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Written by Satvik Varma

Given the socio-political milieu we currently find ourselves enveloped in, we frequently need reaffirmation that our Constitution is supreme. That it provides the citizens many rights and liberties and has corresponding duties. That the rights can be restricted only in reasonable and limited circumstances. That our judiciary will step in to prevent state excesses and uphold the letter of the law and the spirit of our Constitution. That while the judicial system may be laden with delays, those are only cracks and it is otherwise intact and as multiple recent judgments from across the country have demonstrated adequately independent. And no matter how majoritarian a government we may have, we are still a democracy of the people, for the people and by the people.

While the judgments delivered by the division bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup J Bhambhani of the Delhi High Court are indeed only bail orders, an analysis of their contents and the jurisprudence they lay down highlights the role of constitutional courts. Namely, to interpret the law purposively and in a way that advances the objectives of the legislation. Its job is to read the law in such a way that it enhances personal liberties while maintaining a balance with the security of the state. It is to ensure that constitutionally accorded and legally protected citizen rights are not left to the mercy of executive supremacy. And at a time when society is polarised and fractured across various lines and where ideology has reached a vanishing point, courts will do all within their mandate to prevent the misuse of the law and alleviate the anxiety that has come to surround individuals.

For longer than we can imagine, law and society theorists have been preoccupied with attempts to explain the relationship between legal and social change. They view the law both as independent and dependent and variable (cause and effect) in society and emphasise the interdependence of the law with other social systems. British social reformer Jeremy Bentham expected legal reforms to respond quickly to new social needs and to restructure society. Contrastingly, German legal scholar Friedrich Karl von Savigny held that it is the law that follows social change. Whatever view one may support, it cant be denied they influence each other. The law, after all, reflects the will and wish of society as we have witnessed in India in the decriminalisation of homosexuality or triple talaq being deemed against our constitutional values or the striking down of adultery or the recognition of the rights of the transgender community or the granting of equal status to women in temple entry.

This brings us to the fact that the interplay of law and society leads to the development of both.Advancing this proposition, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen believes that legal development is not just about what the law is and what the judicial system formally accepts and asserts, but instead must take note of the enhancement of peoples capability their freedom to exercise the rights and entitlements that we associate with legal progress. For Sen, freedom is both the primary objective of development, and the principal means of development. Accordingly, he holds that development is enhanced in democracy by the protection of human rights. Such rights, especially freedom of the press, speech, assembly and so forth increase the likelihood of good governance. Resultantly, a nations development cannot be considered independent of its legal developments.

The Indian judiciary has made lasting contributions to our development whether by its conceptualisation of public interest litigation or simply by giving meaning to our Fundamental Rights by carrying forward the intention of our Constitution makers for example, declaring privacy a Fundamental Right. In this process, our courts have strengthened the Indian federation, deepened our democratic ideas, facilitated the working amongst various arms of government and furthered the objective of our Constitutions Preamble to promote fraternity and to maintain unity and integrity of the nation.

Examined with this spirit, the recent bail orders of the student activists advance the cause of justice, protect citizen rights, thereby strengthening our democracy, address the prevailing societal needs and consequently contribute to our nations development. After all, our courts do not function in a vacuum and our judges surely have views on whats happening around them. Reports of the fact that less than 2 per cent of the people arrested under UAPA across the country in five years till 2019 were eventually convicted (per data compiled by National Crime Records Bureau) must have weighed on the judges, as the process then becomes the punishment. They must also have been informed that a challenge to the constitutional validity of the 2019 amendments to UAPA, that terms individuals as terrorists, is currently pending where, and while theres no stay on the operation of the law, the state has not even filed its response. Should not the courts then reinstate the liberty of those incorrectly indicted? Doing right, Justices Mridul and Bhambhani only upheld our democratic traditions and advanced our constitutional values. In doing so, they restored peoples faith in our judiciary.

Going forward, one hopes that every time our democracy is in peril, our judges, in keeping with their oath to office bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution and will, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will uphold the Constitution. If in the discharge of such duties, they embrace the role of judicial torch-bearers they will also be contributing to our nations development. Each time this happens will indeed be a great moment in the history of our democracy.

The writer is a senior advocate based in New Delhi

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UAPA bail: A triumph of rights and democracy - The Indian Express

Former Vice President Mike Pence was briefly heckled Friday as a "traitor" at a conservative conference in Orlando seen as a stop for Republicans honing stump speeches for a possible presidential run in 2024.

As Pence kicked off his remarks to the Faith and Freedom Coalition, the organization founded by political consultant and lobbyist Ralph Reed, several audience members greeted him with boos.

"It is great to be back with so many patriots," Pence said as the jeering continued, "dedicated to faith and freedom and the road to the majority."

As he thanked Reed, who introduced his speech, multiple audience members yelled out, "Traitor!" and continued to try to drown him out. Security personnel quickly removed the hecklers from the crowd, and Pence was able to continue his remarks without further incident.

The tension between supporters of former President Donald Trump and Pence remains palpable more than five months after a violent mob seeking to block the Electoral College certification of Joe Biden's election victory stormed the U.S. Capitol, chanting, "Hang Mike Pence!"

Pence oversaw the certification, and Trump, speaking at a rally before the riot, urged him to block it.

"I hope Mike is going to do the right thing. I hope so. I hope so," Trump told his supporters on Jan. 6. "Because if Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election."

Former Vice President Mike Pence. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Later in his speech, Trump again commented on Pence.

"And Mike Pence is going to have to come through for us, and if he doesn't, that will be a, a sad day for our country because you're sworn to uphold the Constitution," Trump said.

As the rioters breached the Capitol that afternoon, Trump again took aim at his vice president. "Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify," he tweeted. "USA demands the truth!"

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With recent moves such as announcing a book deal and returning to the speaking circuit at Republican gatherings, Pence has seemed to signal that he intends to mount a White House run in 2024. If so, that would set up an inevitable clash with Trump supporters, especially if the former president decides to seek a second term.

"You know, President Trump and I have spoken many times since we left office, and I don't know if we'll ever see eye-to-eye on that day," Pence said at a GOP dinner in Manchester, N.H., in early June, referring to Jan. 6.

On Friday, however, Pence continued to walk the fine line of linking himself to Trump's legacy while continuing to occupy a place of scorn among his supporters.

"You know, for the past four years, President Trump taught us what Republicans can accomplish when we stand firm on conservative principles and don't back down," Pence said. "Our administration was four years of consequence, four years of results. As we like to say, it was four years of promises made and promises kept."

To that line, anyway, the former vice president received warm applause.

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Mike Pence called 'traitor' by hecklers in Florida

Mike Pence, the former US vice-president, has been heckled as a traitor for his refusal to overturn last years election result during a speech to a gathering of religious conservatives.

Pence, who is widely seen as laying the groundwork for a White House run in 2024, had entered an auditorium in Orlando, Florida to a standing ovation on Friday. But a small group began shouted abuse including traitor! as he began a 28-minute speech. The dissenters were quickly escorted out by police.

Earlier, in a corridor outside the ballroom, an attendee named Rick Hurley, wearing a red Make America great again cap, also vented his frustration over Pences role in certifying Donald Trumps defeat on 6 January amid false claims of voter fraud.

We need to start fighting! Hurley shouted at anyone who would listen. We need to stop being so damned nice. What the hells going on? Why is Pence coming today? Donald Trump has his pen in his back still.

Before being taken aside by police, he also remarked: Im ready to fight. Im going to boo him off stage. Ill take the bullet. Ill walk to the front of the stage and look him in the eye and and say, What are you doing here?

In an interview, Hurley said he had been at the US Capitol on 6 January. I want to know why Pence is here today. he said. He stabbed Donald Trump in the back and took the coins like Judas.

But Ralph Reed, organiser of the Faith & Freedom Coalitions annual Road to Majority conference, was at pains to give Pence a warm welcome and honor him as stalwart of the Christian conservative movement.

And the ex-vice president, who earlier this month admitted that he and his former boss may never see eye to eye on the events of 6 January, when some Trump supporters called for him to be hanged, did not dwell on that disagreement during his remarks.

He instead told the gathering: Thank you for the privilege of serving as your vice-president with Donald Trump. It was the greatest honor of my life.

Pence made only a passing reference to the deadly insurrection that implied an equivalence with racial justice protests and Joe Bidens policies: Weve all been through a lot over the past year: a global pandemic, civil unrest, a divisive election, a tragic day in our nations Capitol, and a new administration intent on transforming our country.

Since leaving office, Pence has bought a house in Indiana, announced plans for a podcast and signed a two-book deal for his memoir. Despite the anger of some Trump supporters, he is seen as a potential candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 2024.

His conference speech on Friday duly listed the Trump administrations achievements from supreme court appointments to coronavirus vaccines and took aim at Biden for rapidly unravelling its legacy with a tidal wave of leftwing policies.

Pence quipped: Democrats have been so busy advancing their liberal agenda, sometimes I feel like the left hand doesnt know what the far left hand is doing.

He went on to rail against an explosion of runaway spending, proposed tax increases, plans to cut military funding and the cancellation of construction on Trumps signature border wall.

Literally in five months, they turned the most secure border in the world into the worst border crisis in American history, Pence said to applause. You know, when I was vice-president, I visited our southern border. And yes, its past time for our current vice-president to go to the border, put our policies back into effect and end the Biden border crisis today.

He also threw out false assertions to go after culture war targets currently in vogue in conservative media including cancel culture and defund the police.

Among them was critical race theory which, developed by academics starting in the 1970s, examines how racism embedded in law and institutions creates an uneven playing field for people of color in America. Numerous Republican controlled states have moved to ban it from being taught in schools.

Pence crudely misrepresented the intellectual tool by stating: Instead of teaching all of our children to be proud of their country, critical race theory teaches children as young as kindergarten to be ashamed of their skin color. Critical race theory is racism, pure and simple and it should be rejected by every American of every race.

The truth is its past time for America to discard the left wing reflex to see systemic racism across our nation. As my friend Senator Tim Scott says so well, America is not a racist country America is the most just, noble and inclusive nation ever to exist on the face of the earth.

In another wildly contentious claim, Pence said: The United States military is the greatest force for good the world has ever known.

Pence closed a morning session that included Republican senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, all potential rivals for the 2024 nomination. Trump himself has not yet declared whether he will run or whether Pence would again be his running mate.

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Conservative Christians jeer traitor Pence for refusing ...

Former Vice President Mike Pence was met with scattered heckling on Friday, at a speech he was delivering in the home state of the president he served. As he addressed a general session at the Faith and Freedom Coalition in Orlando, there were some jeers, with some yelling "traitor" at him.

Undeterred, Pence declared himself "a Christian, a conservative and a Republican in that order" and went on to say, as he often does, that serving as vice president alongside President Trump "was the greatest honor of my life."

He laid out what he called a "winning agenda" to take back Republican majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives in the midterm elections next year, framing opponents of the GOP as anti-Christian and anti-military.

"Our movement will reject every effort to marginalize Christians and conservatives wherever it arises. We will expose religious persecution masquerading as a quest for equal rights, and we will demand that government agencies, our military, and our public schools reject critical race theory in all its forms," Pence said.

The former vice president tried to make the case that President Biden's administration is in thrall to the those who are furthest left in the Democratic Party, telling conference attendees that "one of the most troubling developments" during the first few months of the Biden administration has been its "wholehearted embrace of the radical left's all-encompassing assault on American culture and values."

Pence claimed "patriotic education" has been replaced by "political indoctrination" and said critical race theory, which posits that racism is a social construct embedded in the country's legal, economic and political systems, teaches kids to be ashamed of their skin color.

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"Critical race theory is racism, pure and simple," Pence said. "And it should be rejected by every American of every race," Pence said.

He added that it's time for America to "discard left-wing reflex to see systematic racism across the nation," and invoked Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Black Republican senator, who says "America is not a racist country."

Pence also attacked the Biden administration's handling of the U.S.-Mexico border and claimed President Biden has turned the "most secure" border in the world into the worst border crisis in American history. He also called on Vice President Kamala Harris to visit the southern border.

"It is long past time for our current vice president to go to the border, put our policies back into effect and end the Biden border crisis today," Pence said.

The former vice president also offered a critique of President Biden's handling of last week's G-7 summit and accused Mr. Biden of showing weak leadership abroad. "President Biden has been so busy accommodating the sensibilities of European leaders that this week at the G-7, President Macron said how great it was to have a U.S. president back as part of the club. Well, the only club I want a U.S. president part of is labeled 'USA,'" Pence said, putting his own spin on Mr. Trump's "America first" credo.

He claimed Mr. Biden has abandoned Israel "and set off the worst outbreak of violence in the Middle East in seven years." Pence also attacked the current administration for rejoining the Paris Climate accord and announcing plans to reopen negotiations with Iran: "President Biden replaced strength with weakness, moral clarity with confusion, and loyalty with betrayal."

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Pence heckled at conservative conference in Florida - CBS News

Former President Donald Trump on Monday said that he could still be in office if Mike Pence had refused to certify President Joe Biden's election win.

On January 6, Pence declined Trump's demand that he block the certification by Congress of Biden's election as the 46th U.S. president. In a three-page letter to congressional members, the then-vice president said that he didn't share Trump's belief that he possessed the power to reject Electoral College votes.

Trump criticized Pence's decision in a new interview on Real America's Voice, arguing that there would be a "different president right now" if he had refused to certify Biden.

"I've always liked Mike and I'm very disappointed that he didn't send it back to the legislature. When you have more votes than you have voters in some cases, and when you have the kind of things that were known then," Trump said. "I was disappointed that he didn't send it back. I felt that he had the right to send it back and he should have sent it back. That's my opinion."

"I think you would have found that you might very well have a different president right now if he sent it back," he added.

Newsweek reached out to Pence representatives for comment. This story will be updated with any response.

After losing the election, Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that widespread voter fraud caused his defeat. His campaign filed a series of lawsuits in swing states, including Nevada, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia, in an effort to flip the election. Trump alleged that the fraud was widespread, but the contents and claims of the suits were much narrower, and unsuccessful in court.

Pence's break from Trump came just before he presided over a joint session of Congress to declare Biden the winner. "It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not," he said on the morning of January 6.

Trump condemned Pence an hour later by tweeting, "Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify."

Later that day, pro-Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building to disrupt the certification process in an effort to overturn the election results. Five people were killed in the insurrection, including one Capitol police officer.

In recent months, the voter fraud conspiracy theory has sparked a rift in the GOP between the Trump wing and the establishment wing impatient to end his grip on the party.

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Donald Trump Blames Election Loss on Pence Certifying Biden's Win: 'Disappointed' - Newsweek