Idea Of India Summit — 'SC Judges Hid Under A Rock...': Senior Lawyers On Marriage Equality Verdict
They addressed several prominent issues pertaining to law including the Supreme Court verdicts on Marriage equality and Electoral Bonds, Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code and the PMLA
At the APB Networks Idea Of India Summit, Legal luminaries, Senior Supreme Court Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Senior Delhi High Court Advocate Saurabh Kirpal on February 24 held a session on the topic "How Society Changes? By Mandate or By Man?"
They addressed several prominent issues pertaining to law including the recent Supreme Court verdicts on Marriage equality and Electoral Bonds, Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
SC Verdict On Marriage Equality:
While sharing their views on the top court's verdict, Sankaranarayanan said the court passed the buck to the government. "SC bucked the opportunity and passed it to the Parliament when it came to recognising same-sex marriage." he said.
However, Kirpal who was also one of the advocates in the case, said that he feels that the Supreme Court not only passed the buck but the judges hid under a rock. "Judges did not pass the buck, but actively hid under a rock in the Marriage Equality case."
He further said, "They said see sorry we see violation of fundamental rights...but we cannot do much about it, sorry, thank you!"
ABP Network is back with the third edition of its annual ‘Ideas of India’ Summit, featuring the prominent personalities from various fields to understand how issues everyday lives as well as global phenomena that shape the future.
Electoral Bonds Judgment
When asked how he would rate the recent Electoral Bonds verdict of the Supreme Court, Sankaranarayanan said that he would give 8.5 points out of 10 to the verdict. He explained that even though the top court has struck down the scheme as unconstitutional, it has not done anything about the huge sums of funds encashed by the political parties, especially by the ruling BJP.
"This verdict is 8.5 out of 10 because it lets the parties keep the funds it obtained from Electoral Bonds. It would have been a 10/10 if it asked the BJP and other parties to return the money."
However, Gaurav Kirpal gave the verdict a 9 out of 10 as it upheld the Right to Information.
Uttarakhand UCC:
Speaking on morality and society, Kirpal quoted Fran Sinatra's song"love and marriage, Go together like a horse and carriage" and said that it is the same case with morality in a society and law. On one hand law ensures that morality is observed in society, on the other hand it needs to be protected from morality.
He said when the majority starts dictating the morality of a minority by telling what to eat, who to love, etc, it becomes oppressive. "And that is where law is needed to protect people from oppressive morality."
We talk about Constitutional morality where the courts should intervene.
Kirpal said that, "I believe that it is necessary for a country to bring a UCC. But a lot has to be said how you bring that in. Rather that with consensus it took a top down approach...I cannot understand what they were thinking while drafting a law on making registration mandatory? Without defining the relationship, You are making its registration necessary."
Sankaranarayanan said, If you are a lawmaker making UCC, you must realise that other sexual orientations exist as well. Even when Section 377 was struck down by the Supreme Court, the said UCC only deals with relationships between men and women.
On Preamble Carrying Socialist and Secular
Kirpal said that the insertion of secular words didn't change anything, because our Constitution is inherently secular. He said that when the Preamble, the very beginning part of the Constitution, says 'secular,' it puts a balm on the sentiment of the minority and assures them that they live in a country that respects them.
On Socialist, Kirpal said that he did not agree with the word as the constitution is not a socialist constitution.
Sankaranarayanan said that initially we did not have the words.
"The issue on which the Supreme Court is entertaining Swamy's plea is a very narrow one. It is saying that the Preamble can be amended with the previous date being there. In My view, 'Secular' is superfluous. The Constitution is already secular, but the word 'Socialism' should not have been inserted. "
He cited the example of the Representation of People's Act and said that political parties are required to pledge by the Preamble.
"Now if a capitalist party wants to contest elections, does it mean it cannot take part in elections?" he asked.
He further added that, "I don't think there should have ever been an amendment to Preamble as leaves room open for future such insertions"
PMLA
While speaking on the Prevention of Money laundering Act (PMLA), Kirpal said that the law should be done away with.
Speaking on how progressive laws are in India, Sankaranarayanan said, "I find that in last 10 years, we did not have welfare legislations like Right To Education, enviromental laws"
"There has been a harsher hue on civil liberties with the Enforcement Directorate's power under the PMLA."
This year the 'Ideas of India’ Summit aims to bring detailed insights into the news and events that will shape public life nationally as well as globally. For two days, the brightest minds will unravel the complexities behind news and how they impact our everyday lives.
Senior Advocate Sankaranarayanan is well known for his authority in Constitutional law. He along with Senior Advocate K.K.Venugopal had helped draft the Constitution of Bhutan. Sankaranarayanan's arguments on vagueness and liberty were accepted by the Constitutional Bench that heard the challenges to Section 66-A of the IT Act [Shreya Singhal].
Son of a former CJI, Kirpal was a part of a team of lawyers who argued for Sunil Mehra and Navtej Singh Johar among various petitioners before a Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court which gave the landmark verdict on decriminalising homosexuality. A well known author, Kirpal has written and edited the book ‘Sex and the Supreme Court: How the Law is Upholding the Dignity of the Indian Citizen’,
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