"Teach Ancient Indian Jurisprudence" -
Justice S Abdul Nazeer
Speaking on "Decolonisation of Indian Legal System" at the Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad's National Council Meeting held at Hyderabad Supreme Court Justice S Abdul Nazeer called for freeing administration of justice in India from the 'colonial psyche' by teaching law students about ancient yet advanced legal jurisprudence. He said the legal norms developed by great personalities such as Kautilya, Manu, Brishaspati were worth studying and emulation .
Supreme Court Justice S Abdul Nazeer
Advocating for the introduction of ancient Indian Jurisprudence as a subject in law colleges, justice Nazeer said ," There can be no doubt that this colonial legal system is not suitable for the Indian population. The need of the hour is the Indianisation of the legal system.
Quoting generously from the jurisprudential works of great sages and thinkers Justice S Abdul Nazeer said ,"I firmly believe that it would be a worthy endeavour which could revitalise the Indian legal system and align it with the cultural, social and heritage aspects of our great nation and ensure more robust delivery of justice."
The future of the rule of law and parliamentary democracy in India depends to a great extent on the ability, wisdom and patriotism of our future lawyers and judges." Such lawyers and judges will only grow from the social soil of India and will be nurtured by its social atmosphere. Great lawyers and judges are not born but are made by proper education and great traditions, as were Manu, Kautilya, Katyayana, Brishaspati, Narada, Parashara, Yajnavalkya and other legal giants of ancient India. The continued neglect of their great knowledge and adherence to the alien colonial legal system is detrimental to the goals of our Constitution and against our national interests," Justice Nazeer added.
Justice S Abdul Nazeer further said that the concept of demanding justice was inbuilt in the ancient Indian legal system. In contrast, under the British colonial system, which persists even today, justice has to be requested in the most polite manner while addressing the judges as 'Lordships' and 'Ladyships'.
Justice Nazeer went on to say that under Indian jurisprudence marriage was a duty, a job to be performed as one of the many social obligations which everyone had to perform. But, the pre-occupation of western jurisprudence with rights has resulted in marriage being looked upon as an alliance from which each partner tries to get as much as he or she can. The high rate of divorce is the result of neglecting the 'duty' aspect of marriage - the word right (adhikar) does not occur even once in the whole of Anushasan Parv or the Arthasastra. Indian jurisprudence is founded on theories that rights are corollaries of duties.
