Speaker: Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India

Centre for Post Graduate Legal Studies, TERI School of Advanced Studies (Deemed University) hosted a webinar on ‘Relevance of Fundamental amid Covid 19 Pandemic’on April 22, 2020. The webinar was organized in the backdrop of the Kartavya initiative of the UGC to commemorate 70 years of the adoption of the Constitution of India where by the Higher Education Institutions are encouraged to take up activities (on Indian Constitution) throughout the year.

The webinar was attended by about 130 participant pool comprising of academicians, research scholars, professionals and students from across India.

The speaker initiated with an overview about the history and evolution of fundamental duties followed by the present scenario of fundamental duties with respect to COVID-19. He asserted that the fundamental duties were not a part of the Constitution when it was first drafted. They were included only after the 42nd amendment was brought in by the Indira Gandhi Government. Discussing the duty on the part of the State to protect the Fundamental Rights of the citizens enshrined in Part-III of the Constitution the speaker explained how the State had to face umpteen number of challenges. The government started feeling a sense of invincibility and decided to add Part-IV to the Constitution. The Swaran Singh Committee was set up which came up with multiple duties to be followed by the citizens in order to inculcate a sense of nationhood among them. However, the fundamental duties are neither enforceable nor there lies any penalty for violation. The speaker built a link between the pandemic and the fundamental duty enshrined in Art.51A(h) which discusses about the scientific temper to address COVID-19. A question about the legality behind the national lockdown was raised by the speaker and it was learnt that neither the Epidemic Act nor the National Disaster Management Act provide for this type of national lockdown. The speaker emphasized on the violation of rights of the migrant labourer and those who are not privileged during the lockdown. To prevent any kind of violation Ranganath Mishra said that we should raise awareness among the people about their duties and follow a gentle approach. He clarified that it is the responsibility of the government to keep the people safe and if harsh steps need to be taken in order to ensure safety then they will be taken. But for that the government should have a proper law in place to give a firm footing to the lockdown and in order to stop any kind of abuse it will be best if the law makers put themselves in shoes of the most affected and then decide.

Post the session, the queries from the participants were addressed and incisive observations were recorded.