Public Administration Mains 2018 : Model Question and Answer - 104

(Public Administration Paper II / Chapter: Union Government and Administration)

(Current Based) Question: The law of justice do not see the need to “save” the Constitution but simply ask the political class to follow one. Comment. (20 Marks/250 Words)

Model Answer:

One may then say that “constitutionalism” is the space between “absolutism” and “anarchy” and its constant repair and renewal is the prime function of adjudication. Awakening is a constant process; renaissance has a beginning but knows no end because everyday fidelity to the vision, spirit and letter of the Constitution is the supreme obligation of all constitutional beings.

One ought to witness in daily decisions an “acceptance of constitutional obligations” not just within the text of the Constitution but also its “silences”. To thus reawaken is to be “obeisant to the constitutional conscience with a sense of constitutional vision”. Courts should adopt that approach to interpretation which “glorifies the democratic spirit of the Constitution”. “Reverence” for the Constitution (or constitutionalism) is the essential first step towards constitutional renaissance.

People are the true sovereigns, never to be reduced to the servile status of being a subject; rather as beings with rights, they are the source of trust in governance and founts of legitimacy. The relatively autonomous legislative, executive, administrative and adjudicatory powers are legitimate only when placed at the service of constitutional ends.

All forms of public power are held in trust. And political power is not an end but a means to constitutional governance. Our constitutional aspirations finds abundant reflection in the plurality and diversity of the elements which it comprehends within justice, liberty, equality and fraternity”. Clearly, constitutional morality “provides a principled understanding for unfolding the work of governance”. (Total Words- 242)

Valuable inputs from The Indian Express Coulmns: ‘A Constitutional Renaissance' by Upendra Baxi

(Linkages: Constitutionalism and State, Constitutional Aspiration and Governance, Constitutional Renewal and Adjudication)

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