The special Supreme Court Bench on Social Justice: Its role and prospects

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere-Martin Luther King, Jr

Social justice has been defined as a fair and proper administration of the laws that conform to
the natural law thats cover all peoples regardless of gender, origin, possession or religion.1
Social justice is the foundation stone of Indian Constitution. The makers of the Indian
constitution were aware to the use a minimalistic of various principal of justice. They were in
search of such justice which could full fill the expectation of entire revolution. Pandit Jawahar
Lal Nehru brought an idea before constituent assembly
First work of this assembly is to make India Independent by a new constitution through which
starving people will get complete meal and cloths and each Indian will get best option that can
progress himself.
Social justice found useful for everyone in its kind. Although it is not define in the constitution
but it is an ideal element of feeling which is a goal of constitution. Filling of Social Justice is a
form of relative concept which is changeable by the time, circumstances, culture and ambition of
people.2
Provision of Social Justice under Constitution of India
The term justice in Preamble embraces three distinct form social, economic and political
secured by provisions of Fundamental Rights and Directive Principle of State Policy.
The Indian constitution unique in its content a sprit and it does have several silent feature that
distingue it from the constitution of other countries. It was Bhimrao Ambedkar who tried to turn
the wheel of law towards social justice for everyone. He is the man of millennium for social
justice as he was the first to successfully lead a tirade of securing social justice to the vast section
of Indian humanity with the help of law. At time of Independence the makers of constitution
were highly influenced by the feeling of social equality and social justice for such reason they
1 http://thelawdictionary.org/social-justice/ last visit at 2:00 on date 25/03/2015
2 V.R. Krishna Iyear , Social Justice- Sunset or Dawn (1987) p.53
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incorporated the provision which is as follows the words, Socialist, Secular, Democratic
and Republic have been inserted in the preamble. The expression Socialist was intentionally
introduced in the Preamble.3
According to Supreme Court the principal aim of a socialist state is to eliminate inequality of
income, status and standard of life and to provide a decent standard of life to the working
people.4
In Excel Wear v Union of India 5, the Supreme Court held that the addition of the word socialist
might enable the courts to learn more in favour of nationalisation and state ownership of an
industry..
The following provision of the chapter on Fundamental Right insure Social Justicea)
b)
c)
d)
e)

Equality before law (Article 14)

Protection of life and personal liberty.(Article 21)
Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour.(Article 23)
Prohibition of employment of children in factories etc.(Article 24)
Remedies for enforcement of rights conferred by this part.(Article 32)

Part IV of Indian Constitution lays emphasis on Directive Principles of State Policy. In Article
39A which talks about free legal aid. The concept of legal aid can be traced back to the historic
Magnacarta of 1215 AD. Article 39A inserted by constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976.It
provides for legal aid and assistance to poor and indigent litigants. The purpose of this provision
is to protect the people who are neglected and indigent and downtrodden against the assault of
elite section of society and provides the indigent person an opportunity of getting justice through
free legal aid cells .No person shall be deprived of his rights to move to a court of law because of
his social disability and poverty.

3 By the 42nd Constitutional (Amendment) Act, 1976.

4 D.S.Nakara v. Union of India, AIR 1983 SC 130: (1983) 1 SCC 305.
5 AIR 1979 SC25
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Government of India in 1952 directed or State Government provide aid and assistance to all
those rails whose offences were punishable with imprisonment exceeding five years. The
beneficiaries of legal aid scheme are weaker section of the society.
The Constitution of India is not completely dedicated to any traditional ideology as equalitarian,
utilitarian or entitlement theory. It is embedded on concept of social justice and various other rule
of justice such as quality necessity option etc. are its helping organs. Aristotle propounded
original principal of equalitarian justice that is equal behavior in equal matter which means if
there will be unequal behavior between equal than there will be injustice. In State of Uttar Prdesh
v. Pradep Tandon AIR 1975 SC 563, the Supreme Court accepted reasonable classification
justifiable on the basis of unequal people. To accept right to equality is an essential element of
justice. The constitution of India prohibits unequal behavior on the ground on religion, race,
caste and sex, but constitution accepts that strict compliance of formal equality will make up
equality. The system of special provision for backward classes of society, it is to try to make the
principal of equality more effective.
In a very important case of Indira Shahani v. Union of India. 6 The SC declares 27% reservation
for economically and socially backward classes of the society under central services.
Supreme Court has not found any possible definition of social justice 7, but it has accepted social
justice as a very important essential organ of legal system .Supreme Court of India has given a
dynamic shape to the concept of Social Justice and it is a guiding force of judicial
pronouncement .In Shandu Ram v. Pulin8 the SC ruled that as between two parties, if a deal is
made with one party without serious detriment to the other court would lean in favour of weaker
section of society.

6 AIR 1993 SC 497

7 Mysore Mills Co. Ltd. Vs. Sooti Mill Mazdoor Union , AIR 1955 S.C. 170
8 AIR 1984 SC 1471.
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Social Justice is no more a narrow or one sided or pedantic concept .The court has led emphasis
on social justice so as to attain substantial degree of social economic and political equality.
Social justice and equality are complementary to each other.
Special bench of Supreme Court-Its role and prospect
The voice of people never goes unheard before the highest court of the land. Chief Justice of
India H L Dattu has set up a special bench, christened Social Justice Bench on December 3,
2014, to deal specially with the issues troubling a common man in everyday. This is the first time
the Supreme Court will have a special bench to hear cases pertaining to public interest and all
fresh PILs may be heard by the new bench from now.
Notifying the constitution of a two-judge bench on, the CJI, through an official note, expressed
concern over pendency of number of cases in the SC without a proper hearing.
Cases that relate to problems in society and which have a direct impact on the rights of the
people are the areas where the constitutional mechanism has to play a role to meet the goals of
the Constitution, according to the note.
Honble the Chief Justice of India is of the view that these cases shall be given a specialised
approach so that disposal of the masses will realise the fruits of the rights provided to them by
the constitutional text, adding the CJIs order aimed at securing social justice one of the ideals
of the Constitution.
Secretary General VSR Avadhani told The Indian Express that the CJI has directed that the
Social Justice Bench would start functioning from December 12. The bench of Justices Lokur
and Lalit will sit every Friday at 2 pm to take up all pending petitions dealing with social issues
and will also entertain fresh matters relating to social justice.
Out of around 200 such cases pending in the court, 65 cases have been identified to begin with
and the cases, already pending before other benches, may get transferred to the special bench on
the directions of the CJI.

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The need for a special bench to provide social justice to citizens, which is a promise in the
Constitution's Preamble, which is been felt from long time. The important issues highlighted by
the court is ensuring adequate healthcare to citizens irrespective of their status.

Under the domain of social justice, several cases highlighting social issues are included. They are

Release of surplus food grains lying in stocks for the use of people living in the droughtaffected areas to frame a fresh scheme for public distribution of food grains.

To take steps to prevent untimely death of women and children for want of nutritious
food.

Providing hygienic meal besides issues relating to children to provide night shelter to
destitute and homeless.

To provide medical facilities to all the citizens irrespective of their economic condition.

To provide hygienic drinking water.

To provide safety and secure living condition for the fair gender who are forced into
prostitution etc.
Thus, by setting up the Social Justice Bench SC is trying to play a proactive role in order to meet
the goals of the constitution.

Newly constituted special 'Social Justice Bench' of the Supreme Court had its first hearings and
took up matters of Narmada dam project, shelters for homeless persons, welfare of construction
workers and exploitation of children in circuses, among others.
The special bench of justices Madan B Lokur and U U Lalit first took up 2002 plea of Narmada
Bachao Aandolan and asked parties, including NBA activist Medha Patkar, to file short synopsis
by December 24 as it did not want to waste time going through records running into thousands of
pages.
This matter was followed by the hearing of a PIL on exploitation of children in circuses in which
the Supreme Court had banned their participation three years ago.
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After briefly hearing the issues arising in matters like child labour, child trafficking and child
bondage, the bench directed the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare to act as a nodal agency
and convene a meeting of secretaries concerned of states and Union territories to ensure
compliance of its directions.
Among the other social issues which came for was on shelter for homeless and the bench set a
deadline of December 31 for all the states to give their report on it.
However, some experts said that with only a brief announcement made so far, details about
implementation, the number of cases to be transferred to the bench and other such matters were
unclear. Definitional questions as to what qualifies as social justice will arise. It might also
encourage forum shopping, as each litigant wants to be heard by a sympathetic bench .Lawyer
Rebecca John said. If the bench is a response to recognizing that case related to women and
children are serious, then I welcome the move.
The electronic and print media are, therefore, requested to give wide publicity to the constitution
of the Social Justice Bench so that all the stake holders including the Advocates and public will
take a note of the purpose and objectives for which the Special Bench has been constituted.
The setting up of Special Bench for social justice will offer some solace and comfort to the
people in social field .In future this bench of Supreme Court will help to deliver speedy access to
constitutional rights ,especially those relating to women and children .This bench in future will
be helping to take not only pending matters but also new ones in order to secure social justice
,which is one of the ideals of the Indian Constitution and it will also expedite the delivery of
justice .Thus ,the move of the Supreme Court for setting up a special bench for social justice will
help in achieving justice quickly and it will help women and children to achieve justice in a short
span of time. The move is designed will be helping to ensure that cases can move quickly
through the apex court and notably, to encourage deeper deliberation on the rights and
responsibilities of the state .By setting up of Special Bench for Social Justice the Supreme Court
will be trying to play a active role in order to meet the goals of the constitution by providing
social justice to each and every citizen of India and it is a great step taken up by the Supreme
Court.

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BIBLOGRAPHY
WEBSITE
1. http://www.shareyouressays.com/3862/short-essay-on-social-justice-through-legal-aid
2. http://cmsenvis.cmsindia.org/newsletter/enews/NewsDetails.asp?id=66622
3. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/SC-sets-up-social-justicebench/articleshow/45367638.cms

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4. http://food.manoramaonline.com/news/nation/sc-sets-up-social-justice-bench-to-dealwith-social-issues.html
5. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/447325/sc-social-justice-bench-holds.html
6. http://zeenews.india.com/news/india/social-justice-bench-of-sc-starts-hearingpils_1513850.html
BOOKS REFERRED
1. Indian Constitutional Law-M.P.Jain
2. Social justice and the Indian Constitution-Dr.B.R.Ambedkar

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