Demand for pocket version of Constitution surges in aftermath of Lok Sabha battle
There is a renewed interest in the Constitution of India after Opposition leaders were seen flagging a coat pocket version during election rallies
Supreme Court senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan is glad that his idea of authoring a coat pocket edition of the Constitution of India in order to create awareness and generate interest in Constitutional laws is finally flourishing in circles beyond legal.
Talking to The Hindu, the senior advocate said it was not quite his concern how the message of protecting the Constitution reached the masses; he was happy that this election brought into focus “the empowering and essential document every citizen needs to keep at home and have easy access to”.
The recent rise in sales of the coat pocket edition to some extent has been precipitated by the hullabaloo about Rahul Gandhi flaunting the book with the red black cover at his election campaigns last month and getting falsely accused by leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party of promoting the Chinese Constitution. It helped to raise a general curiosity among people, and also gave a shot in the arm to the Lucknow-based publishers, the Eastern Book Company (EBC) to boost sales in the last quarter.
According to one of the EBC directors, Sumeet Malik, the 16th edition of the sleek book in print this year has already sold more than 5,000 copies between February and May. In the past, the print run was low with the book selling 3,000 to 4,000 copies in a year mostly among lawyers and in law schools. “In 2024, a bulk order was also placed by the Congress office,” he informed. In the law book trade, any order above 100 is bulk and there has been a demand of multiple batches of 80 to 100 copies from the Congress party this year.
Confirming this, the Congress national coordinator (SC, ST, OBC, Minorities Cell), K. Raju said the idea of Mr. Gandhi carrying a pocket-size Constitution to election rallies and also the post-result press conference is not merely symbolic. “It is a gesture that will continue and keep reminding the people of their rights and recognising the power to be aware,” Mr. Raju said. The copies of the coat-pocket edition have been distributed among the party karyakartas and other people as well, he added.
The Constitution of India is placed in front of Rahul Gandhi, a senior leader of India’s main Opposition Congress party, as he holds a press conference at the party’s headquarter in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit:
ANUSHREE FADNAVIS
The idea of a small sized edition that would “fit easily in the coat pocket of lawyers” was pitched by Mr. Sankaranarayanan when he found an increasing number of young lawyers not clued in what the Constitutional laws were. It prompted him to publish the first edition in 2009. The design team at EBC worked with him on printing the 624 page book in the lightweight expensive Bible paper with gilt edges and an imported flexi-bound soft touch cover in red with black border and gold lettering.
The price of the book in the last decade has doubled – from ₹450 to ₹875. “The Preamble of the Constitution starts with the three most powerful words, We The People… and the Constitution is returning to where it belongs, the people; the common citizenry is willing to spend and buy a copy,” Mr. Malik said.
Mr. Sankaranarayanan over the years has been gifting copies of his book to judges and lawyers, students of various academic institutions, and even players of the Indian cricket team under Virat Kohli. “People have to fight against excesses of the government when Constitutional values are subverted by political parties,” he said, and recalled when the nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court upheld the validity of Article 31C in April, the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud lauded the coat pocket edition for its easy availability, quick reference, and for making a presence in political circles.
Prime Minister Modi had gifted a copy to President Ram Nath Kovind after he assumed office in 2017. The publishers presented the book to Home Minister Amit Shah earlier this year. Each reprint of the book updates the complete record of constitutional amendments, the bare text of their previous avatars, appendices and landmark decisions. The foreword for the first edition was written by former Attorney General K.K. Venugopal and the subsequent revised editions have a new preface by Mr. Sankaranarayanan, adding the latest changes. “The work I do is pro bono. I do not take any royalty from the publisher,” he said.
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