RULE OF LAW- Vikramjit Banerjee

On June 13th battling the scorching heat a short bespectacled man entered into CCS office to
give a short talk on rule of law. All the interns along with their research associate were very
much in their semi slumber state all thanks to well air conditioned offices of CCS. Moreover
in morning there was a brief discussion on the topic when three interns- Pradnya Taledar, Neil
Borate, and Shashank gave a joint presentation on the topic. Hardly any excitement and
curiosity was there to discuss the topic.

At noon Vikramjit Banerjee, a practicing advocate in Supreme Court came to give the talk.
Taking off some time from his hectic daily schedule to come the office had drained all his
energy; his face showed. The session started with formal introduction and exchange of
pleasantries. Mr Banerjee then proceeded by asking our opinion on Ramdev. Many views
came but all of us interns were unanimous on one thing- Ramdev was a Thug. There were we
hit the nail. Mr Banerjee suddenly sprung into action. It seems his high powered energy got
restored.” How arrogant you people are?” were the first exact words that came out his
mouth. Ohh man. He caught us off guard.

We Indians are good at stereotyping. Some of the students thought Mr Banerjee, a Bengali
might have a tinge of communist leaning. But his entire speech that day put us in a fix.

His entire talk revolved on three most important aspects:

1. Indigenousness of Market: Mr Banerjee gave an insight how the style of market

should be adopted to a more Indianised style. His basic contention was that process of
indigenousiation is necessary for free market. He also ranted how unfair stereotyping
of free market supporters to right wing organizers is unfair. He gave an insightful
knowledge when he said that free market doesn’t mean corporatization.
2. Overriding of Constitution: One of his biggest controversial statement was that
lawmakers shouldn’t ignore the basic tenets of 5,000 years of historical and cultural
heritage while drafting constitution.
3. Distinguishing concept of Freedom in USA and India: The basic idea of freedom in
USA is derive from the principles of liberty. In India it’s from the concept of Dharma.

Quotes:

1. “It takes more money to keep Gandhiji in poverty than to feed the entire India for
2 days.”
- Sarojini Naidu.

2. “ You cant have democracy when large part of legitimate voice is unheard”
- Vikramjit Banerjee

Suggested Reading

1. Swadeshi Concept by Bipin Chandra Pal

2. India: A Portrait by Patrick French.
3. Life of Raimohan Pannikar
4. Samuel Huntington “ Culture Matters”.