A Sustainable Development of Indian Society under Constitutional Values: With Special Reference to Artificial Intelligence

Author(s): Jyoti Verma

Abstract:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly influencing public administration, education, employment, healthcare, finance, communication, policing, and access to essential services. Its developmental promise is substantial, but so are the risks arising from automated discrimination, opaque decision-making, privacy intrusions, misinformation, exclusion, labour displacement, and environmental costs. This paper examines whether the constitutional values embedded in the Indian constitutional order can provide a normative and legal framework for ensuring that AI contributes to sustainable development rather than deepening existing social inequalities. It develops the proposition that constitutional values should function not merely as limits on State power but as design principles for responsible technological governance. The analysis connects dignity, liberty, equality, non-discrimination, privacy, fraternity, social justice, rule of law, accountability and environmental responsibility with contemporary AI governance in India. The paper adopts a doctrinal and analytical methodology based on the Constitution of India, legislation, judicial decisions, government policy documents, international instruments and selected academic literature. It studies the relationship between Articles 14, 19 and 21, Directive Principles of State Policy, Fundamental Duties, constitutional morality and the emerging governance framework for AI. Particular attention is given to the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, NITI Aayog's Responsible AI framework, the IndiaAI Mission, and UNESCO's Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. The paper argues for a constitutional sustainability matrix combining rights protection, risk-based governance, human oversight, explainability, institutional accountability, inclusion, AI literacy and environmental assessment. The central contribution of the paper is a proposed Indian Constitutional AI Sustainability Framework. Under this framework, AI systems affecting rights or access to public and essential services should be subjected to proportionality review, equality and bias assessment, privacy and data-governance safeguards, meaningful human oversight, reasons and review mechanisms, accountability allocation, accessibility standards, and sustainability assessment. Such an approach can permit technological innovation while preserving the constitutional identity of Indian society.

keywords:
Artificial Intelligence; Constitution of India; Sustainable Development; Constitutional Values; Fundamental Rights; Privacy; Equality; Responsible AI; Data Protection; Rule of Law.

Pages: 44-50     |    6 View     |    1 Download