Court’s stamp
It is heartening that the Supreme Court of India, time and again, is asserting its supremacy in upholding the rule of law and democratic principles in the country (Page 1, February 21). Its intervention in the Chandigarh mayoral election case can be added to its stand in other important instances such as premature release of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case and also the electoral bonds scheme. The adoption of unfair, undemocratic and unethical practices to trample on key institutions set up under the Constitution is nothing but a serious assault on the soul of the country.
V. Johan Dhanakumar,
Chennai
Fali Nariman
I write this letter as a former Union Minister for Law and Justice. In the passing of Fali Nariman, the nation has lost a legal luminary who kept the flame of liberty and freedom alive in testing times by his fearless advocacy of the nation’s liberal and libertarian conscience. Apart from his powerful advocacy and defence of fundamental rights on several occasions, in and out of courts, his contribution to the Supreme Court of India’s constitutional jurisprudence on several other important issues, particularly those concerning the accountability of constitutional power, is etched in the national consciousness.
A gentleman to the core, Mr. Nariman, the jurist, parliamentarian and humanist, will be sorely missed.
Ashwani Kumar,
New Delhi