National Constitution Day 2024 Live Updates: ‘Our Constitution stood the test of time,’ says PM Modi

Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on Tuesday said each branch of the government must honour its constitutionally assigned role by nurturing inter-institutional equilibrium.

Speaking on the 75th Constitution Day celebrations held in the national capital, the CJI said each branch of the government was not a satellite in an independent orbit but a related actor.

"The Constitution by design insulates judiciary from the ebbs and lows of electoral process. This ensures the decisions are unbiased and free from ill-will and guided solely by the Constitution and laws. At the same time, each branch of the government is not a satellite in an independent orbit but rather a related actor which works in a degree of separateness. Each branch must honour its constitutionally assigned distinct role by nurturing inter institutional equilibrium. Judicial independence does not serve as a high wall but as a catalyst," the CJI said.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday demanded the return of ballot paper and called for a concerted campaign on the scale of Bharat Jodo Yatra to create awareness about it.

Speaking at the 'Samvidhan Rakshak Abhiyaan' function at Talkatora stadium, he said Prime minister Narendra Modi fears a caste census.

He said Modi is afraid that if he allows a caste census then all sections of society will demand their share.

Kharge also accused the BJP of not having any "constitutional integrity or federal character" and alleged that the party was undoing everything that BR Ambedkar and other members of the Constituent Assembly did through the Constitution. Referring to the Maharashtra Assembly polls, which the NDA swept, Kharge alleged that billionaire businessman Gautam Adani had a lot to do with the election as his wealth was at stake.

Telangana Chief Minister (CM) Revanth Reddy on Tuesday said caste census was Social Justice 3.0 and that the process was 92 per cent complete in the southern state.

Reddy referred to the undertaking as an 'X-ray' to conduct a "mega-health checkup for society."

He was addressing the Samvidhan Rakshak Abhiyan (Save the Constitution Campaign) event in New Delhi, along with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Indian National Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, and senior leader Sonia Gandhi.

He also recalled the undertakings of former PM Jawarharlal Nehru, Dr BR Ambedkar and Indira Gandhi, like the SC/ST reservation, providing franchise to the most marginalised, as Social Justice 1.0.

He called the works in the era starting from Rajiv Gandhi's tenure to that of PV Narasimha Rao's as Social Justice 2.0.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS were strengthening the wall standing in the path of people from Dalit, Adivasi and Other Backward Class (OBC) communities, even as he acknowledged that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) took steps to weaken that wall but not to the extent it should have.

Addressing the 'Samvidhan Rakshak Abhiyaan', Gandhi also referred to the function held on Constitution Day in Parliament and said that it is his guarantee, that "Modi has not read" the Constitution.

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If PM Modi would have read this book then what he does daily, he would not do it," Gandhi said, displaying a copy of the Constitution of India.

Gandhi said the country's whole system is pitted against Dalits, Adivasis and backward class people.

He said a wall obstructs the path of Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs and Modi and the RSS are strengthening that wall by "adding cement to it".

-PTI

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said Constitution Day celebration at a time when people lost their lives in Sambhal is not right and alleged that leaders of Opposition are not being allowed to visit the violence-hit area in Uttar Pradesh.

Extending wishes on Constitution day, he said: "The true celebration of the Constitution is when we follow it."

"We are Samajwadi (socialists), Babasaheb BR Ambedkar's Constitution protects us and gives us our rights. We respect the Constitution but to celebrate at a time when many people have lost their lives in Sambhal is not right," he said.

The country is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution as Samvidhan Divas.

The Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution at the Central Hall of Parliament on November 26, 1949.

It came into force on January 26, 1950.

"What has been done by the government in Sambhal, people have lost their lives. Justice is being denied, people are being accused in false cases," Yadav alleged.

- PTI