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5th International Conference of Chief Justices of the WorldAddress byDr Ashok NigamPresident, Oudh Bar Association, High Court, Lucknow Bench, IndiaIn fact it is very difficult to speak after such a wonderful and colorful speaker like MrSalman Khursheed, but in any case I feel great honour and proud privilege to be giventhe opportunity to address this august gathering. I cannot but congratulate Shri JagdishGandhiji for highlighting the Article 51 (c) of our Constitution. However, I may point outthat Article 51 (c) is not an isolated provision, or a showpiece, it is exhibiting our concernfor World Peace and International Order but it is the end result of our constitutionaland social ethos which has evolved since the dawn of civilization in our country. Even inthe Vedic age, our Rishis and saints have taught us to treat the entire humanity as onefamily, ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam’. The prayer we make to God is that every humanbeing should be happy, without fear and blessed with the bounty of God.Dr Ashok Nigam, President, Oudh BarAssociation, High Court, LucknowBench, India addressing the ConferenceSarve bhavantu sukhena, sarve santu niramayaSarve bhadrani pashyantu maa kashchid dukh bhag bhavetAnd we are told to work together, think together and unitedly to strive for common good, strive for World Peace is a partof our cultural heritage.Om Dhyau Shanti, Antarikshaguam Shanti,Prithvi Shanti, Rapah ShantiRoshadhaya Shanti Vanaspatayah ShantiShanti Vishwedeva Shanti Brahma ShantiSarvagyuam Shanti Reva Shanti Sama Shanti RedhiThat is, let the sky be peaceful, let there be peace in horizon and on the entire Earth, let the herbs and vegetation grant uspeace, let peace and harmony prevail in each and every corner of this universe. In the medieval ages Mahatma Buddha orLord Buddha preached us, not only to us but to entire humanity, the religion of tolerance and non violence. Down to themodern age, the Father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, led us to victory through cult of tolerance, peace, harmony andnon violence. Our Constitution itself is a product of our long struggle for freedom against the foreign yoke. Those were alsothe days of worse sort of violence and strife in the world. Two successive World Wars were fought dividing the world intotwo camps. Even after the World Wars were over, the world was in the grip of Cold War. Naturally, in these circumstancesthe greatest challenge faced by the country was to preserve our sovereignty at all cost. Yet Founding-Fathers of ourConstitution did not lose sight of the fact that if the humanity is to survive, there has to be a new World Order based onpeace, harmony and mutual respect of each others’ sovereignty, rights and liabilities among the comity of nations.Hence Article 51 was introduced in the Constitution which directs the state to promote International Peace and Security,maintain just and honorable relations between the nations, foster respect for International Law and treaty obligations in thedealing of organized people with one another and encourage the settlement of international disputes by arbitration forpaving the way for the establishment of a just social order. No doubt the Article 51 forms part of Directive Principles ofState Policy which may not be enforced in the same manner as Fundamental Rights but they surely show the path on whichthe successive governments have to walk on, and contain guidelines which the legislature had to follow. Many jurists havetherefore taken a similar view towards its utility. Thus Professor Weed in his thesis India’s New Constitution says, “Asthese principles cannot be enforced in any court, they amount to little more than a manifesto of aims and aspirations.” SirEdward Jennings, in an article in The Hindu, a daily newspaper, said about the Directive Principles, that they can be usedfor the purpose of private and political criticism but they confer no legal rights and create no legal remedy. It all reads likeand is a political manifesto.” However, when Article 51 (c) is read in the light of judicial opinion and foreign policystatements, it suggests otherwise. One such landmark judgment in the Supreme Court of India which has dealt with theapplicability of the international conventions to the country, the apex court has said in the case of Vishakha Vs State ofRajasthan 1997, held that “In the absence of domestic law occupying the field, to formulate effective measures to check theevil of sexual harassment of working women at all work places, the contents of international conventions and norms are--86--
significant for the purpose of interpretation of the guarantee of gender equality, right to work with human dignity in articles14, 15, 19 (I) (g) and 21 of the Constitution of India and the safeguards against sexual harassment implicit therein.” Thenit goes on, “any international convention not inconsistent with the fundamental rights and in harmony with its spirit must beread into these provisions to enlarge the meaning and contents thereof, to promote the object of constitutional guaranteeregard must be had to international conventions and norms for construing domestic law when there is no inconsistencybetween them and there is a void in the domestic law”. As early as in the year 1973 in the constitutional bench judgment inthe Keshavanand Bharti’s case the Supreme Court underlined the importance of international covenants in interpreting andgiving contents to the fundamental rights included in part III of our Constitution.Similarly, in a string of landmark judgments the Supreme Court has read the provisions of various international conventionsinto Article 21 and other Articles related to fundamental rights. It would, therefore, appear that using article 51 as a tool inits hand the Supreme Court has been able to inject into part III of the Constitution the vast number of rights flowing from theUnited Nations Charter from the various conventions ratified by India and, in particular, the International Convention onCivil and Political Rights 1966 and Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women 1979. Infact as many as 28 items out of 34 rights included in the United Nations Charter for Human Rights have been included inpart III and part IV of the Constitution of India. In S. R. Bommai Vs Union of India’s case the Supreme Court held that theprovisions of the covenant which elucidate and go to effectuate the fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution cancertainly be relied upon by courts as facets of those fundamental rights and hence enforceable as such.Article 51 (c) embodies the dream of the founding fathers of our Constitution who wanted peace and harmony in the world.They were keen to incorporate whatever was the best in the interest of our nation. At the same time they also had tosafeguard against the over-enthusiasm of legislatures lest in their zeal they compromise on the basic integrity of our countryand incorporate or ratify conventions which we neither need nor can afford due to the complex and intricate nature of ournation. Therefore the Constitution envisages a goal for the legislature in the form of Directive Principles of State Policy.Article 51(c) is one such goal and a tool to fulfill this goal is in the form of enabling power of the parliament under article 253read with entry 14 of the Union list in the seventh schedule of the Constitution. In case of People’s Union for Civil LibertiesVs Union of India the Supreme Court referred to Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966and Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 so as to derive from Article 21 a right to privacy in India.The Court observed in this connection “International law today is not confined today to regulating the relations between thestates but the scope continues to extend. Today, matters of social concern such as health, education, and economics apartfrom human rights fall within the ambit of international regulations. International law is more than ever aimed at individuals.It is almost an accepted proposition of law that the rules of Customary International Law which are not contrary toMunicipal Law shall be deemed to be incorporated in the domestic law. All these would indicate the pre-eminent positionof Article 51 (c) of the Constitution enjoys as in this country fostering respect for International Law and treaty obligationwith one another. This has resulted in the International Law being injected into the domestic law with the Constitution beingclassified as municipal law for this purpose. As a result through very proactive Judiciary which has utilized interpretative skillby utilizing the provisions of Article 51 for extending vast rights and expanding the existing rights by giving effect to theInternational Conventions which it has ratified though no municipal law has been enacted to implement these treaties.The demand for a World Parliament and Enforceable International Law raised by eminent thinkers, philosophers andhuman rights activist from time to time has often being dismissed by powerful nations as an Utopia. But then even theLeague of Nations or present days United Nations was considered to be so even in the 19th and early 20th century, butthey are reality now. However, in the words of Dr S. Radhakrishnan, the former President of India, ‘The world has gottogether as a body; it is groping for a soul”. May I invoke at this juncture the famous Chinese proverb to the effect that “Inpitch darkness even if you cannot light 100 candles-light just one candle and you will be diffusing darkness”.The humanist therefore need not to be dejected and need not give up their efforts to develop the present world forumavailable namely the United Nations, to a future World Parliament.The endeavor of the convenor of the present Conference Mr Jagdish Gandhi, the Founder-Manager, CMS has at leastlight one such candle which may serve as a lighthouse to the entire humanity in future and I therefore congratulate him for thesame. I also profusely thank Shri Gandhi and his team for giving me this opportunity; I wish the Conference all success. JaiJagat.--87--
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