The missing spirit

The facts of the Maharashtra developments bring out starkly the distinction between obedience of the letter of the Constitution and the spirit of it.

Each year, Constitution Day is observed routinely on November 26 to mark the adoption of the Constitution of India on November 26, 1949, with leaders making solemn speeches and encouragement. This year, too, it was no different with President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the joint session of Parliament to mark the 70th Constitution Day. Opposition parties boycotted the function to register their protest against the manner in which the Centre and Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had conspired to install a minority government in the state and this facilitated horse-trading. So the official function at the Central hall of Parliament could only be an exercise of symbolism. The Centre, according to reports, has planned a year long awareness campaign across the country on the constitutional rights of citizen and to make reading of the Preamble of the Constitution mandatory for all Central and state government officials.

The political developments of Maharashtra between November 23 and 26, which were triggered by the controversial decision of the Centre to lift President’s rule in the state, suggested that rather than the people and officials, it is the high ranking constitutional functionaries in New Delhi and the states who need to learn the values of the Constitution in order to succeed in achieving it’s goals.

On November 23, President Ram Nath Kovind issued a Proclamation saying:

“In exercise of the powers conferred by clause(2) of article 356 of the Constitution, l, Ram Nath Kovind, President of India hereby revoke the proclamation issued by me under the said article on the 12th of November 2019, in relation to the state of Maharashtra in effect from the 23rd day of November, 2019”.

There was nothing unusual about the wording of the Proclamation, except what it hid: it’s timing.