Gavai: Dignity at heart of Indian democracy

Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday addressed the Dr. L.M. Singhvi Memorial Lecture, organised by Jindal Global University at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, reflecting on the centrality of human dignity to India's constitutional vision.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

NewsX was the media partner of this event.

The memorial series honours Dr. L.M. Singhvi, jurist, diplomat and parliamentarian, and this year's edition addressed the theme, "Human Dignity as the Soul of the Constitution: Judicial Reflections in the 21st Century."

Opening the event, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi described the Constitution as "the grund norm, the sacred text. But even sacred texts require a spirit. The Constitution is not a stone monument, it is a living organism. The life that elevates it and the pulse that keeps it beating is dignity. Dignity is what transforms the Constitution from a legal contract to a moral covenant."

He pointed to landmark rulings where dignity shaped constitutional outcomes. "The core of the Kesavananda Bharati judgment was dignity. Puttaswamy was dignity in the digital age. Navtej Johar affirmed that love, identity and intimacy cannot be demeaned by majoritarian prejudice. Dignity was not an afterthought in these examples. It was the soul of the process."