Supreme Court forgetting Fundamental Rights unfortunate: senior lawyer

New Delhi: It is unfortunate that even the Supreme Court itself forgets the fundamental right of Right to Constitutional Remedies, enshrined in the Constitution via Article 32, eminent lawyer and former Supreme Court Bar Association president Dushtyan Dave told Madhyamam.

The senior lawyer said that if there are no mechanisms to implement the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution, there is no use for the same.

In an interview with the Madhyamam Daily, Dave said that Articles 32 and 226 of the Constitution are the most important ones in the Constitution, according to him. Article 32 of the Constitution gave the right to any citizen to approach the Supreme Court. Going to the Supreme Court is a fundamental right of a citizen. Article 226 of the Constitution made approaching the High Court a fundamental right, empowering citizens to approach the HCs for legal rights.

However, Dave said it is unfortunate that the Supreme Court itself often forgets this. If someone approaches the Supreme Court for a fundamental right, it asks them why they did not go to the High Court. This without even considering the Article 32. When a fundamental right is violated, the right of a citizen to go directly to the Supreme Court cannot be stopped. The Supreme Court has the responsibility to take up the matter without asking us to go to the High Court, he said. The top court asking the petitioner to approach a high court is a violation of the fundamental rights itself, the senior lawyer opined.

Further, the lawyer said that there are issues with how the administrative system of the nation approaches the Constitution. If the democracy of the country needs to be maintained, its government must work in accordance with the Constitution, ensuring that the dignity and the rights of the citizens are protected. The government, the executive and the courts must work within the limits of the Constitution, Dave told Madhyamam.