The Supreme Court on Tuesday (February 17, 2026) said political leaders must foster fraternity and high public office-holders should live up to the ideals of the Constitution while hearing a petition highlighting instances of Chief Ministers, senior bureaucrats and police officers making public statements that stigmatise entire communities, legitimise discriminatory governance and erode public confidence in the State’s commitment to equal citizenship.
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“We would like to impress upon all political parties to follow the principles of constitutional morality, values, mutual respect and self-respect. This is a more than 75-year-old mature democracy; we do not expect people to behave like this,” Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, heading a three-judge Bench, observed orally.
Justice B.V. Nagarathna advocated the need to “restrain” discriminatory and communally divisive public speeches “from all sides”.
Also Read: The contours of constitutional morality
