No democracy can succeed if citizens only assert rights but neglect duties: Ex-CJ of Manipur High Court

Panaji: Former Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court, Justice Siddharth Mridul, on Tuesday said no democracy can achieve success if citizens only assert their rights but neglect their duties.

Addressing an event organised by Goa's Directorate of Higher Education near here on the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution, he said citizens should come forward to give their best to the country.

"No democracy can achieve success where citizens assert their rights alone but neglect to actively discharge citizenship duties by assuming responsibilities and coming forward to give their best to the country," Justice Mridul (retd) said.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, state's Minister for Law and Judiciary Aleixo Sequeira, Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao and others were present on the occasion.

The fundamental duty of the citizen is incorporated into the Indian Constitution by the enactment of the 42nd constitutional amendment in 1976, he said.

"The original Indian Constitution, the world's longest and biggest written Constitution, saw a holistic approach towards civic life in a democratic and egalitarian politics that was not considered imperative to include fundamental duties," he said.

The 42nd amendment was aimed at removing the difficulties felt in achieving the objective of social economic revolution to end poverty, ignorance, disease and air-quality to them encapsulate briefly the fundamental duties and the correlation with fundamental rights and directive principles of state policy, he added.

Speaking further, Justice Mridul lamented decreasing percentage of voting in some parts of the country.

Voter apathy should be considered very seriously because in the large number of states, it has been noticed that the percentage of voting has been dropping alarmingly and there is an apathy towards exercising their right, he said.

He appealed to the citizens of Goa to contribute in keeping the state's beaches clean.

"We should make sure that all the plastic that is generated and thrown away into the sea every day is collected and deposited with the authorities," Justice Mridul said.

CM Sawant said Goa was the first state to follow a uniform civil code (UCC).

"Goa is a model state for the country, and we are ahead in achieving betterment. Everyone is fighting for their rights, I request everyone to follow duties which are given by our Constitution, which will give real justice to the Constitution of India," he said.