It is time law colleges and universities formally incorporated ancient legal philosophy contained in the Vedas and epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata into the curriculum, Supreme Court justice Pankaj Mithal said, emphasising that students should be taught about concepts of justice and equity not as principles borrowed from the West but ideas embedded in India’s ancient legal reasoning.
“It is time that our law schools formally incorporate the ancient Indian legal and philosophical traditions into the curriculum. The Vedas, the Smritis, the Arthashastra, the Manusmriti, the Dhammas, and the epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana are not merely cultural artefacts. They contain deep reflections of justice, equity, governance, punishment, reconciliation, and moral duty. Their duty is indispensable if we are to understand the roots of Indian legal reasoning,” he said at the legal conclave organised by the National Law Institute University (NLIU), Bhopal on April 12, to mark 75 years of the Supreme Court.
The judge said efforts are being made to Indianize the judicial system of the country with the judgments of the Supreme Court being translated and made available in regional languages. As part of this effort, under the previous Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, a new statue of the Lady of Justice was unveiled wearing a sari, holding a book instead of a sword and with the blindfold on her eyes removed.
The book is meant to be the Constitution, but justice Mithal said that he believes there should be four books: “Along with the Constitution, there should be the Gita, Vedas and Purans. That’s the context in which our legal system should work. Then I believe we will be able to provide justice to each citizen of our country.”
The judge proposed that the subject to be introduced by the law colleges and Universities could be under the under the title “Dharma and Indian Legal Thought” or “Foundations of Indian Legal Jurisprudence” , and not confined to a textual reading but that draws connections between classical Indian ideas of justice and its modern constitutional reflections.
“Such a subject would not only provide students with cultural and intellectual grounding but also help shape a uniquely Indian jurisprudential imagination.”
Continuing in the same vein, he explained: “Imagine a generation of lawyers and judges who understand Article 14 not just as a borrowed principle of equality but also as an embodiment of Samath (equality), who view environmental law not just through statutes but through the reverence for Prakritik (nature) in the Vedas, who understand alterate dispute resolution (ADR) as a continuation of Panchayat traditions contained in Shastras and Manusmriti, and who grasp constitutional morality as a modern articulation of ancient Rajdharma.”
This is not a project of nostalgia, the judge added by saying, “It is a project of rooted innovation. This curriculum reform would serve a deeper constitutional goal – preservation of India’s pluralistic legal identity. It would reinforce the idea that Indian Constitutionalism is not merely an import but a living constitution of a civilizational legacy.”
Referring to the 75-year journey of the Supreme Court, he said that even as the world confronts “rising inequality, rapid technological change and developing polarisation”, the court “has stood as a stabilising institution by upholding the rule of law.”
But, he added, “ the story of Indian justice does not begin in 1950. It is rooted in something more ancient, yet remarkably enduring.”
The motto of the Supreme Court , Yato Dharmaso Tatho Jaya (where there is Dharma there is victory) is itself taken from the Mahabharata, the judge said, “Justice, in our civilizational understanding, is an embodiment of dharma – a principle that encompasses ethical conduct, social responsibility and the rightful exercise of power.”
The court’s role, according to him, “is to ensure that constitutional morality triumphs over executive expediency, that justice is not sacrificed to political convenience and that the rule of law is not rendered to a rule of power.”
Underlining the orders passed by the Supreme Court in protecting the environment, the judge said that the Atharvaveda calls upon humanity not to harm the sky, earth, air, water or the forest. On the principle of equality, the judge quoted the Rig Veda that lays down that let no man be superior or inferior as all are brothers walking on the same path.
Dharma predates the term law and as western legal systems often draw a hard line between law and morality, ancient Indian jurisprudence understood Dharma as a unifying principle of righteousness, justice, duty, and harmony, the judge said: “The Supreme Court’s work often mirrors this unity of legal rule and moral vigil.”