BENGALURU: “Much of global legal discourse has been shaped by Western jurisprudence. The time has come to broaden the conversation, to hold intellectual dialogues with our Eastern civilisations for a plural and global jurisprudence,” said Justice Meghraj Pokharel, a judge at the Nepal Supreme Court.
Pokharel was speaking at the legal precursor to the fifth edition of the annual ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam Ki Oar’ conclave in the city on Sunday, held jointly by Jyot, Gitarth Ganga, Jain (Deemed-to-be University) and the Advocates’ Association of Bangalore.
The theme was civilisational jurisprudence and the precursor included round table discussions on the completion of 75 years of the First Amendment to the Constitution. “Nepal stands at the confluence of Vedic wisdom and Buddhist compassion; these traditions are complementary, not competitive,” he added.
Additional Solicitor General of India, Karnataka High Court, Arvind Kamath K, posited civilisational or cultural jurisprudence as valid precedence. “In our practice, lawyers cite landmark judgments, but civilisational jurisprudence cannot be cited. To do that, we need to index it and collate it formally. We have not devised an apparatus for that so far; it should be done on the basis of principle rather than scripture,” he said.
Former Supreme Court judge N Santosh Hegde said, “Fundamental rights protect the freedom and dignity of every citizen and strengthen the principles of equality, justice and liberty. They guarantee freedom of speech and expression, education and religion, being essential for the effective functioning of a democratic nation.”