India, May 11 -- A constitutional democracy is not organised around a single centre of power, former chief justice of India BR Gavai said on Saturday, while emphasising that Parliament is not supreme in the country but the Constitution is.

Speaking at the 19th Sujata Jayawardena Memorial Oration organised by the University of Colombo, Justice Gavai said clashes between Parliament and the judiciary have led to the evolution of constitutional safeguards and doctrines to manage such conflicts.

The former judge said it is not Parliament, nor the executive, nor even the judiciary that is supreme, but it is the Constitution.

All three derive their authority from it and all three are bound by it, he asserted.

"A constitutional democracy is n...