THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala High Court judge Justice Devan Ramachandran said that the basis of Sabarimala woman entry verdict by the Supreme Court was an interpretation of Article 17 which abolishes untouchability. “Article 17 is not an easy topic to talk about. It is a concept that can have far-reaching ramifications. Untouchability is not something physical alone. Untouchability can also be in your mind,” he said while delivering a talk at the valedictory of the two-day national seminar on Constituent Assembly Debates organised by the Department of Law of the University of Kerala.
“When I deal with you as an untouchable in my mind, Article 17 is violated as far as I’m concerned. If I understand that my Constitution will not permit me to treat you as an untouchable not physically but in my mind, India is a different country altogether,” he added.
The judge said the Constitution was noted for the usage of simple phrases. He cited Article 14 as an example. “Look at the way it is drafted. It simply says that the state shall not deny to any citizen equality of law and equal protection of law. See the beauty of that phrase. That one line is enough to take care of one million kinds of permutations,” he said, adding that every litigation that came up before the court fell under the ambit of Article 14.
The Constitution uses general terms but is never vague, Ramachandran said. He lamented that the laws and court orders become futile when people choose to ignore them. He said flex boards were still seen on public roads despite court judgments. “When you deliberately decide to flout or deliberately decide not to follow the law, then God save this country. We require a resurgence of Constitutional imperatives,” he said.
India will become a great nation only if people understand the imperatives of the Constitution, the judge said. Study of the Constitution should begin from the school-level. He asked people not to buckle when they face abuse and instead use their Constitutional rights. He said some observations he made in the courtroom were in the context of Constitutional duties and rights. The judge congratulated the organisers for choosing a rarely discussed but important topic. The function was attended by P P Ajayakumar, pro-vice chancellor and VC-in-charge and Sindhu Thulaseedharan, head of law department.