Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjeev Khanna on Tuesday, while terming the Constitution as a tribute to the country’s rich heritage and future commitments. said that India has emerged as a self-assured nation because of its robust Constitution.
Speaking at the Constitution Day celebrations organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), the CJI said that after independence, the country went through a transformative journey.
From a nation facing the aftermaths of the horror of partition, widespread illiteracy, poverty, hunger, and lack of a robust democratic system, resulting in self-doubts, India has today emerged as a mature & vibrant democracy, and a geopolitical leader, on the back of the Constitution, which helped it in this transformation, he added.
The CJI further said the Constitution was a way of life, which had to be lived up to.
Noting that his tenure as a member of the Bar (22 years) was certainly longer than his tenure as a judge, the CJI said that judges came from the Bar and went back to the Bar. They belonged to the Bar. The better the Bar, the better the judges.
He further said that he has seen the problems faced by the members of the Bar, adding that the Bar was as much a part of the judiciary as the judges.
The Constitution Day, also known as Samvidhan Divas, is celebrated in India on November 26 every year. The day commemorates the adoption of the Indian Constitution in 1949.
In 2015, India officially declared the annual observance to honour the values of justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity enshrined in the Constitution.