Download the Speeches of all Hon'ble Chief Justices & Judges in ...

Hon’ble Mr Justice A.K. Mathur, Judge,Supreme Court of India receiving theConference Mementoaspiration adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 16-12-1966.The Human Rights Commission at the national level and at the state level in our countryis effectively performing and I would say very yeomen’s service being dispensed by thisinstitution. Next, that comes especially with the regard to retarded children, the IndianParliament also enacted Acts, ‘Persons with Disabilities, Equal Protection, Protectionof Rights and Full Participation Act 1995’ in pursuance of the Convention held at theAsian-Pacific Decade of the Disabled Persons convened by the Economic and SocialCommission for Asian and Pacific Region held in Beijing on 1st December 1992. Indiawas signatory to the said convention and it was declared that States should be responsiblefor the prevention of disabilities, protection of human rights, provisions for medical care,education, training, employment and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities and toremove discrimination against the persons with disabilities in sharing development benefits and to counteract any situationof abuse and exploitation of the persons. Therefore the concern of India for the human development is fully reflected byparticipating in this convention and implementing the same in India by enacting the aforesaid Act. Next, India is alsoconcerned about the environment to which reference was made, that humanity can live peacefully and without violating andendangering the laws of nature in any moment. The Environment Protection Act 1986 was enacted to give effect to thedecision of UN Conference on Human Environment at Stockholm. Similarly, also a Wildlife Protection Act was amendedand specially in order to give a boost to the maintenance of flora and fauna of India, the conviction on international trade inendangered species of wild flora and fauna, imposing complete ban on trade in ivory including imported African ivory toprotect the Indian elephant. That was a review to show that the Constitution of India respects the International Conventions,enacted laws so as to enforce the international conventions in India.Some of the international crimes which have been out to destroy the humanity, have also been taken care of by IndianParliament and to counter the same a law was enacted, known as ‘Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act1985’. This was enacted in pursuance of the Convention of the Psychotropic Substances of 1971. The drugs is a greatestmenace of the century and this would destroy the very existence of humanity if it is not checked in time. This evoked a greatresponse in India and the Parliament without any delay enacted the Act of 1985 to check this menace. Similarly, conventionwhich brings people together was also jeopardized by the act of unlawful activities of the people. Therefore, the Suppressionof Unlawful act against the safety of Civil Aviation 1982 was enacted to give effect to Convention on suppression ofunlawful acts and safety of civil aviation known as Montreal Convention of 1971. And then there was another enactmentto which I shall refer. That was the Anti Apartheid Act and punishment for the same. Then there was another enactmentwith regard to suppression of crimes against child. Therefore we can enumerate any number of enactments which theIndian Parliament has passed respecting international conventions. India has been always respectful to the internationalconventions and we have, as far as possible, tried to enact municipal laws in order to enforce international conventions. TheIndian record, one can say with greatest pride, is the greatest contributor for the development of international understandingand cooperating with the international conventions. These are only some of the conventions that I have brought to yournotice but at the same time I may also remind you that Indian courts are also very very active in enforcing internationalconventions. And in that regard especially I shall refer to a recent decision regarding checking the degradation of theenvironment and the illegal activities of the people who are out to destroy our environment and the flora and fauna. InVellore Citizen Welfare Forum Vs Government of India, 1996 1st Supreme Court pages 6-7, Your Lordship accepting theinternational concept of sustained development held that the traditional concept that development and ecology were opposedto each other is no longer acceptable, that sustained development is the answer. In the international sphere sustaineddevelopment is a concept that came to be known for the first time in the Stockholm Declaration of 1972. Thereafter in1987 the concept had been given a definite shape and World Commission on Environment and Development in its reportcalled “Our Common Future” the Commission has been chaired by the Prime Minister of Norway and as such, the reporthas been popularly known as the Brookland Report. All those conventions which go for development of the humanity havebeen respected by India and especially the Article 51 of the Constitution is a great saviour for the mankind and for restoringpeace and for maintaining peace and harmony. It is a different matter that the United Nations has failed, but we must keep--43--