Social democracy key to political democracy: SC judge Vijay Bishnoi

New Delhi, Dec 26 (PTI) Supreme Court judge Vijay Bishnoi on Friday underlined B R Ambedkar's statement that social democracy is the key to establishing political democracy and said that it is very important that efforts are made to maintain it in the country.

Justice Bishnoi, who was speaking at the 17th National Conference of Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad, on a talk on '75 years of Indian Constitution, Social Harmony', also termed linguistic regionalism dangerous for the country, and urged lawyers to ensure that such tendencies are curbed.

In his speech in Hindi, Justice Bishnoi said, "... it is our duty to ensure social democracy prevails in the country. The way attempts are being made to disturb our social harmony and weaken our country, it is our duty to ensure that continuous efforts are made to stop them." The top court judge asserted that the Indian Constitution was framed and implemented after continuous and thorough discussions, while the country was on the boil with communal violence.

"When the Constitution was first drafted, there was communal tension in the country. So the need was felt to design a framework which guides everyone in the country. Every provision and section was thoroughly discussed and debated by the experts of that time," Justice Bishnoi said.

Referring to the debate on the division of people based on their language, he said that the concept is very dangerous for the country and should be tackled with awareness.

"The concept of dividing people and states on the basis of language is very dangerous. What will happen if people of Rajasthan say that only Rajasthanis could live in the state, if similar things happen in Maharashtra and Kerala? Is it good? This is very dangerous for our country. We should become aware of that," he said.

"It is our duty to ensure that such threats can be countered with continuous efforts. It is important for our country to recognise the internal threats to the country which are weakening our country. Efforts are continuously being made by many to disturb our social harmony," he added.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta talked about social harmony and judicial remedy.

"I have a solution for bringing about social harmony. People from all religions rush to courts alleging that their fundamental rights or statutory rights are violated, and the Constitution says that the court will intervene if the constitutional or fundamental rights of any person are violated; it is the duty of the court to do so," he said.

Mehta also stressed that one must impart one's constitutional duties before expecting the court's intervention in violation of fundamental rights.

"If we can connect the fundamental rights in the Constitution or statutory rights with the fundamental duties provided in the Constitution, if any person approaches the court claiming that his fundamental right has been violated, he will have to show the court that he has also discharged his constitutional duties; only then will the court intervene," he said. PTI SKM VN VN