Respect ideals of constitution: Justice Kurian Joseph

COIMBATORE: Justice Kurian Joseph today said for a vibrant democracy, participation of citizens in the process of governance through proper discharge of their civic duties was important.

The Article 51A was introduced in the Constitution of India by the Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976 and idea behind this was to emphasise the obligations of the citizens in reciprocation to the comprehensive Fundamental Rights enjoyed by them, the Supreme Court judge said in his address at the 16th convocation of Karunya university here.

He said the Article calls upon the citizen to respect the ideals of the Constitution and to honour the National Flag and the National Anthem, to follow the ideals which inspired the freedom struggle and to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India.

"With the experience of quite a few years in a challenging profession, I can assure you that with a positive attitude and willingness to work hard, all hurdles that life throws at you can be encountered and overcome."

"We vehemently oppose violation of our rights to equality, freedom of speech and expression, right to life and the right to freely profess religion.", he said.

To protect and improve the natural environment and to have compassion for living creatures was also a part of our fundamental duties. The Constitution requires us to safeguard public property and to renounce violence, he said.

A total of 1882 students received the degrees from the Chancellor Dr Paul Dhinakaran.