Justice Under Indian Constitution

Justice is the state's and society's most important and frequently discussed objective. It serves as the cornerstone of orderly human living. To ensure equal distribution, complete equality, and just rewards for all, justice requires the regulation of people's self-serving behaviour. It exemplifies striking a balance between individual aims and societal objectives.

Justice has a high priority in political theory. To support or oppose governmental laws, policies, decisions, and actions, appeals are made on behalf of justice. Everyone engaging in an agitation to further their interests will always shout "We demand justice" as their rallying cry. Ultimately, all civil rights movements are rationalisation movements.

What Is the Meaning of Justice?

The French term "jostice," which also denotes rightness, equity, and the enforcement of the law, is the source of the English word "justice." As old as society and civilization itself are the idea of fairness. A just society is impossible to survive without the presence of law. Justice is one of a country's most crucial pillars. Justice must be present for a society to be legitimate. It is one of the most crucial pillars supporting any country's development.

Justice also refers to the proper implementation of the law as opposed to arbitrariness. What we mean when we say "appropriate implementation of the law" is "right application of the law." Only by correctly interpreting and putting laws into practice can justice be achieved in a community.

Giving each and every person what they are due is what justice means. The terms justice and fairness are frequently interchanged because of their close affinities. Justice is defined as the standard of rightfulness, which is to say that the relevant minimal level of what would constitute right or wrong should be true.

Justice Under the Indian Constitution

The Indian Constitution's preamble enshrines the idea of fairness. Because the Indian constitution's drafters recognised the importance of establishing justice in a nation, they made sure it was incorporated. The preamble of the Indian constitution and its articles 14, 15, 16, and 17 both express the notion of justice. Part III of the constitution, which grants each citizen certain fundamental rights, incorporates all of these articles.

In Article 39A of the Indian constitution, provisions relating to "Equal Justice and Free Legal Assistance" are enshrined. which guarantees each individual the ability to receive free legal assistance from court officials. Free legal aid cannot be withheld from anyone. It is the responsibility of the state to ensure that the functioning of the legal system is based on justice, to promote equality of opportunity, and to provide free legal aid to ensure that no citizen is denied the chance to pursue justice because of his or her financial situation or other disabilities.

Development Of Justice

Punishing criminal offenders was the fundamental goal of justice in prehistoric civilization. The penalty was pretty fitting. The administration of justice included the principles of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." The goal was to prevent future crimes from happening. Juice in the early world was therefore wholly harmful. The foundation of it is customary morality, tradition, or custom.

From Plato (427 BC–347 BC) all the way up to the twenty-first century, political philosophers have characterised the theory in a variety of ways.

Justice was characterised as a functional specialisation by the father of political philosophy, Plato, in his work, The Republic. He believed that justice should not be based on conventional morality but rather be ethical or philosophical. If someone carried out the tasks they were taught and equipped for, they would be doing justice. Plato further considered these as traits of the soul and mental habits that were aimed at creating an organic community. Justice was viewed as the highest virtue by Plato.

Types of Justice

Following are the major types of justice −

Social Justice

Social justice refers to treating all citizens equally without making any distinctions on the basis of caste, colour, race, religion, sex, or other factors. It entails denying privileges to any group within society while simultaneously creating allowances for the advancement of women and underprivileged groups (SCs, STs, and OBCs).

None of these distinctions should prevent anyone from having access to the social circumstances needed for development. Social justice is an ideology that is built upon the practise of social equality. In other words, it promotes equality in addition to equity. In the case of S.R. Bommai v. Union of India, the Supreme Court of India ruled that judicial review and social justice were two fundamental components of the Indian constitution.

Economic Justice

Non-discrimination based on economic status is what is meant by economic justice. It requires the eradication of stark differences in wealth, income, and property. everyone should have the ability to make a living and get equal pay for equal work. Because of their financial situation, people shouldn't be treated differently.

Because of their financial condition, no one should be excluded from opportunities. every individual's lack of chances shouldn't be based on their financial condition. economic justice is the end of poverty through increasing national wealth and resources and distributing this wealth fairly among all those who contributed to its production.

Political Justice

Political justice is ensuring that everyone has an impartial, equitable, and free opportunity to participate in politics. it implies that everyone has the same opportunity to hold political office and participate equally in governmental operations. Politically speaking, the government's operations must be impartial. Every individual should not be given any benefits and should be treated equally regardless of political affiliation. no matter a person's political stance, all laws ought to be applied equally to them.

Role of Judiciary

Judiciary’s major roles are −

• In the modern era, the court serves as both the guardian and protector of civil rights. All three sorts of justice provided by the Indian Constitution are enforced in large part by it.

• The establishment of justice in the nation and the realisation of the idea of justice stated in the preamble has been greatly aided by the judiciary. The judiciary has taken a progressive stance in this area and demonstrated via its judgments that justice is a necessary component of a developed and law-abiding society.

• The concept of social justice has been upheld by the court in cases like Maneka Gandhi v. UOI (right to liberty).

Conclusion

Better democracy requires improved administration of the justice system. Because they recognised that no community could become a constitutional society without the presence of all forms of justice, our constitution's founders incorporated this concept into the preamble as well as parts III and IV.

As a result, the Preamble is the most important section of the Constitution. Many provisions concerning fundamental rights and guiding principles for public policy are found in the Indian Constitution, which protects social order. To keep this order, justice is required.

Frequently Asked Question

Q1. Who introduces justice in India?

Ans. The British East India Company was given a charter by King George I in 1726 to set up "Mayor's courts" in Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta, which marked the beginning of the Indian legal system.

Q2. Who does hold the highest position in Indian Judicial System?

Ans. The highest-ranked member of the Indian judiciary is the Chief Justice of India. He or she is also the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India.

Q3. Is justice equal for all in India?

Ans. Equal justice for all of its residents is encouraged by the Constitution. According to Article 14 of the Constitution, no person should be denied the justice, as it states that equality before the law or equal protection under the laws on Indian territory.