The Hindu : National : Constitution does not make any distinction among citizens on ground of place of birth: Shanti Bhusha

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 18, 2004

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Constitution does not make any distinction among citizens on ground of place of birth: Shanti Bhusha

Shanti Bhushan, senior advocate and former Union Law Minister writes:

I saw the emotional outburst of Smt. Sushma Swaraj, MP of the Rajya Sabha on television on Smt. Sonia Gandhi being supported by over 300 members of the Lok Sabha for the office of the Prime Minister of India. I have known Smt. Sushma Swaraj since 1977, and have had considerable respect for her ability, knowledge and eloquence, and can thus attribute this outburst only to a deep sense of frustration.

Smt. Sushma Swaraj, along with Sri Arun Jaitley and Sri Pramod Mahajan, were being considered as the future legitimate aspirants for the high office of Prime Minister of India from the BJP. None of the three perhaps imagined before the counting day, i.e. 13th of May that the BJP's Shining India campaign under the leadership of Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, would collapse so dramatically and that this would happen due to the sole efforts of a frail woman going by the name of Sonia Gandhi. My respect and admiration for Smt. Sonia Gandhi has grown manifold after I saw the manner in which she won the hearts of the poor men and women of this country by connecting with them during her tireless campaign throughout the length and breadth of the country and striking in their hearts a ray of hope for a better future. It was she who identified as to where the real India lived and why India was made a Republic, in which it was the vote of the common man, which gave to a person the right to govern this country.

I salute these common men and women who have shown a better grasp of the Constitution of India than Smt. Sushma Swaraj who has been an MP for a long period and has adorned the Office of a Minister on several occasions.

The Indian Constitution does not make any distinction between citizens on the ground of their place of birth. On the other hand, it expressly provides against any discrimination on the ground of place of birth in Article 15(1). It also provides in Article 16(2) that no citizen shall be ineligible for or discriminated against in respect of any office under the state on the ground of his place of birth.

A person's entitlement to an office depends on the record of his or her service for the people of this country and not on the place of his birth. This is the all-inclusive ethos on which the foundation of our great Constitution has been laid. This ethos was beautifully advocated by Swami Vivekanand. India has always believed in the concept of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" meaning that the whole world is one family. I congratulate the leaders of a large number of political parties from north to south and from east to west in reposing their faith in Smt. Sonia Gandhi, who is more Indian than many of us who were born in India.

Let me also remind Smt. Sushma Swaraj that when a person becomes an MP, he or she has to take an oath prescribed by the Constitution that he or she will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution as by law established. Smt. Sushma Swaraj must have taken this oath several times. She must remember that by protesting against Smt. Sonia Gandhi's impending appointment as the Prime Minister by the President of India under Article 75, she is violating her solemn oath.

Even after Smt. Sushma Swaraj resigns from the membership of the Rajya Sabha as she intends to do, she will still be bound by Article 51-A of the Constitution which lays down fundamental duties for every citizen, and the first duty is "to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions".

Let me also state that the principle of equality amongst citizens and non-discrimination on the ground of place of birth is in my opinion a basic feature of the Constitution and is beyond even the amending power conferred on Parliament by Article 368. This doctrine was established by a 13- judge Bench of the Supreme Court in the Keshavanand Bharti's case. It was on the basis that the 39th Amendment of the Constitution was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1975.

I would appeal to Smt. Sushma Swaraj for whom I have had considerable regard, to respect the Constitution and not try to destroy it.

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