Visakhapatnam :

With the state bifurcation issue prompting a demand for constitutional amendment, civil servant, diplomat and statesman Sir Benegal Narsing Rau, who made the first draft of the Indian Constitution, was commemorated by the city lawyers on his 60th death anniversary (November 30). Besides being the Prime Minister of Jammu & Kashmir princely state in British India, Rau was also a permanent judge of UN International Court of Justice.

The lawyers spoke about the constitutional functionalist who worked in the erstwhile Madras presidency, of which Vizag was a part, and was the key person behind drafting India’s Constitution besides BR Ambedkar and others.

Speaking at a meeting organised by the Forum of Legal Professionals (FLP) to mark the 60 death anniversary of the chief adviser to the Constituent Assembly, Prof Y Satyanarayana, director, Gitam Law University, said, “The Constitution of India is a unique document because of the craftsmanship of B N Rau and the vision of B R Ambedkar in securing social justice.”

“The services of B N Rau in drafting the Indian constitution and his sense of erudition were appreciated by India’s first president Babu Rajendra Prasad. Dr Ambedkar had also given the credit of drafting the constitution to B N Rau,” he added.

Speaking on the need for constitutional reforms, Dr Y Satyanarayana said that the process of bifurcation is still in its infancy and nothing much has been done and any unlawful action on the part of the central government would be struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional and illegal.

Presiding over the function, senior advocate and president of FLP Kuppili Muralidhar said, public audit and accountability is a must to ensure transparency in the political system. “The office of comptroller and auditor general must have fixed tenure of five years and age of retirement must be 65 years and states must also have auditor general on the lines of CAG,” he said.

Principal senior civil judge and secretary, district legal service authority, T Venugopal Rao stressed the need for creating legal awareness and said that regular laws, which are useful in day-to-day life must be assimilated by everyone. “The Constitution of India has unique features and credit for preparing such a great piece of document that has stood the test of time goes to the makers of Constitution like Sir B N Rau who as adviser to Constituent Assembly gave sound suggestions to make the Constitution a living document. Free legal aid to the poor under article 39A under, which the legal services authority is provided, freedom of speech and expression is enshrined under the Constitution is the result of efforts of the founding fathers of the our Constitution,” said Venugopal Rao.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Visakhapatnam> Death Anniversary / TNN / December 01st, 2013