‘Supreme Court played pivotal role in expanding scope of fundamental rights’

New Delhi: Chief Justice of India B R Gavai on Wednesday said the Supreme Court has played a “pivotal role” in expanding the scope of fundamental rights, and its 75-year journey is “inseparable” from that of the Indian Constitution. The apex court has remained responsive to society’s evolving needs by adjudicating on complex issues related to information technology, arbitration and electoral processes, he said.

Importantly, it opened its doors to the most marginalised through public interest litigations, the chief justice of India stressed. The CJI was speaking at a function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) to release a book commemorating 75 years of the top court that came into existence on January 26, 1950 and inaugurated two days later. Justice Gavai said this year marks a historic occasion as both the Constitution and the Supreme Court completes 75 years. “Over the seven-and-a-half-decade, we have witnessed an unbreakable bond between the Constitution and the Supreme Court.”