{"id":226383,"date":"2023-02-13T20:01:50","date_gmt":"2023-02-13T14:31:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=226383"},"modified":"2023-02-20T13:17:13","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T07:47:13","slug":"moving-with-times-scs-flexible-approach-to-interpreting-the-constitution-has-enhanced-its-relevance-to-governance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/moving-with-times-scs-flexible-approach-to-interpreting-the-constitution-has-enhanced-its-relevance-to-governance\/","title":{"rendered":"Moving With Times – SC\u2019s flexible approach to interpreting the Constitution has enhanced its relevance to governance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source<\/strong>: The post is based on the article\u00a0\u201cMoving With Times – SC\u2019s flexible approach to interpreting the Constitution has enhanced its relevance to governance\u201d <\/strong>published in The Times of India <\/b>on\u00a013th February 2023<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Syllabus<\/strong>: GS 2 \u2013 Indian Constitution\u2014historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.<\/p>\n

Relevance<\/strong>: About Constitution as a living document.<\/p>\n

News<\/strong>: Recently, the Supreme Court highlighted the universal debate on how a country\u2019s Constitution should be interpreted.<\/p>\n

About the Case recognising Constitution as a living document<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are two types of interpretations of the Constitution. a)<\/strong> One who believes in prism of originalism<\/strong>, a theory which advocates sticking to an interpretation of the Constitution\u2019s drafters, and b)<\/strong> One who believes in seeing the constitution\u00a0as a living document<\/strong> where interpretation adapts to changes in society.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court recently referred the writ petition to a larger bench which involves the right of a religious community to excommunicate followers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

While referring to it, the court implied the constitution as a living constitution. Such as a)<\/strong> The idea of freedom is not static, b)<\/strong> Judicial interpretation needs to keep pace with changing social mores.<\/p>\n

How Supreme Court accepted the Constitution as a living document?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The first draft of the Constitution might not be conceptualized in every scenario. The gaps have been interpreted in light of social and economic changes.<\/p>\n

Many landmark verdicts reflect underlying changes in society and interpreted the constitution as a living document. Four key judgments include a) Kesavananda Bharati case<\/strong> in 1973 led to the establishment of the basic structure doctrine. It ensured that a parliamentary majority would not lead to constitutional amendments that could undermine its essence, b)<\/strong> Vishaka case <\/strong>led the court to frame guidelines to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. In this, the court was way ahead of the legislature in responding to a big social and economic change, c)<\/strong> The private agreements override\u00a0government control over natural resources. But in 2010, the court allowed the state to continue to exercise its grip on key areas of economic activity, and d)<\/strong> In 2017, in a unanimous verdict the court held the right to privacy as fundamental.<\/p>\n

Overall, the court allowed a gradual change in the way constitutional principles are understood and applied by both the legislature and executive. In India, a flexible approach to interpretation has gradually allowed individual rights to come to the fore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: The post is based on the article\u00a0\u201cMoving With Times – SC\u2019s flexible approach to interpreting the Constitution has enhanced its relevance to governance\u201d published in The Times of India on\u00a013th February 2023. Syllabus: GS 2 \u2013 Indian Constitution\u2014historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure. Relevance: About Constitution as a living document.… Continue reading Moving With Times – SC\u2019s flexible approach to interpreting the Constitution has enhanced its relevance to governance<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10311,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[212,10496],"class_list":["post-226383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-times-of-india","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":8,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1700117847},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10311"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226383\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}