The Supreme Court, in association with the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), has launched a monthly lecture and dialogue series titled “The Constitution as a Charter of Opportunity: Democracy, Enterprise and Inclusive Nation-Building”, with former Vice-Chancellor and legal academic Prof. Dr. Ranbir Singh delivering the inaugural lecture.
The occasion also saw Prof. Dr. Ranbir Singh conferred with the first Supreme Court Nyay Shiksha Samman, a non-monetary distinction instituted to recognise contributions to legal education and the advancement of legal scholarship.
The series, announced by Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant on September 5, Teachers’ Day, seeks to create a sustained forum for intellectual engagement on the Constitution, democratic institutions, enterprise and inclusive nation-building. The initiative is intended to bring the judiciary, Bar and academia into a continuing dialogue on contemporary constitutional and societal questions.
The inaugural programme sought to underline the Constitution’s role not merely as a charter of rights, but also as a framework for creating opportunities for citizens and advancing a more inclusive social order. The series is envisaged as a platform where members of the legal profession and the academic community can engage with ideas extending beyond conventional judicial discourse.
Addressing the gathering, Attorney General for India R. Venkataramani highlighted the diverse generational composition of the audience, observing that people belonging to different age groups had assembled to participate in the inaugural lecture.
Venkataramani also spoke about the growing challenge to sustained attention in contemporary times. In this context, he emphasised the significance of intellectual forums that encourage focused listening and reflection. He said lectures of this nature are particularly valuable for judges and lawyers as they provide an opportunity to engage with emerging areas of academia and fields of knowledge that increasingly intersect with the law.
SCBA President Pradeep Rai described the initiative as a significant moment for the Bar and expressed pride in the Association’s collaboration with the Supreme Court. He said that while some institutional initiatives are designed to respond to a particular moment, the present initiative had the potential to develop into a wider movement.
Rai reflected on the constitutional settlement of 1950, noting that the Constitution conferred rights upon Indians as citizens while also establishing a framework of opportunities for the citizenry. He pointed out that India’s distinctive social and historical character means that several centuries effectively coexist within the country, leaving sections of its population separated by significant social and economic distances.
Against this backdrop, Rai underlined the potential of the lecture series to generate an impact extending well beyond the judiciary and to contribute to intellectual engagement across institutions.
The monthly lecture and dialogue series is thus envisaged as a continuing constitutional forum, bringing together the judiciary, legal practitioners, academics and other stakeholders to examine the Constitution through the interconnected lenses of democracy, opportunity, enterprise and inclusive nation-building.
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