Sabarimala Reference : Live Updates From Supreme Court 9-Judge Bench [Day 2]

Mehta: sabarimala says individual freedom, dignity, will take precedence over social interest because what is societal morality is merely mob morality

Mehta: refers to keshvananda bharati on definition of morality under article 19

foreign judgments can never influence our adjudication and relying on minority view of a foregn judgment is frowned upon

Mehta: sabrimala continously proceeds on the ground that morality means constitutional morality and social morality is only mob and therefore what is necessary is constitutional morality-therefore i am saying that as understood by constitutional framers, it is societal morality

Mehta: [referring to the constitutent assembly debates] this is the meaning of constitutional morality how constitutional functionaries deal with other constitutional functionaries

Mehta: the detailed discussion suggested that constitutional morality meant constitutional conventions as to how the functionaries would behave

Mehta: on questions

1. what is the scope of morality under articles 25 and 26 and whether it is meant to include constitutional morality?

there is intrinsic guidelines how the framers framed this

J Nagarathna: because sometimes its very subjective, that's why

Mehta: something which is constitutional morality for one judge can't be for another

J Bagchi- the word of article 25(1) is conscience so it is the conscience of a particular section of citizen to be governed by constitutional morality so be it but that doesn't mean that that section will have imprint over the conscience of another groups or sections whose morality would be different standards but within the expansive elastic idea of the society

Mehta: I am before a nine judge bench so i will say constitutional morality is never a ground of judicial review and i can quote our former solicitor who delivered a lecture that constitutional morality is an unfortunate thing better dies sooner

J Sundresh: to put it differently, public order, health morality may be a species or genesis of constitutional morality but can't construe constitutional morality as such

J Nagarathan: public morality is from the point of view of the followers. constitutional morality is constitutional dharma

Mehta: that's the word but its for how the functionaries or government should function in absence of constitutional provisions

J Bagchi: mr solicitor, you are perhaps says that constitutional morality governs secular rights and the capsule of religious rights have on basis of understood morality of society vis-a-vis the religious tenets followed by religious tenets. secular character of a citizen and the religious beliefs of a citizen can't be emerged in a secular democracy

Mehta: or tested based on one condition that is constitutional morality if its otherwise socially morale and acceptable to cultural ethos of the nation