Poverty is violation of human rights, says Justice Kapadia

AURANGABAD: Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia said on Saturday that poverty was the violation of basic human rights and that concerted and systematic efforts were needed to tackle the issue.

He expressed the view while delivering a lecture on Constitutional ethics, organised jointly by the Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (Bamu) and V R Savant Memorial Trust. Bombay high court Chief Justice Mohit Shah presided over the function held on the Bamu campus.

Kapadia underlined the need to introduce the study of the Constitution as a subject in schools and said that everyone should read and follow the Constitution.

He said that the tendency to expect everything from the government was a wrong approach. "We expect government to do so many things. Our population is over 120 crore and 40,000 children are born every minute. Of the total population, only 3% people pay personal income tax. Of these, 2% are salaried employees. Where do we have the resources to feed the population? In such a scenario, we must also speak of our duties while taking about our rights," he said. He said many people were unaware of their rights and duties. Both these things have to go together, he said.

Kapadia said he has to consult the Constitution each day at the Supreme Court. "The more I read it, the belief in it and the respect towards its architect B R Ambedkar is strengthened. I owe my growth and the present position as the Chief Justice of India to the Constitution," he said.

"I belong to a minuscule minority and I firmly believe that in no other country than India

would I have expected to become the chief justice. It happens only in India," he said.

He urged students, lawyers and judges to pay more attention to acquiring knowledge, especially that of regulatory law. He urged judges and lawyers to learn economics, so that they are not misled.

Justice Shah said that the Constitution was not merely a legal document, but a living document. He urged judges to be fearless while delivering judgments. Fear of failure holds the keeper of public offices from taking decisions, he said. He also agreed with the suggestions that judges should deliver lectures for law students.

Justice Sharad Bobade, Justice (retd) Arvind Savant, vice-chancellor Vijay Pandharipande, school education minister Rajendra Darda, minister of higher education Rajesh Tope, Bamu registrar Dhanraj Mane and lawyer Pankaj Savant were also present on the occasion.

Earlier, Justices Kapadia and Shah paid tributes at the statue of B R Ambedkar on the university campus. They also unveiled a plaque to mark the construction of the building for the proposed department of postgraduate studies in law.

(2012-09-02/timesofindia)