New Delhi, Jan. 26 -- The Constitution of India promises justice, liberty, equality and fraternity in a ringing Preamble. In 1950, having made these lofty declarations while enacting the Constitution, the Constituent Assembly found itself in a bind. Doubling up as the provisional parliament for independent India, the Assembly now had a nation to govern. Riots had to be quelled, inflation curbed and welfare schemes made to take millions out of poverty. If the Constitution got in the way of these practical exigencies, it needed to give way.

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Justice was the first casualty. The Preventive Detention Act, 1950 was enacted because the constitutional provisions for minimum safeguards fo...