Mumbai:Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai on Saturday invoked Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s vision of a single, unifying Constitution for the nation as he inaugurated the Constitution Preamble Park here.
In his address, delivered in Marathi, CJI Gavai emphasised that Dr Ambedkar never supported a separate constitution for any state. Reflecting on the Supreme Court’s unanimous five-judge verdict upholding the Centre’s 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370, which had granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Gavai recalled his own role on the bench led by then Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud.
“When Article 370 was challenged, I remembered Dr Babasaheb’s words: one Constitution is suited for a country. If we want to keep the country united, we need only one Constitution,” he said.
Gavai noted that critics once warned that India’s federal structure might fragment the nation in times of crisis. However, Dr Ambedkar confidently asserted that the Constitution would meet every challenge and preserve unity.
“Look at our neighbourslike Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka. Whenever India has faced obstacles, it has stood united,” the CJI observed.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari, who unveiled a statue of Dr Ambedkar at the park’s opening, praised the CJI’s participation and lauded the Constitution’s gifts of freedom, equality, and fraternity.
“The Constitution clearly delineates the rights and responsibilities of our four pillars of democracy: the executive, the legislature, the judiciary, and the media,” he said.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, commending CJI Gavai’s stewardship, announced a government initiative to ensure that the Preamble reaches every student as part of the Constitution’s Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.
“If we embrace the values of the Preamble, 90 per cent of the country’s problems will be solved,” Fadnavis declared.
