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Rule of law is ancient Indian tradition'

HT Correspondent

Gwalior, March 5, 2006

SUPREME COURT JUSTICE B N Srikrishna of the Supreme Court observed

here that the rule of law was not an imported doctrine and was

prevalent in the society during early Vedic period. Elaborate

references of it were found in scriptures such as Veda, Upanishad,

sage Yajnavalkya's Smriti, Manusmriti, Mahabharata (Vyas Maharshi),

Ramayana and Kautilya's Arthasastra etc, he added.

 

He was delivering a keynote lecture as part of Golden Jubilee

celebrations of the MP High Court on Saturday evening here. Justice

Srikrishna's topic was "Ancient Indian Rule of Law: From Traditional

Text to Constitutional Context."

 

To substantiate his observation on traces of rule of law in Indian

scriptures, Justice Srikrishna quoted Prof P V Kane as

saying, "India need feel ashamed or fear a comparison of its ideals

and theories of state with the ideals and theories of western

countries in ancient and medieval times.

 

If western countries could boast of so-called republic and city-

states in ancient Greece and Rome, India also had several republics

in ancient times. The ancient Hindus made their own contribution to

political thought, though unfortunately western scholars of the 19th

century like Max Muller, Weber and Roth were concerned most with

Vedic and allied literature and either they did not know or ignored

the vast literature on politics contained in Sanskrit and Pali works,

he added.

 

The absorbing lecture encompassed references of thinkers from Vedic

to modern period including Aristotle, Socrates, Plato and so on. He

underlined that Dharma was the essence of rule of law and pivotal on

which the universal order revolved. Both `Law' and `Dharma' acted as

reins to keep under check primeval instinct of the societal

constituents. Obedience to the law and upholding them became the

sacred duty of every citizen, whether under an oath to do so or not,

he added.

 

He quoted Dicey (law of the constitution 1895) that the first and

arguably the most important principle of the rule of law was

supremacy of law. In ancient India, though the sovereign powers were

vested in the king, he was not free to exercise it arbitrarily. The

duties and obligations of the ruler were described as Rajdharma.

 

He said the principles on which the concept of rule of law in modern

administrative laws rested were virtually the same as prevalent

during early Vedic period with emphasis on supremacy of law,

discretionary power, fairness and judicial independence.

 

However, Justice Srikrishna stated that one area where Indian

constitution had done better that the ancient Rajdharma was by

adopting the principles of separation of powers and judicial review.

 

By quoting an incident about the eviction of cobbler in the Kalhana's

Rajatarangini as perfect illustration of arbitrary state action to

conform to rule of law, Justice Srikrishna pointed out that everyone

is answerable to law including the three organs of democracy.

 

In his presidential address, the CJ of MP High Court, Justice A K

Patnaik, expressed satisfaction on the outcome of the lectures. Three-

pronged objects were being achieved through them; remembering

person's contribution, an opportunity to listen and gather knowledge

from learned speakers besides express bond of solidarity in judicial

system.

 

He said that efforts were necessary to revive and uphold rich social

values of the past. The present trend was more focused towards

commercial and monetary oriented activities. It was not a good sign

for the society, he said.

 

At the outset, Justice S S Jha (administrative) delivered the welcome

address and also a brief background of the golden jubilee

celebrations. The Saturday's lecture was delivered in the memory of

the late R L Lahoti and the late M L Modi.

 

Prominent among those present included former Chief Justice of India

R C Lahoti, Justice K K Lahoti, Justice N K Modi, Advocate General R

N Singh, Justice Deepak Verma, MP Bar Council chairman Rameshwar

Nikhra, senior advocates R D Jain, Rajendra Tiwari, Arum Pateria,

Vinod Sharma and others.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5922_1643176,0015002100000001.htm

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