Values in Preamble have roots in dharma, says Supreme Court judge

The fundamental values in the Preamble of the Constitution — justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity — have been derived from dharma and not the French Revolution, said Supreme Court Justice N. Kotiswar Singh, at the 10th anniversary event of the School of Law, VELS Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies (VISTAS), in Pallavaram, on Saturday.

Mr. Singh said, “When we drafted the Constitution, did we borrow these expressions [fundamental values] from the French Constitution, history, revolution?… Many people think that, yes, we did so. But I say, without any hesitation, we did not borrow… Justice is based on Indian tradition, concept, philosophy — based on dharma. Dharma is not religion, not puja in temple, it is a way of leading a righteous life.” He added that, in Tirukkural, it is said that justice is good only when it acts impartially regardless of class, a 1,000-year-old idea of equality. He also recalled that Hindu kings allowed Jews to build synagogues, Parsis found refuge in India during the Arab occupation of Persia, and Muslims had settled on the Malabar Coast before the Mughals, which indicates fraternity and liberty prevailed for many years in the country. He mentioned that the Keeladi study altered the perspective that the Harappan civilisation was the oldest.

In his presidential address, Chancellor of VELS University Ishari K. Ganesh said the School of Law began with 90 students in 2015, and now had more than 2,000 graduates registered as advocates.

Supreme Court Justice R. Mahadevan said artificial intelligence, digital forensics, cyber law, online dispute resolution, and technology-driven contracts will rule the country in the coming decades.

Chief Justice of Madras High Court Manindra Mohan Srivastava spoke on the vital role of the Rule of Law, and the transformative power of legal education.

The welcome address was rendered by Preetha Ganesh, Vice-President, VELS Group of Institutions. The ceremony was attended by Justice M. Nirmal Kumar, Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan, Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy, and Justice R. Kalaimathi, Vice Chairman of the Bar Council of India S. Prabhakaran, Chairman of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry M.S. Amalraj, and former Member of the Law Commission of India S. Sivakumar. Prizes were given to students who won the inter-college moot court competitions.