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Social Change and Development in India Y ou will realise that the Constitution has the capacity to help people because it is based on the basic norms of social justice. For instance, the Directive Principle on Village Panchayats was moved as an amendment in the Constituent Assembly by K. Santhanam. After forty odd years, it became a Constitutional imperative after the 73rd Amendment in 1992. The Constitution is not just a ready referencer of do’s and don’ts for social justice. It has the potential to extend the meaning of social justice. Social movements have also aided the courts and authorities to interpret the contents of rights and principles in keeping with the contemporary understanding on social justice. C onstitutional N orms and S ocial J ustice : Interpretation to A id S ocial Justice It is useful to understand that there is a difference between law and justice. The essence of law is its force. Law is law because it carries the means to coerce or force obedience. The power of the state is behind it. The essence of justice is fairness. Any system of law functions through a hierarchy of authorities. Constitution is the basis of all rules and authorities. It is the document that constitutes a nation’s tenets. The Indian Constitution is India’s basic norm. All other laws are made as per the procedures prescribed by the Constitution. These laws are made and implemented by the authorities specified by the Constitution. A hierarchy of courts (which too are authorities created by the Constitution) inerpret the laws when there is a dispute. The Supreme Court is the highest court and the ultimate interpreter of the Constitution. The Supreme Court has enhanced the substance of Fundamental Rights in the Constitution in many important ways. The Box below illustrates a few instances.  A Fundamental Right includes all that is incidental to it. The terse worBsoxf3.1ticle 21 recognising the right to life and liberty have been interpreted as including all that goes intoalifeofquality,includinglivelihood,health,shelter,educationanddignity.Invarious pronouncements, different attributes of ‘life’ have been expanded and ‘life’ has been explained to mean more than mere animal existence. These interpretations have been used to provide relief to prisoners subjected to torture and deprivation, release and rehabilitation of bonded labourers, against environmentally degrading activities, to provide primary healthcare and primary education. In 1993 the Supreme Court held that Right to Information is a part of and incidental to the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression underArticle 19(1) (a).  The Supreme Court read the Directive Principle of Equal Pay for Equal Work into the Fundamental Rights to Equality under Article 14 and has provided relief to many plantation and agricultural 32 labourers and to others. Reprint 2026-27