Bhubaneswar: Respect for the rule of law is of paramount importance, Justice Krishna Shripad Dixit of the Orissa High Court said on Saturday.
“If we do not have respect for the rule of law, the constitution will fall down,” Justice Dixit said while delivering the Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) Lecture at SOA Deemed to be University here.
Observing that Indian constitution had survived even after 100-plus amendments had been incorporated to it, Justice Dixit said all constitutional institutions including the judiciary, Election Commission of India, the Parliament, state legislatures and Registrar General of India need to be protected.
Delivering the keynote address in the SOA Lecture Series titled ‘Making of Our Constitution,’ Justice Dixit referred to the ‘Allahabad Resolution’ of 1920 which proposed creation of a constitutional framework for India, and said a Constituent Assembly had been set up in 1946 before the country gained independence.
He said the constitution rested on a nation’s geographical area with defined borders, population, a legitimate government and ability to maintain international relations with other countries.
Justice Dixit reminded the audience when the bill to grant India independence was tabled in British Parliament, it was opposed by the leader of opposition Winston Churchill who had said if independence was granted to India, ‘power will go to the hands of rascals, rogues, freebooters; all Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw.’
“But India had proved Churchill wrong by launching 106 satellites in one go,” Justice Dixit said.
He made the point that India was a land of knowledge which had always moved towards the light.