Looking at the current events, the claims that the country is running according to the constitution can be said to be hollow

- Alterations are being made in the provisions of the Constitution despite not being defective

- On two occasions, the central government passed laws with the intention of depriving the Delhi region of power since 1992. On both occasions, the Supreme Court overturned the central government's move

- Opinion - P. Chidambaram

The oldest democracies in the world have a sovereign (king or queen) and not a written constitution, although it is becoming a model for other constitutional democracies. According to this 'constitution', the administration of Britain is superior to that of other countries where there is a written constitution. However, the situation is opposite in countries like Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland etc. on one hand and China, Iran, Myanmar etc. on the other hand. The first mentioned countries are listed by the V-Dem organization as countries with liberal democracies while the latter countries are included in the list of countries with autocracies.

I believe that India is somewhere in between. India has had a written constitution for a long time. Dr. in drafting the constitution and maintaining it. It took Ambedkar and his colleagues on the drafting committee and the Constituent Assembly two years, eleven months and 17 days. The debates in the Constituent Assembly are a model of democratic debate, opposition and decision-making.

We fell but got up again

Parliament has made amendments in the Constitution of the country whenever it found fault and sometimes even when there was no fault. So far 106 amendments have been made in the constitution of the country. Legal experts are of the view that the biggest clear challenge to the Constitution arose when the Emergency was implemented. There are other instances, however, when the constitution has faced subtle challenges. The constitution had crumbled but survived. On such occasions, when the Supreme Court also got involved, the court also stumbled, but with the passage of time, the situation calmed down.

sneak attacks

Some recent developments are worrying. According to me, these incidents amount to a veiled attack on the constitution of the country.

- One of the other steps whose legality was questioned was the move on August 5, 2019, to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two separate Union Territories. In a strange interpretation of the Constitution, the Parliament consulted the Parliament and after consultation the Parliament divided one state into two Union Territories. There is no guarantee that this will not happen in any other state of the country.

-On two occasions, the central government passed laws with the intention of depriving the Delhi region of power since 1992. On both occasions, the Supreme Court overturned the central government's move. In the monsoon session of Parliament, the government enacted a law removing the control of elected ministers over government employees in Delhi and handing it over to an appointed lieutenant governor. Ministers have been left at the mercy of government employees and the Lt. Governor.

- The Election Commission of India is a constitutional body with wide powers. It has the primary responsibility of holding free and fair elections and thereby fulfilling its commitment to democracy. To ensure that the election commissioners are appointed in a neutral manner, the Supreme Court created a special machinery comprising the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India and the opposition. But in a brutal move, the central government overruled the Supreme Court decision and enacted a law replacing the Chief Justice of India with a minister appointed by the Prime Minister. This law has been challenged and if it survives, it will lead to democracy elsewhere in India.

- State legislatures pass bills. Under Article 200 of the Constitution, the governor of a state can assent or withhold assent to a bill or reserve it for the consideration of the President. Some governors do none of this. They keep the bill under wraps. Such as not signing proposals to nominate members to the Legislative Council, suppressing advice to disqualify a member in violation of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. Can it be said that the Constitution works against the tendency of not approving bills despite having powers?

- The last attack on the constitution can be said to be from the state of Manipur. Separatist activities have gained momentum in this state. The Kukis cannot enter the Imphal Valley while the Maites cannot enter the Kuki dominated area. The Chief Minister of Manipur and his ministers cannot move away from their residence. The Governor of Manipur called a meeting of the state assembly in Imphal but 10 of the 60 Kuki members could not attend the session. If this situation cannot be considered as a breakdown of the Constitution, Article 356 should be deleted from the Constitution.

Ambedkar's warning

On November 25, 1949, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, in his closing speech on the eve of voting, said,

No matter how good a constitution is, it needs to be stigmatized because those who claim to run it can be rigid. No matter how rigid a constitution is, it can be made good if those who run it are good. The functioning of a constitution does not depend entirely on its nature.

The question is whether we are sustaining the constitution or taking it to the pit.