Detailed Report: On 10-10-2018, the Viceroy Hall of The Claridges, New Delhi witnessed the presence of some eminent Judges of the Supreme Court for the release of “The Justice Dipak Misra Reader” by EBC Publishing Pvt. Ltd.
For this buoyant evening, the Chief Guest was Justice AK Sikri, Judge Supreme Court, Guests of Honour and Panelists were Justice Dipak Misra (Former Chief Justice of India), Attorney General KK Venugopal, eminent and distinguished Prof (Dr) NR Madhava Menon and Mr Surendra Malik, Chief Editor, Supreme Court Cases (SCC) . The Panel discussion was moderated by Shereen Bhan, Managing Editor, CNBC-TV18 [See the video coverage here].
The event was attended by distinguished guests including another former CJI Justice R.C. Lahoti and veteran Advocate and former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee among others.
“The Justice Dipak Misra Reader” is an ensemble of the major judgments delivered by Former Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra during his tenure in the office. The evening began with welcome speech by Mr Sumeet Malik for a gathering of Former Chief Justices, Sitting and Former Justices along with an energetic and full of curiosities audience for the launch of the Dipak Misra Reader following the panel discussion on “Constitutional Morality” a very much used and discussed phenomenon in the talked about recent 5-Judge Bench, Sabarimala Case [Indian Young Lawyers Assn. v. State of Kerala, 2018 SCC OnLine SC 1690].
In the address, Mr Sudeep Malik’s words of wisdom and thought-provoking speech on the topic for the day “Constitutional Morality” gave a start to the discussion followed by Ms Shereen Bhan’s moderation towards the discussion. Former CJI Dipak Misra while mentioning the concept of “Constitutional Silences” along with Justice AK Sikri, Judge Supreme Court of India, speaking in favour of the idea of “Constitutional Morality” pulled all the strings for the acceptance of the same by AG KK Venugopal who supported the dissenting view of Indu Malhotra, J. in the Sabarimala decision along with Prof (Dr) NR Madhava Menon giving a “not-so-convinced” nod towards the concept. Mr Surendra Malik elevated the concept of constitutional morality to the stature of “Dharma”, a description that was well received by the august gathering including the Hon’ble Judges.
The phenomenal evening assembled with the efforts of the EBC family was wrapped up successfully with enthralling and enlightening views of the illustrious crowd.
The Justice Dipak Misra Reader is the unique and comprehensive law and jurisprudence enunciated by Former Chief Justice Dipak Misra on certain key issues that face our Nation and our People today, in his seven highly prolific years at the Supreme Court. What makes this body of law particularly valuable is that it is directly actionable. The Reader has been crafted in such a way that the original headnotes, pagination and paragraphing of the judgments as published in SCC has been retained. Thus, the cases included in The Reader can easily be cited in a court of law.
The cases in Vol. 1 of the Reader relate particularly to Constitutional Governance beyond the express words of the Constitution, in consonance with what has been coined as “Constitutional Morality”: the Spirit that animates the Letter of the Constitution.
In the area of Human Rights and Social Reform, the cases in Vol. 2 of The Reader relate most poignantly to the Empowerment of Women and Children and to the Protection of their Body, Soul and Spirit.
In addition to crafting completely new principles in the above crucial areas of law, the learned judgments in Vol. 3 clarify important issues in various areas of Criminal Law and Procedure, and Arbitration, Commercial and Civil Law.
-Sumeet Malik
-Sudeep Malik
