In politics, it is in the form of money power and dynasties. In the social sector, untouchability still exists in some parts of the nation and women are yet to get level playing field in all spheres of life," he said.
Amid debate over dynastic politics, Supreme Court judge Jasti Chelameswar said on Saturday that money power and dynastic system "negate political justice" contemplated by the framers of our Constitution. "Injustice and discrimination do exist in one or the other facet of the society. In politics, it is in the form of money power and dynasties. In the social sector, untouchability still exists in some parts of the nation and women are yet to get level playing field in all spheres of life," he said.
Justice Chelameswar was giving a lecture on "The Preamble Pledge of the Constitution Social, Economic, and Political Justice, are they out of order" organised as a part of the PD Desai Memorial Lecture. Speaking on injustice in politics, Chelameswar said, "Money power determines who gets elected to the Legislative Assembly, and then there is the age-old problem of dynasties, hierarchy syndrome and seniority rule. If a person gets elected as an MLA, his/her family members start getting slotted in one post or the other."
"Coming to equality and justice in the political sphere, while the elementary step is achieved — we have abolished monarchy and rules of primogeniture — how far we have secured political justice in the sense that all people of the country can aspire to effectively participate in the democratic electoral process?" Justice Chelameswar said.
"(The framers of the Constitution) realised, from the knowledge and history of this country and mankind, how power corrupts. Governments in future ought to be prevented from that kind of practice of abuse of power. Therefore, there was a need to create a Constitution, which limits the power of government," he said.
"In sum, the Constitution is a document which strictly prescribes the limit beyond which a government cannot function, because permitting anybody to exercise authority beyond a particular limit will be detrimental to human liberty and happiness," Justice Chelameswar said.
Soon after achieving freedom, India had to grapple with a food crisis, but the situation has improved over the years. Untouchability and women's equal rights were also tackled in the Constitution, and the situation is now changing, he said. When the Preamble of the Constitution speaks of social justice, each of these problems was in the mind of the framers.
He also pointed out the fact that our Constitution is only which categorically mentions the abolishment of untouchability. However, even after 70 years of independence, untouchability remains to exist in some parts of our country. Similarly, in rural India, even to this day, women farm labourers are paid less than their male counterparts.
The coming generations have to decide whether they are satisfied with the present state of social, economic and political justice. If they feel comfortable and believe that the rest of the nation is also enjoying the same level of comfort, then we shall believe that the goal of our Constitution has been achieved.
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