictured right), Vice-Chancellor of Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), Patna said, “26^th November has its own importance because it is the day on which the Constitution really started functioning. Unless temporal transitory provisions take place effectively, you cannot celebrate 26^th January. This is the reason why, during ‘78 &’ 79, Dr. L. M. Singhvi, (Chairman of Supreme Court Bar Association in 1979) realized the significance of Law Day.” When asked how Dr. Nath plans to celebrate Law Day, he said, “as exams are going on, only a small formal function which may consist of programmes depicting the continuing role of law and whether there is achievement in the particular development of society will be organized at CNLU.”

Apar Gupta, Partner at Advani and Co. said, “I have always seen Law Day as a date on which lawyers look towards the foundation of law, the path of its development and the future of it. Over the last few years we have witnessed allegations of corruption and deterioration of professional standards in the legal sector which have dented public confidence. To me this is to a large part due to a perception that lawyers are insular and do not engage beyond their own community. Here, it becomes important for us to involve people outside the confines of the legal profession and act as active stakeholders in the legal process. I think one small way this is being achieved is through improved access to information. Websites such as Bar & Bench are providing valuable and authentic information on significant legal developments and spurring public debate. To me such improved transparency as well an opportunity to voice an opinion is having positive effects on how lawyers function and approach law.”

Dr. M. P. Raju, Advocate, Supreme Court of India, who is also the chief architect of the movement called Constitutional Cause (Samvidhani Andolan), a movement to propagate the ideals and values of the Indian Constitution, said, “Law Day’s significance lies in the fact that on this day the drafting of the Constitution was completed by the Constituent Assembly after 2 years, 11 months and 17 days; even though it was enacted only on 26^th January 1950. Previously it was called the Constitution day but presently it is known as Law Day. Supreme Court celebrates this day where there is a celebration meeting which is presided by the law minister and attended by other eminent legal luminaries. Constitutionalism is considered to be a part of rule of law and hence from that point of view there is no harm in calling it the Law Day instead of the Constitution day.” He emphasised that this day should be used to spread the message that the Constitution does not only entail a legal document but also the cultures and morals of our civilisation. Celebrating the Law Day is not only respecting the freedom, integrity and the sovereignty of the country but also the tradition that the Constitution has followed ever since its enactment and for him celebration of this day will be celebration of the great values that are imbibed into him. Dr. Raju goes on to say, “there is no other day greater than this day for me or for any other Indian. This year my colleagues and I have picked up the subject called democratic socialism, which is going to focus on the future of the values and morals of the Constitution and on this day we plan to work on it. Also, in recent times people are questioning the relevance of socialism or the socialist character of the Constitution and also the recent developments in the international arena have proven to be anti-socialist, and hence it is all the more reason to revisit the values and cultures that we are holding on this Law Day.”

Dr. Shashikala Gurpur, Director, Symbiosis Law School, Pune said, “Symbiosis Law School has a tradition of celebrating ‘Law Day’ since 1984, in the line of US practice. It was conceived by the trio of Adv. B. R. Ranade, Adv. Ram Jethmalani and Founder Chacellor Padmashri Dr. S. B. Mujumdar. On that day, legal community with representation from students, teachers, advocates, judges and public take oath. Adv. Ram Jethmalani administers the oath whereby attendees pledge themselves to uphold the Constitution, democracy, to stomp out corruption and terrorism. In the present times, the legal system should be made more responsive and sensitive to local needs, beyond the colonial legacy. We need to identify, supplement or substitute ‘other’ ways of justice and rule-compliance. Democracy and Human Rights should begin at home (like the cliché, charity begins at home) and pervade our public institutions.”

Madhu S., Team Lead, Centre for Public Policy Research said, “the current Law Day assumes significance for the efforts taken by the government to bring in reforms to a sector which was alien to changes. Some of the policy level initiatives like Right to Information and Data sharing including efforts taken to reinvent the law through 'Restatement of law' is a source of encouragement for the people and the civil society. From the perspective of a policy think tank, this can be done in a threefold process. Firstly, by simplifying law and spreading legal awareness among the common masses. The current Law Day is an opportunity for the judiciary to reach out to the people to assist them in understanding the legal system. Concept of open courts should be encouraged, mock courts done in public spaces, legal training classes should be done to reach out to masses. Public consultations shall make sense when people are aware of their rights and contribute to the law making process. Secondly, the law day shall be the opportune time to think about creating a team of ‘Legal Entrepreneurs’ who take in issues that affect the common people and highlight the laws that make their life difficult to live through advocacy campaigns and other direct interventions pushing for reforms. Help and encourage legal entrepreneurs who ‘make law work for people’. And lastly, an interdisciplinary learning should be encouraged by allowing thoughts from other areas through subject experts like engineering, sociology and political science can help in the process of law making. While interpretation of law should be left to the courts and the lawyers, allowing non-lawyer entities to work in law related topics can go a long way in improving the law making process of the country. It would be apt to describe the current scenario as the quest for 'common' law for the common people.”

Ashish Kumar, Legal Associate at Clutch Group Legal Solutions said, “India is a safe destination for ethical and sensitive aspects of the legal outsourcing business, and thus, endorses the overall pragmatic shift in the global legal services delivery, which in turn adds on another field of opportunity, and on this Law Day we must celebrate the transformation of Indian lawyers into global lawyers”.

“The Constitution of India is the largest and the lengthiest constitution in the world with originally 395 articles and 12 schedules. The Constituent Assembly was believed to be the representation of the will of the people. The words ‘We the people’ signifies that it was a document given by the people, to the people and for the people. November 26^th reminds us of the values, the duties and the rights we bear under this unique document, the Constitution of India,” said Ananthu B. (pictured right), a student from National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS), Cochin.

Anjali N., student at ILS Law College, Pune said, “Celebration of Law Day is in fact a tribute to the fountain head of our democracy, the Constitution and its makers. All legal education institutions across the country should take care to see that this day is celebrated in a way that the significance of this day reaches out to all prospective lawyers. For us students, Law Day is a reminder of the role of Constitution in national integration and survival of our infant democracy during testing times like the emergency period. It is also a sad fact that only the legal fraternity realizes the importance of this day - this should change and Law Day should be given the importance it deserves. For this to come, basics of Law should be taught at school level itself.”

We wish all our readers a very happy Law Day!

Law Day special report compiled by Raghul Sudheesh, Associate Editor, Bar & Bench.