India, Dec. 7 -- The new Chief Justice of India (CJI), Justice Sanjiv Khanna, with Justice Sanjay Kumar joining him on the two-judge bench in the Preamble case, has made a valuable pronouncement (November 25, 2024). The inclusion of the words, "secular" and "socialist", by the 42nd amendment to the Constitution of India moved by Indira Gandhi's government in 1976 during the high noon of the Emergency, had been challenged some years ago. And after seeing many arguments advanced for and against, and many sittings, the CJI pronounced the amendment and the inclusion valid, not calling for any change.

Many millions among my fellow citizens cherish these two adjectives, these two concepts. They hold them to be foundational to India's plural pe...