They Used The Good Book

A Study Of Constitutional Litigation By Common Indians Describes Processes And Landmark Cases To Show How It Impacted Individual Freedom And Social Justice.

- Sudhirendar Sharma

IN dispensing justice to a mason, Moti Ram, in 1978, whom the lower court had granted bail against a surety of Rs 10,000, to be realised within the same district, Justice Krishna Iyer of the Supreme Court had expressed shock at the manner of seeking such high surety from a poor man and reminded the errant magis­trate that “our Constitution, enacted by ‘We the People of India’ is meant for the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker—shall we add the bonded labou­rer and the pavement dweller”. It was a reference to a statement by Justice Vivian Bose in 1956 who, while expre­ssing anguish at procedural delays in getting relief for a petitioner, had stat­ ed that the Constitution was not only for the benefits of the highly placed, but as much for the poor and humble.