Kerala- 14/07/2014 - Batch 3 Courtesy: Eclair Ssk (Postal assistant/Sorting assistant exam 2014 group) C.K. Daphtary Memorial Lecture on The Importance of Value-based Politics New Delhi Hon’ble Chief Justice, Shri K.G. Balakrishnan; President, Inns of Court (India) Society, Shri Ashok Desai; Other Learned Members of the Bench and the Bar; Distinguished Guests; and Ladies and Gentlemen: I feel greatly honoured to have been invited to deliver this Lecture in memory of the legal luminary Late Shri C.K. Daphtary. I am grateful to the Inns of Court (India) Society and the British Council for giving me an opportunity to pay my respectful homage to his memory. Shri C.K. Daphtary was one of the most outstanding lawyers of his times. His encyclopaedic knowledge of law and remarkable art of persuasion in the presentation of cases before the judges made him a legal professional par excellence. His competence of creatively applying the principles of jurisprudence to the legal cases firmly established him as one among the country’s brightest legal minds. His brilliant professional record and reputation made him the First Solicitor-General of India in 1951 and subsequently the Attorney General of India in 1963. In recognition of his passion, commitment and dedication to the legal profession, he was nominated by the President as a Member of the Rajya Sabha in 1972. He lent dignity and distinction to all the offices he held. A man of high learning and outstanding eloquence, Shri Daphtary is remembered for the contribution he made to the debates of the Rajya Sabha which always bore the stamp of his great erudition and intellectual attainments. Whenever he spoke in the House, he was listened to by all sections with full attention. For his distinguished services to the nation, he was conferred ‘Padma Vibhushan’ in 1968. A man of singular affability, ready wit and innate charm, Shri Daphtary was extremely popular among all sections of the people. It has been more than twenty five years since we lost him in 1983, but his contributions have made him immortal and he will be remembered forever by the people of this country. Shri Daphtary’s transparent image and remarkable ability to ingeniously handle even the most complex issues endeared him to one and all. More than anything else, Shri Daphtary was a firm believer in ethical values in public life. As a tribute to his memory, I have today chosen to speak on the ‘Importance of Value-Based Politics’, a subject of seminal importance in the present context. Politics in a broader sense is public life, which impacts the lives of all, more so the lives of millions of the common people as it involves the processes of decision making directly affecting the society, for its good or otherwise. As such, it is undeniable that the exercise of political authority, in the Government or outside it, be based on ethical considerations and moral values as it has an overriding influence on society as a whole. ‘Ethics’ is the science of morals in human conduct and the expression, ‘ethical’ means what is morally correct and honourable. ‘Moral’ is defined as what is concerned with goodness or otherwise of human character or behaviour, which makes a distinction between what is right and what is wrong. By moral behaviour, we consider behaviour that conforms to accepted standards of general conduct, which are based on rules and standards of human behaviour. It is essential that politics is governed by moral behaviour, which is an essential part of ethical and value-based conduct. Thus, morality in public life will signify the degree of conformity of an idea or practice to well-established ethical principles and from that point of view, good governance must be based on moral virtue, which will ensure justice to the people and the country at large according to ethical standards. Thus, value-based politics postulates a political system which functions on the basis of high ethical standards, based on exemplary moral behaviour. Mahatma Gandhi said very emphatically, that it is inconceivable to view politics detached from ethics. In other words, ethical considerations are the most important aspects of human behaviour and, as such, are, and should be, central to politics. We cannot think of politics dehors
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 19:31:46 +0000
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