On January 27, 2026, Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave delivered the 27th Dr Asghar Ali Engineer Memorial Lecture in Mumbai on the ‘Constitution of India as conceived by its framers and its contemporary interpretation‘. Chaired by Senior Advocate Aspi Chinoy, the lecture examined the erosion of constitutional morality, the weakening of parliamentary democracy and the growing centralisation of power in India’s political system.
Drawing extensively from the Constituent Assembly debates and the writings of the first law minister, Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Dave traced how executive dominance, legislative majoritarianism, and judicial retreat have together altered the constitutional balance envisioned at the time of independence. Below is the full text of the speech, edited slightly for clarity.
What Has Changed in the Constitution and Why: Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave Explains - The Wire
03/02/2026