SC ensured Constitution kept responsive to emerging needs of society SG Tushar Mehta

New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Wednesday said the Supreme Court has ensured that the country's Constitution was kept responsive to the emerging needs of society.
    He was speaking at an event -- Celebrating 75 years of Constitution -- organised by the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA).
    "Whether it be the principle that education is a fundamental right, the formulation of non-arbitrariness, or the development of sustainable development norm, the Supreme Court has ensured that our constitution is kept both vital and responsive to the emerging needs of the society since culturally, socially, economically and in every way, we as a society, as a nation, have continuously grown facing new challenges, which comes with growth," Mehta said.
    He said the verdicts of the apex court had always displayed sensitivity towards pressing social issues, and in the Shaira Bano case, it had finally put an end to the pernicious practice of triple talaq.
    This decision gave a fillip to women's rights by ending a discriminatory practice, Mehta said.
    "The Supreme Court is indeed the guardian and the final interpreter of the Constitution and the ultimate protector of the fundamental rights and human rights of the citizens of this great nation. But it is not just a guardian, for it has done much more than simply keeping the Constitution preserved.
    "Every iteration of the court has played an active role in interpreting the Constitution to respond actively to the challenges presented from time to time, depending upon the circumstances under which the Supreme Court is called upon to save, protect, preserve, and give meaning to the Constitution," the Solicitor General said.
    Mehta, however, said that judicial pendency, with around 80,000 cases pending in the apex court alone, was a major concern.
    "Access to justice also remains a major concern. The problem was taken note of by the Supreme Court itself in 2022… It had noted that original service-oriented values of the legal profession are gradually being lost over time and had specifically called upon young advocates to volunteer their time to assist the disadvantaged sections in need of legal assistance," he said.
    Mehta called upon all lawyers to give back to society what the society has given to them.
    "A very significant issue before us is the need to re-Indianise our jurisprudence. When the Supreme Court was established, we had set out to build a jurisprudence which was uniquely suited to Indian conditions, Indian character, Indian temperament and India's social ethos, (but)somewhere along the way, that goal appears to have lost the significance it rightly deserved to have in seeking illumination from other sources, the leading lights found closer to home have not been given their due.
    "It is my fervent hope that we rediscover the full breadth of our own legal heritage and apply in its entirety in solving the practical issues which confront our nation to solve the country-specific, nation-specific society-specific, and at times, individual-specific problems," the solicitor general said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)