New Delhi, Feb 21 (PTI) Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya on Friday said the judiciary played a key role in expanding country's modern constitutionalism, which had "evolved significantly" in the last 75 years.

Justice Upadhyaya, who was speaking at the 29th Justice Sunanda Bhandare Memorial Lecture, said the role of constitutional courts in filling the constitutional silences -- certain features not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution -- must be acknowledged.

Also Read | Uniform Civil Code: AIMPLB Challenges UCC Law in Uttarakhand High Court, Says 'It Violates Articles of Constitution and Goes Against Muslim Personal Law'.

The lecture, organised by the Justice Sunanda Bhandare Foundation, was on the theme "India's Modern Constitutionalism" and was addressed by senior advocate Indira Jaising, who questioned a recent statement of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on "original Constitution".

"The honourable Vice President of India said we must circulate for our children, 'the original Constitution'. So what is the original Constitution, is the question. He seems to think it is the copy of the Constitution which has several illustrations, of which there are three copies, two being in Parliament and one in the Supreme Court," said Jaising.

Also Read | ‘Rahul Gandhi Working With Anti-India Forces To Rig Polls, 'Defeat' PM Narendra Modi’, Alleges BJP Amid USAID Funding Controversy.

She went on to underline the illustrations "came to be done" in 1954.

"It is not the original Constitution. The original Constitution doesn't have any of those illustrations. And his comment was, we must circulate this so that children know that the original Constitution of India had illustrations of Ram in it. So this is not only misinformation, but it would be interesting, as I did for me when I researched this paper to have a look at what is the original Constitution...," Jaising added.

Justice Upadhyaya said citizens had begun petitioning courts as soon as the Constitution came into force, raising issues that were important to them.

"At the same time, social movements and citizen mobilisation have evolved the Constitution over core values to strengthen constitutionalism," he said.

It has derived various rights under Article 21 of the Constitution such as the rights to live with dignity, livelihood, fair trial, food and shelter, education and against sexual harassment, the CJ added.

"We must also acknowledge the role of constitutional courts in filling the constitutional silences that is certain features are not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution. Courts have referred to constitutional traditions in several cases," he said.

He said courts referred to the principle of collective responsibility as an inherent principle of parliamentary democracy.

"India's constitutionalism, thus, is modern in the sense that we have tried to have a broader approach in engaging and interpreting the Constitution. Being modern in the context of constitutionalism does not mean that everything old is bad," said Upadhyaya.

Speaking on the professional achievements of Justice Bhandare in her lifetime, the CJ called a "true pioneer" in the field of gender equality and women empowerment.

She led by example and most significantly her instrument of change was law, he said, as Justice Bhandare always believed in the ability of law to effect meaningful change in the society.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)