Samvidhan Divas

Pragna Bharati Talk Series

Constitution of India – Need for Amendments
25th November 2023
Moksh Banquets
Hyderabad

On the occasion of Samvidhan Divas on 26th November, Pragna Bharati organized a Talk Session in the evening of 25th November 2023 at Moksh Banquets, Hyderabad. Along with Sri Hanuman Chowdary, Sri Narasimha Sarma, Sri Krishnadevaraya and Sri Vivek Reddy were the chief speakers of the evening. Sri V. Srinivas, President Pragna Bharati presided over the sessions, ably anchored by Sri Chandrashekhar.

Padmasri Dr T Hanuman Chowdhary, chairperson of Pragna Bharati in his opening remarks said, on the occasion of commemoration of the Constitution Day, we need to think about the amendments that are needed to suit the present times.
The Constituent Assembly had its first session on 9th December 1946, it proceeded to frame a constitution for undivided India as a three-tier federation with a separate constitution for each province, groups of provinces and a central Govt. The Constituent Assembly was boycotted by the Muslim League, it wanted the British to split and quit India.

The pictures of murals in the reproduced signed text of the constitution depict the cultural unity of India from Vedic times upto INA of Subhash Chandra Bose. Eventually, the Constituent Assembly moved towards creating a strong disintegratable center, there was no mention of federalism in the Constitution. It’s the world’s lengthiest constitution as well as the most amended. 250 articles are taken from the British era’s Govt of India Act 1935. Indira Gandhi’s emergency provisions were undone by the 44th amendment brought in by the Janata Govt in 1977. However the terms ‘socialism’ and ‘secularism’ smuggled into the constitution, remain in it.

Essential Amendments required:

Article 25 – Right to profess and propagate religions was provided in the constitution which is directly acting against the Hindus. Members like Loknath Mishra opposed it even then.
Article 26 – Freedom to manage their religious affairs, only christians and muslims enjoy those privileges, whereas Hindu temples are still under the government’s control.
Article 27 – Religious funding to promote religions is being misused.
Similarly divisive instruments like Article 370 were inserted in the Constitution.

There are many important rulings of the Supreme Court, which have a direct bearing on the Constitution, like Golaknath case, Keshavananda Bharati, Basic Structure Doctrine etc.

Secularism has been undermined by funding religious tourism to Mecca&Madina and Jerusalem, with a bill introduced by Jawaharlal Nehru; similarly religious education of muslims through madarsas was funded by the govts.
Article 44 – UCC, Article 48 Cow protection etc haven’t been realized and implemented so far.

Sri B. Narasimha Sarma, Additional Solicitor General of AP & Telangana, in his address stated that Govt of India introduced the new revised penal codes – Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita. We should be proud to use the term Bharat, which has been used from Vedic times, Parashara Maharshi gave the description of Bharat in Vishnu Purana. ‘Vedakhilo Dharma-moolam’ is the ethos of this nation. The numerous smriti-karas described the codes of conduct;
Rajadharma -principles of constitutionality, were described in the famous dialogue between Yudhishthir and Bhishma in the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata. There are many other great texts like Rajniti Ratnakara, which codified the governance principles. The great Acharya Kautilya in his seminal text Artha Shastra, devotes three chapters to governance and constitutional principles. Vedic -Ithihasic – Smritis gave us the great codes and principles of conduct including Rajadharma. The Rajadharma, or code of conduct for the rulers, includes – Every ruler has to punish guilty, service to good persons, create wealth and treasure through Dharma, and Rajya Raksha.

However, except for Directive Principles, the Code of Conduct or Rajadharma is missing in our Constitution, instead many western views have been adopted verbatim. We need to inculcate the Dharmic Principles of Rajadharma.

Sri Krishnadevaraya, Vice Chancellor of NALSAR, in his address talked about a few crucial issues pertaining to the constitution. Article 1 talks about ‘India, that is Bharat’, and the supremacy of the constitution are important. The Keshavananda Bharati case made certain provisions for Basic Structure Doctrine -which makes it impossible for the Parliament to amend the basic structure. It imposed restraints on the amending powers of the parliament, both textual and structural. This case led to the superseding of several judges, and Justice AN Ray was made Chief Justice. Justice HR Khanna gave his famous dissenting opinion in Keshavananda case as well as the Habeas Corpus case, which cost him the CJI position. The habeas corpus majority decision reflected the fear psychosis that was present in the Emergency era. Justice Khanna’s dissenting opinion continued from Keshavananda Bharati case.

Sri Vivek Reddy, senior advocate, in his address stated India went in for a detailed lengthy constitution, purportedly to make it more strong. However it was an unfortunate mistake, as it also adds to the general constitutional ignorance, hence it’s easy to ignore fundamental principles. In the name of a detailed Constitution, too many powers have been given to the governments. In the matters of temples, religious activities of Hindus have been handed over to the Govts. Today it is time to reclaim religious freedoms, by amending the Constitution. In 2003, Vajpayee Govt brought in a useful amendment, wherein only 15% elected legislators can be brought into ministerial cabinet, thus effectively cutting down the jumbo cabinets. Similarly, election promises in the form of freebies, could be curtailed by way of amendments.

The engaging session was followed by a very lively question & answer session. The meeting was well-attended by large number of participants.