Constitutional Morality - A Need for Consensus on the Concept

Abstract

The concept of Constitutional Morality was used in an important case of Navtej Singh Johar which employed this concept in an innovative manner to strike down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and decriminalize homosexuality. However, this concept appears to have come under severe criticism with Sabarimala Temple Case. There appears to be an agreement among the legal scholars that the concept of Constitutional Morality remained to be understudied and there is need for a consensus to be reached for defining and applying this concept. The source for understanding this concept could be Text of Constitution, Constituent Assembly debates and history of events that took place during the framing of the Indian Constitution. In absence of this concrete study and consensus being reached on this significant concept of Constitutional morality, there is danger of popular morality being interpreted as Constitutional morality.