Social justice and equality in India

In March, 1986, the Directorate of Correspondence Courses, Panjab University, Chandigarh organized a three-day Seminar on 'Social Justice and Equality in the Indian Context. It was sponsored by the I.C.S.S.R. North Western Regional Centre. The seminar brought together the philosophers, political scien tists, sociologists, economists and the legal luminaries from all over the region to discuss the problem of justice and equality. The papers which appear in this volume were all presented by the delegates to the Seminar.

This volume is given to an elucidation of different aspects of the problem of social justice and equality. Ever since the dawn of human consciousness men have begun to reflect upon the problems of justice and equality. It has been the subject of the most famous philosophical works i.e. the Republic of Plato and the Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle. Since its literature is so vast and it has so many diverse and divergent dimensions, it is no wonder that justice and equality have become a subject of extensive controversy and the bibliography of the subject is be wildering in size and complexity. The actual literature dealing with justice and equality is still more confusing. Almost three centuries ago, a famous philosopher Leibniz lamented that "the notions of right and justice are still far from clear despite the fact that the clearest writers have written about them". Since. his day many more volumes have been written about justice, and the list is fast expanding but still we are not very clear

about the concepts of justice and equality. The study of the problems of justice and equality in the Indian Context presents a far more formidable challenge. India has a long history extending back to several millennia, and innumerable cultural and racial strains have gone into the making of the rich texture of the Indian society. The Vedas are considered to be the earliest source of law and justice. The Dharmsútras closely follow the ancient Verdie norms. The old practices were regularized and given the shape of formal legal codes. Though the legal concepts and procedures seem to be quite simple in the Vedic period, the Smritis show a great deal of juristic refinement. But still it may be stated that the documentary evidence of India's social and cultural history is limited.

And before independence the basic structure of Indian Polity political, social, economic and legal, was uneven. Actually inequalities were inherent in India's age-old socio economic structure which worsened due to the authoritarian rule over the centuries. People of India did not enjoy real freedom for hundreds of years. So the first concern of free India was to build up a free and just society. The preamble of the Indian Constitution states that the people of India have solemnly resolved to "secure to all its citizens, justice, social,

economic and political...Equality of status and opportunity". The mere fact that the ideals of justice and equality have been incorporated in the preamble itself shows its value and predominant position in the constitution. Though these preambular concepts of justice and equality have been translated by the framers of the Constitution into specific provisions in Part-III i.e. the fundamental rights and Part-IV, i.e. the Directive Principles of the State Policy, the actual connotations and intentions of the framers have always been a debatable issue.

It was, therefore, found necessary to know and review the meaning of the concepts of justice and equality. In the papers presented in this seminar an attempt has been made to analyse the contents and connotations of these concepts fairly exhaustively. What does the economic justice mean in the Constitution? What is the meaning of the concept of social justice within the Constitution ? And to what extent 'equality before law' and 'equality in fact' have been given effect to in reality have been subjected to searching analysis.