Delivered Extempore
ADDRESS BY SHRI K.R. NARAYANAN, VICE PRESIDENT OF INDIA, AT THE BOOK RELEASE OF JUSTICE P.N. BHAGWATI
JANUARY 24, 1995
Hon'ble Chief Justice of India, Shri Ahmadi, Hon'ble Justice Ranganath Mishra, Hon'ble Justice P.N. Bhagwati, Prof. Mool Chand Sharma, distinguished guests,
It was a matter of very great honour to me to have released this very significant, scholarly book on Justice Bhagwati. It is really that the book is written entirely about the work and philosophy of a single individual judge, particularly in this country. Therefore, it is a historic occasion, historic in the history of Indian Judiciary. Bieng a non‑legal person, not illegal, gone through the book in a fragmentary way and first of all, may I say, I was impressed with the depth of understanding of the legal constitutional work of Justice Bhagwati that has gone into this book. I have known Justice Bhagwati as a layman for many years. What has impressed me about him was always his earnestness, his enthusiasm and his arid interest in knowledge and of course above all his deep sympathy with an interest in the subject of social justice.
Law and social Justice are not always in their relationship. I recall a trend, going to an American lawyer with a case, and the lawyer having studied the case told you that you have a very good case but tell me how much justice you can afford. So it is not peculiar of our society that law is beyond the reach of most ordinary people. Apart from this , from the days of Shakespeare the delay law delayed is well known as one of the ills uplifting human.
With all these problems of Justice to the poor who cannot afford the processes of legal justice and cutting short the delays in dispensing in these areas justice Bhagwati has made contributions to our system it will always be remembered. From the book one finds that he has a passionate interest in dispensing justice to people who cannot afford it. He has, as has been pointed out, played a very significant role in making Lok Adalat popular, widely accepted system in our country. But for this I think, innumerable cases, innumerable grievances of our ordinary people would have gone unnoticed and unrectified.
I think one of the most important contributions of Justice Bhagwati to our society is in popularising this system of Lok Adalakat because it depends on the interests and the initiative of the court, particular judges to make the ssytem work on a wide scale. For this I think the contribution to constitutional law that Justice Bhagwati has made is of very great historical importance. He believed in the theory that judges make laws make policies, or make governments in adopting policies. Long ago booked by Amercan judge, I remember the name of judge even today that in every case is judge is making law. There is a law application to every case, may be emanating from his own philosophy and attitude to life, his own prejudices are reflected in judging a particular case and that he is always making new laws whenever he passes a judgement in a particular case. I think, Justice Bhagwati has said this.
In his various announcements that the law making power is inherent in every judge's action when he announces a judgement. I think justice so and so put it that law is secreted in the intestines of procedures and not only procedure in respect of every case a judge's mind functions orginally from the background of his own outlook on life, is own philosophies and his own preferences and prejudices. Therefore, it is most important for the judicial system as well as for society as a whole to have judges particularly in developing countries like ours who have a social conscience and conscience of social application.
We are lucky that the Chief Justice of India has spelt this out clearly and boldly that the approcah of social justice is the major requirement in dispensing with justice in a country like ours. It may be anywhere but we need it more than other countries because of their immensity of poor people, people with innumerable grievances and innumerable deprivations. In the realm of even rights, I think, Justice Bhagwati has made a very major contributionf. His judgements on under trial prisoners and on women prisoners have really transformed our approach to under trials and women's who have been put in jails.
Today, probably it is a much more acute problem than it was when Justice Bhagwati announced the judgement. Though, I think his judgements have already a very healthy impact on this very atrocious phenomenon in our society where under trials could be in prison for long time, long periods without being judged and suffering innumerable diseases. Case is same with women in jail and I think judgements and I think in regard to a case which came up in Bihar who held the trial really as a result of that over 5,000 under trial prisoners have been released as a result of the single judgement.
So also in Maharashtra, the case of women prisoners and the various committees which imposed on how women in jails should be cared for a treated. These are very common faults lbecause we know that these problems are even today with us not in a very acute form. Human rights has become very important, almost a very fashionable, subject all over the world and in societies. The columnists like ours in which conditions are not as favourable as elsewhere for observance of the ideal state for human rights, people often forgtet that it was not very long ago9 that there were different sets of laws on application of laws for different sections of the people in the developed countries of the world or in relation with between developed and developing countries of the world. It has been said that when the Peking was burnt by the colonial powers of that time that was not supposed to be a law in the context of the Asian conditions.
What you do in London is one standard and what you in Asiatic or african country is judged under elegant standard. These are all only not very ancient experiences of history. Therefore, when one thinks of about human rights one has to think on some of the compulsions some of the specific conditions and requirements of society like that of ours. But that is no rescues for not avoiding the maximum safeguards in law as well as in practice for the observance of human rights in any country. I recall that one of the most piercing memories I have is that when I was a student studying law at night for examination and my hostel in Trivandram was opposite a major jail and between about 12.00 'O clock at night any day inavariable I used to hear a piercing cry from the jail.
That has remained in my memories as a very painful experience and therefore the treatment of people, prisoners in jail is one of the aspects of human rights for which there can be no different in terms of economic stage of development of the country or the social conditions of a country. No state can build under development or any specifric conditions for treating prisoners in this way in any penable, in the world. This certainly one of the clearest cases where the human rights ought to be asserted irrespective of the system irrespective of the stage of development of a country. Justice Bhagwati has dwelt on various cases and other aspects of human rights.
I think one of the important thing whicfh Justice Bhagwati has emphasised and accomplished and made us aware of through his great judgements is a fact that the judges make laws make policies and they are not just implementing blindingly the laws laid down by legislatures. His judgement on article 21 of the due process of law for procedure established by law I think is a very great historical judgement.
We know that our constitution makers changed the American due process of law to procedure established by law in order to escape some of the fundamental problems the United States face in relation to the judiciary. I think in this case by interpreting the procedure established by law in our constitution almost essentially in accordance with the due position of the United States Supreme Court, Justice Bhagwati it seems in my common sense, if you probably without being the intention of the constitution makers themselves in that way made very basic policy or made basic law which I do not know was not probably intended by the constitution makers.
But certainly it was one of the most revolutionary, one of the most liberal interpretations of our constituion which has brought the idea of natural justice where the procedure has to be judged on top and it cannot be an arbitrary and thus restored the pristine meaning of the due process of law into our constitution. So whether it is in constitution making or whether it is in the social justice approach to law or whether it is in shortages the period for the dispensation of law or in making it possible for ordinary people to get the remedy of law in all these vital fields, Justice Bhagwati has made contributions which are originally benefically and which will always be remembered by us. May I conclude by saying that it was a great talk a great pleasure for me to have had the privilege of releasing this very scholarly book on one of our Judges.
Thank you
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