Removing word 'secular' from preamble of Constitution does not alter secular character of Constitution: Justice KM Joseph

Indian Constitution envisages secularism as one of its basic features regardless of whether the word 'secularism' is explicitly mentioned in the preamble of the Constitution, former Supreme Court Justice KM Joseph said on Thursday. .Referring to Articles 14 (Equality before the law), 15 (Prohibition of discrimination), 16 (Equality of opportunity), and 21 (Right to life) of the Constitution, Justice Joseph said that the Constitution inherently upholds secular values.He emphasized that merely removing the word "secular" from the preamble would not affect the equality guaranteed under these articles."If you remove the word secular from the preamble does it mean that suddenly equality under these Articles will cease to exist? No," he said.You cannot eliminate secularism just by dipping your hand in the preamble and kicking that one word out, he underscored..The former judge was delivering a lecture as part of the continuing legal education program of the Kerala High Court Advocates' Association (KHCAA)..Justice Joseph highlighted that the discussion on the preamble occurred towards the end of the debates of the Constituent Assembly, by which point Article 25, concerning the freedom of religion, had already been incorporated into the Constitution..He added that during the debates, there were two attempts to introduce the word "secularism," both of which failed, implying that the word was conspicuous by its absence. "But even without the word, secularism was considered a basic feature of the Constitution," Justice Joseph said..Justice Joseph further underscored that Articles 25 to 28 specifically address religion and that the provisions regarding the "practice, profess, and propagate" aspects under Article 25 are significant."You cannot eliminate secularism merely by removing that one word (secularism) from the preamble," he emphasized.Additionally, he reiterated that secularism has been declared by the Supreme Court as one of the basic features of the Constitution.