• The makers of our Constitution were well aware of the glaring social inequalities that existed in Indian society. They understood the need to provide a form of justice which could fulfill the expectations of the freedom movement. As Jawaharlal Nehru put it before the Constituent Assembly,

“First work of this assembly is to make India independent by a new constitution through which starving people will get complete meal and cloths, and each Indian will get best option that he can progress himself.”

• The result of this exercise is reflected in its totality in the Preamble to the Constitution. It sought to attain Justice (social, economic and political); Liberty (of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship); Equality (of status and of opportunity); and promotion of Fraternity (assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation).
• According to Granville Austin, the Indian Constitution is, first and foremost, a social document. The commitments to social change are contained in Part III - as Fundamental Rights and in Part IV - as Directive Principles of State Policy or what he calls “the conscience of the constitution.”  In Part III, the Constitution, in no unmistakable terms, declares the great rights and freedom, which the people of India intended to secure to all citizens, and in certain instances to both citizens and non-citizens, casting an onerous duty upon ‘the State’ not to violate these Rights. Part IV of the Constitution furthers the guarantee of ‘Justice- Social, Economic and Political’, by providing judicially non-enforceable obligations, on ‘the State’ in the form of Directive Principles of State Policy. 
• The juridical implications of this was spelt out by the Supreme Court in Minerva Mills v. Union of India, where it held that

“There is no doubt that though the courts have always attached very great importance to the preservation of human liberties, no less importance has been attached to some of the Directive Principles of State Policy enunciated in Part IV.... The core of the commitment to the social revolution lies in parts III and IV.”

• The Court added that Rights in Part III are not an end in themselves but are ‘the means to an end’, and the end is specified in Part IV. Together, the two realize the idea of justice, which the Indian State seeks to secure to all its citizens.
• The judiciary is the guardian of the Constitution. Its role as the protector of civil rights has reposed the faith of the people in it. The Supreme Court has given a dynamic shape to the concept of social justice. In Calcutta Electrical Construction Company Ltd, v. S.C. Bose, the Supreme Court held that the right to social and economic justice is ‘a fundamental right’. Mr. Justice K. Ramaswamy amplified the concept in Consumer Education Research Centre v. Union of India;

“The Preamble and Article 38 of the Constitution of India, the supreme law, envisions social justice as its arch to ensure life to be meaningful and livable with human dignity. Social justice, equality and dignity of person are cornerstones of social democracy. The concept ''social justice'' which the Constitution of India engrafted, consists of diverse principles essential for the orderly growth and development of personality of every citizen. Social justice is a dynamic device to mitigate the sufferings of the poor, weak, Dalits, Tribals and deprived sections of the society and to elevate them to the level of equality to live a life with dignity of person. In other words, the aim of social justice is to attain substantial degree of social, economic and political equality, which is the legitimate expectations.”

• The Supreme Court has expanded the envelope of Social Justice by adjudicating on diverse social matters concerning education, livelihood, gender and environment. 

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