A id S ocial J ustice It is useful to understand that there is a difference between law and justice. The essence of law is its force. Law is law because it carries the means to coerce or force obedience. The power of the state is behind it.
The essence of justice is fairness. Any system of law functions through a hierarchy of authorities. Constitution is the basis of all rules and authorities. It is the document that constitutes a nation’s tenets.
The Indian Constitution is India’s basic norm. All other laws are made as per the procedures prescribed by the Constitution. These laws are made and implemented by the authorities specified by the Constitution. A hierarchy of courts (which too are authorities created by the Constitution) inerpret the laws when there is a dispute.
The Supreme Court is the highest court and the ultimate interpreter of the Constitution. The Supreme Court has enhanced the substance of Fundamental Rights in the Constitution in many important ways. The Box below illustrates a few instances. A Fundamental Right includes all that is incidental to it.
The terse words of Article recognising the right to life and liberty have been interpreted as including all that goes into a life of quality, including livelihood, health, shelter, education and dignity. In various pronouncements, different attributes of ‘life’ have been expanded and ‘life’ has been explained to mean more than mere animal existence. These interpretations have been used to provide relief to prisoners subjected to torture and deprivation, release and rehabilitation of bonded labourers, against environmentally degrading activities, to provide primary healthcare and primary education. In the Supreme Court held that Right to Information is a part of and incidental to the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression under Article ( ) (a).
The Supreme Court read the Directive Principle of Equal Pay for Equal Work into the Fundamental Rights to Equality under Article and has provided relief to many plantation and agricultural labourers and to others.