It wasn’t a jurist, a policymaker, or an activist who delivered the sharpest reminder of constitutional responsibility on Constitution Day, it was a teenager. In a hall filled with legal luminaries and scholars, Class XII student Pavani Bansal from Cambridge School, Greater Noida, stood up and asked a question that cut through the haze both literal and political. “If we as citizens have a duty to protect the environment,” she asked, “why is the government not owning up its duty? We all breathe the same air.”
Former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B. Lokur, known for his landmark environmental interventions from the bench, did not soften the truth. He agreed without hesitation, the government’s constitutional obligation to safeguard the environment is failing, and the results are visible in the alarming AQI that has turned Delhi’s air into a 24x7 human rights violation. Pavani’s pointed question and Lokur’s candid response underlined a powerful message that the Constitution is not an abstract ideal enforced in 1950, but a living promise that must confront the crises of everyday life, including the toxic air we inhale.
A panel discussion held on the eve of Constitution Day, featuring former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B. Lokur, constitutional commentator Suhas Borker, and a remarkable young student voice from Greater Noida, offered a sharp, human-centred reminder of why the Constitution is more than a legal text, it is the moral compass of our democracy.
Suhas Borker, public intellectual and activist moderating the conversation, set the tone by calling the Constitution the most progressive in the world, a vibrant and evolving work in progress.
Justice Lokur, reflecting on the historical labour behind the document, reminded the audience that the Constitution was not crafted in isolation or haste. It was debated and discussed for nearly two years in the Constituent Assembly by lawyers, farmers, freedom fighters, scholars, and social reformers. Several amendments were considered before its adoption. “We the people have given ourselves the Constitution,” Lokur emphasised, rooting its authority not in government but in collective will.
He described the Constitution as an idea, one anchored in justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity. These are not ornamental values, they are the scaffolding of our republic. Lokur highlighted India’s vast plurality, 18 religions, multiple political systems, left-leaning governments in Kerala, West Bengal in the past, and a spectrum of sociocultural identities. The Constitution’s secular design, he noted, ensures equal respect and equal treatment for all. “We all belong to one nation,” he said simply, underscoring the moral unity that the founders envisioned.
But the conversation sharply turned towards a modern crisis one not imagined in 1947 but now central to every citizen’s lived experience the environment. Justice Lokur reminded the audience that the Constitution expects citizens to protect the environment as part of their fundamental duties. Yet, it is the State that carries the primary constitutional obligation to safeguard natural resources.
Pavani Bansal asked why the government, despite its constitutional duty, was failing to protect the environment. “If we as citizens have duties, why is the government not owning its duty?” she pressed.
Justice Lokur did not deflect. “You are absolutely right,” he said, pointing out that the government claims to be taking steps but the results are “clearly not visible.” The 400+ AQI choking Delhi day after day speaks for itself. Pavani persisted, "The government also breathes the same air. They have equal responsibility. This is human rights violation 24x7”.
Justice Lokur reiterated that we must see the Constitution as a whole not fragmented provisions but a cohesive vision of a just society.