Fundamental rights in India

Fundamental Rights is a charter of rights contained in the part three Constitution of India. It guarantees civil liberties such that all Indians can lead their lives in peace and harmony as citizens of India. These include individual rights common to most liberal democracies, such as equality before law, freedom of speech and expression, and peaceful assembly, freedom to practice religion, and the right to constitutional remedies for the protection of civil rights by means of writs such as habeas corpus. Violation of these rights result in punishments as prescribed in the Indian Penal Code or other special laws, subject to discretion of the judiciary. The Fundamental Rights are defined as basic human freedoms that every Indian citizen has the right to enjoy for a proper and harmonious development of personality. These rights universally apply to all citizens, irrespective of race, place of birth, religion, caste or gender. Aliens (persons who are not citizens) are also considered in matters like equality before law. They are enforceable by the courts, subject to certain restrictions. The Rights have their origins in many sources, including England's Bill of Rights, the United States Bill of Rights and France's Declaration of the Rights of Man.

The seven fundamental rights recognized by the Indian constitution are:[1]

  1. Right to equality: Which includes equality before law, prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, gender or place of birth, and equality of opportunity in matters of employment, abolition of untouchability and abolition of titles.
  2. Right to freedom: Which includes freedom of speech and expression, assembly, association or union or cooperatives, movement, residence, and right to practice any profession or occupation (some of these rights are subject to security of the State, friendly relations with foreign countries, public order, decency or morality), right to life and liberty, protection in respect to conviction in offences and protection against arrest and detention in certain cases.
  3. Right against exploitation: Which prohibits all forms of forced labour, child labour and traffic of human beings
  4. Right to freedom of religion: Which includes freedom of conscience and free profession, practice, and propagation of religion, freedom to manage religious affairs, freedom from certain taxes and freedom from religious instructions in certain educational institutes.
  5. Cultural and Educational rights: Preserve the right of any section of citizens to conserve their culture, language or script, and right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
  6. Right to constitutional remedies: Which is present for enforcement of Fundamental Rights.
  7. Right to education: It is the latest addition to the fundamental rights

Fundamental rights for Indians have also been aimed at overturning the inequalities of pre-independence social practices. Specifically, they have also been used to abolish untouchability and thus prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth. They also forbid trafficking of human beings and forced labour. They also protect cultural and educational rights of ethnic and religious minorities by allowing them to preserve their languages and also establish and administer their own education institutions. They are covered under articles 14 to 32 of the Indian constitution.

Genesis

The development of constitutionally guaranteed fundamental human rights in India was inspired by historical examples such as England's Bill of Rights (1689), the United States Bill of Rights (approved on 17 September 1787, final ratification on 15 December 1791) and France's Declaration of the Rights of Man (created during the revolution of 1789, and ratified on 26 August 1789).[2]

In 1919, the Rowlatt Act gave extensive powers to the British government and police, and allowed indefinite arrest and detention of individuals, warrant-less searches and seizures, restrictions on public gatherings, and intensive censorship of media and publications. The public opposition to this act eventually led to mass campaigns of non-violent civil disobedience throughout the country demanding guaranteed civil freedoms, and limitations on government power. Indians, who were seeking independence and their own government, were particularly influenced by the independence of Ireland and the development of the Irish constitution. Also, the directive principles of state policy in Irish constitution were looked upon by the people of India as an inspiration for the independent India's government to comprehensively tackle complex social and economic challenges across a vast, diverse nation and population.

In 1928, the Nehru Commission composing of representatives of Indian political parties proposed constitutional reforms for India that apart from calling for dominion status for India and elections under universal suffrage, would guarantee rights deemed fundamental, representation for religious and ethnic minorities, and limit the powers of the government. In 1931, the Indian National Congress (the largest Indian political party of the time) adopted resolutions committing itself to the defence of fundamental civil rights, as well as socio-economic rights such as the minimum wage and the abolition of untouchability and serfdom.[3] Committing themselves to socialism in 1936, the Congress leaders took examples from the Constitution of the Soviet Union, which inspired the fundamental duties of citizens as a means of collective patriotic responsibility for national interests and challenges.

Task of developing a constitution for the nation was undertaken by the Constituent Assembly of India, composing of elected representatives. The Constituent Assembly first met on December 9, 1946 under the presidency of Dr. Sachidanand later Dr. Rajendra Prasad was made its President. While members of Congress composed of a large majority, Congress leaders appointed persons from diverse political backgrounds to responsibilities of developing the constitution and national laws.[4] Notably, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar became the chairperson of the drafting committee, while Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel became chairpersons of committees and sub-committees responsible for different subjects. A notable development during that period having significant effect on the Indian constitution took place on 10 December 1948 when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and called upon all member states to adopt these rights in their respective constitutions.

The fundamental rights were included in the First Draft Constitution (February 1948), the Second Draft Constitution (17 October 1948) and final Third Draft Constitution (26 November 1949), prepared by the Drafting Committee.

Significance and characteristics

The fundamental rights were included in the constitution because they were considered essential for the development of the personality of every individual and to preserve human dignity. The writers of the constitution regarded democracy of no avail if civil liberties, like freedom of speech and religion were not recognised and protected by the State.[5] According to them, "democracy" is, in essence, a government by opinion and therefore, the means of formulating public opinion should be secured to the people of a democratic nation. For this purpose, the constitution guaranteed to all the citizens of India the freedom of speech and expression and various other freedoms in the form of the fundamental rights.[6]

All people, irrespective of race, religion, caste or sex, have been given the right to move the Supreme Court and the High Courts for the enforcement of their fundamental rights. It is not necessary that the aggrieved party has to be the one to do so. Poverty stricken people may not have the means to do so and therefore, in the public interest, anyone can commence litigation in the court on their behalf. This is known as "Public interest litigation".[7] In some cases, High Court judges have acted on their own on the basis of newspaper reports.

These fundamental rights help not only in protection but also the prevention of gross violations of human rights. They emphasise on the fundamental unity of India by guaranteeing to all citizens the access and use of the same facilities, irrespective of background. Some fundamental rights apply for persons of any nationality whereas others are available only to the citizens of India. The right to life and personal liberty is available to all people and so is the right to freedom of religion. On the other hand, freedoms of speech and expression and freedom to reside and settle in any part of the country are reserved to citizens alone, including non-resident Indian citizens.[8] The right to equality in matters of public employment cannot be conferred to overseas citizens of India.[9]

Fundamental rights primarily protect individuals from any arbitrary state actions, but some rights are enforceable against individuals.[10] For instance, the Constitution abolishes untouchability and also prohibits begar. These provisions act as a check both on state action as well as the action of private individuals. However, these rights are not absolute or uncontrolled and are subject to reasonable restrictions as necessary for the protection of general welfare. They can also be selectively curtailed. The Supreme Court has ruled[11] that all provisions of the Constitution, including fundamental rights can be amended. However, the Parliament cannot alter the basic structure of the constitution. Since the fundamental rights can be altered only by a constitutional amendment, their inclusion is a check not only on the executive branch but also on the Parliament and state legislatures.[12]

A state of national emergency has an adverse effect on these rights. Under such a state, the rights conferred by Article 19 (freedoms of speech, assembly and movement, etc.) remain suspended. Hence, in such a situation, the legislature may make laws that go against the rights given in Article 19. Also, the President may by order suspend the right to move court for the enforcement of other rights as well.

Right to equality

Right to equality is an important right provided for in Articles 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 of the constitution. It is the principal foundation of all other rights and liberties, and guarantees the following:

Right to freedom

The Constitution of India contains the right to freedom, given[19] in articles 19, 20, 21, 21A and 22, with the view of guaranteeing individual rights that were considered vital by the framers of the constitution. It is a cluster of four main laws. The right to freedom in Article 19 guarantees the following six freedoms:[20]

21A education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine.

The constitution also imposes restrictions on these rights. The government restricts these freedoms in the interest of the independence, sovereignty and integrity of India. In the interest of morality and public order, the government can also impose restrictions. However, the right to life and personal liberty cannot be suspended. The six freedoms are also automatically suspended or have restrictions imposed on them during a state of emergency.

Right To Information(RTI)

Right To Information and has been given the status of a fundamental right under Article 19(1) of the Constitution in 2005. Article 19 (1) under which every citizen has freedom of speech and expression and have the right to know how the government works, what role does it play, what are its functions and so on.[24]

Right against exploitation

Child labour and Begar is prohibited under Right against exploitation.

The right against exploitation, given in Articles 23 and 24, provides for two provisions, namely the abolition of trafficking in human beings and Begar (forced labour),[25] and abolition of employment of children below the age of 14 years in dangerous jobs like factories, mines, etc. Child labour is considered a gross violation of the spirit and provisions of the constitution.[26] Begar, practised in the past by landlords, has been declared a crime and is punishable by law. Trafficking in humans for the purpose of slave trade or prostitution is also prohibited by law. An exception is made in employment without payment for compulsory services for public purposes. Compulsory military conscription is covered by this provision.[25]

Right to freedom of religion

Right to freedom of religion, covered in Articles 25, 26, 27 and 28, provides religious freedom to all citizens of India. The objective of this right is to sustain the principle of secularism in India. According to the Constitution, all religions are equal before the State and no religion shall be given preference over the other. Citizens are free to preach, practice and propagate any religion of their choice.

Religious communities can set up charitable institutions of their own. However, activities in such institutions that are not religious are performed according to the laws laid down by the government. Establishing a charitable institution can also be restricted in the interest of public order, morality and health.[27] No person shall be compelled to pay taxes for the promotion of a particular religion.[28] A State run institution cannot be impart education that is pro-religion.[29] Also, nothing in this article shall affect the operation of any existing law or prevent the State from making any further law regulating or restricting any economic, financial, political or other secular activity that may be associated with religious practice, or providing for social welfare and reform.[30]

Right to life

The constitution guarantees the right to life and personal liberty, which in turn cites specific provisions in which these rights are applied and enforced:

Cultural and educational rights

The Flag of India

As India is a country of many languages, religions, and cultures, the Constitution provides special measures, in Articles 29 and 30, to protect the rights of the minorities. Any community that has a language and a script of its own has the right to conserve and develop it. No citizen can be discriminated against for admission in State or State aided institutions.[39]

All minorities, religious or linguistic, can set up their own educational institutions to preserve and develop their own culture. In granting aid to institutions, the State cannot discriminate against any institution on the basis of the fact that it is administered by a minority institution.[40] But the right to administer does not mean that the State cannot interfere in case of maladministration. In a precedent-setting judgement in 1980, the Supreme Court held that the State can certainly take regulatory measures to promote the efficiency and excellence of educational standards. It can also issue guidelines for ensuring the security of the services of the teachers or other employees of the institution. In another landmark judgement delivered on 31 October 2002, the Supreme Court ruled that in case of aided minority institutions offering professional courses, admission could be only through a common entrance test conducted by State or a university. Even an unaided minority institution ought not to ignore the merit of the students for admission.

Right to constitutional remedies

Right to constitutional remedies [Article 32 to 35] empowers the citizens to move a court of law in case of any denial of the fundamental rights. For instance, in case of imprisonment, the citizen can ask the court to see if it is according to the provisions of the law of the country. If the court finds that it is not, the person will have to be freed. This procedure of asking the courts to preserve or safeguard the citizens' fundamental rights can be done in various ways. The courts can issue various kinds of writs. These writs are habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari. When a national or state emergency is declared, this right is suspended by the central government.[41]

Critical analysis

The fundamental rights have been revised for many reasons. Political groups have demanded that the right to work, the right to economic assistance in case of unemployment, old age, and similar rights be enshrined as constitutional guarantees to address issues of poverty and economic insecurity,[42] though these provisions have been enshrined in the Directive Principles of state policy.[43] The right to freedom and personal liberty has a number of limiting clauses, and thus have been criticised for failing to check the sanctioning of powers often deemed "excessive".[42] There is also the provision of preventive detention and suspension of fundamental rights in times of Emergency. The provisions of acts like the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) and the National Security Act (NSA) are a means of countering the fundamental rights, because they sanction excessive powers with the aim of fighting internal and cross-border terrorism and political violence, without safeguards for civil rights.[42] The phrases "security of State", "public order" and "morality" are of wide implication. People of alternate sexuality are criminalized in India with prison term up to 10 years. The meaning of phrases like "reasonable restrictions" and "the interest of public order" have not been explicitly stated in the constitution, and this ambiguity leads to unnecessary litigation.[42] The freedom to assemble peaceably and without arms is exercised, but in some cases, these meetings are broken up by the police through the use of non-fatal methods.[44][45]

"Freedom of press" has not been included in the right to freedom, which is necessary for formulating public opinion and to make freedom of expression more legitimate.[42] Employment of child labour in hazardous job environments has been reduced, but their employment even in non-hazardous jobs, including their prevalent employment as domestic help violates the spirit and ideals of the constitution. More than 16.5 million children are employed and working in India.[46] India was ranked 88 out of 159 in 2005, according to the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians worldwide. But in 2014, India has improved marginally to a rank of 85.[47][48] The right to equality in matters regarding public employment shall not be conferred to overseas citizens of India, according to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2003.[9]

As per Article 19 of Part 3 of the Indian constitution, the fundamental rights of people such as freedom of speech and expression, gathering peaceably without arms and forming associations or unions shall not effect the interests of the sovereignty[49] and integrity of India but not unity of India. The words sovereignty and integrity are the qualities to be cultivated / emulated by Indian people as urged by the Indian constitution but not used related to territory of India. Article 1 of Part 1 of the Indian constitution,defines India (Bharat) as union of sovereign states. In nutshell, India is its people not its land as enshrined in its constitution.

Amendments

Changes to the fundamental rights require a constitutional amendment, which has to be passed by a special majority of both houses of Parliament. This means that an amendment requires the approval of two-thirds of the members present and voting. However, the number of members voting should not be less than the simple majority of the house – whether the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha.

The right to education at elementary level has been made one of the fundamental rights under the Eighty-Sixth Amendment of 2002.[36]

Right to property

The Constitution originally provided for the right to property under Articles 19 and 31. Article 19 guaranteed to all citizens the right to acquire, hold and dispose of property. Article 31 provided that "no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law." It also provided that compensation would be paid to a person whose property has been taken for public purposes.

The provisions relating to the right to property were changed a number of times. The Forty-Fourth Amendment of 1978 deleted the right to property from the list of fundamental rights[50] A new provision, Article 300-A, was added to the constitution, which provided that "no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law". Thus if a legislature makes a law depriving a person of his property, there would be no obligation on the part of the State to pay anything as compensation. The aggrieved person shall have no right to move the court under Article 32. Thus, the right to property is no longer a fundamental right, though it is still a constitutional right. If the government appears to have acted unfairly, the action can be challenged in a court of law by citizens.[42]

The liberalisation of the economy and the government's initiative to set up special economic zones has led to many protests by farmers and have led to calls for the reinstatement of the fundamental right to private property.[51] The Supreme Court has sent a notice to the government questioning why the right should not be brought back but in 2010 the court rejected the PIL[52]

Right to education

Article 21A – On 2 April 2010, India joined a group of few countries in the world, with a historic law making education a fundamental right of every child coming into force.[53] Making elementary education an entitlement for children in the 6–14 age group, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act will directly benefit children who do not go to school at present.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the operationalisation of the Act. Children, who had either dropped out of schools or never been to any educational institution, will get elementary education as it will be binding on the part of the local and State governments to ensure that all children in the 6–14 age group get schooling. As per the Act, private educational institutions should reserve 25 per cent seats for children from the weaker sections of society. The Centre and the States have agreed to share the financial burden in the ratio of 55:45, while the Finance Commission has given Rs.250 billion to the States for implementing the Act. The Centre has approved an outlay of Rs.150 billion for 2010–2011.

The school management committee or the local authority will identify the drop-outs or out-of-school children aged above six and admit them in classes appropriate to their age after giving special training.

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References

  1. ↑ Constitution of India-Part III Fundamental Rights.
  2. ↑ Tayal, B.B. & Jacob, A. (2005), Indian History, World Developments and Civics, pg. A-23
  3. ↑ Gandhi, Rajmohan. Patel: A Life. p. 206.
  4. ↑ UNI. "Sardar Patel was the real architect of the Constitution". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2006-05-15.
  5. 1 2 The term "State" includes all authorities within the territory of India. It includes the Government of India, the Parliament of India, the Government and legislature of the states of India. It also includes all local or other authorities such as Municipal Corporations, Municipal Boards, District Boards, Panchayats etc. To avoid confusion with the term states and territories of India, State (encompassing all the authorities in India) has been capitalised and the term state (referring to the state governments) is in lowercase.
  6. ↑ Laski, Harold Joseph (1930). Liberty in the Modern State. New York and London: Harpers and Brothers.
  7. ↑ "Bodhisattwa Gautam vs. Subhra Chakraborty; 1995 ICHRL 69". World Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 2006-05-25. External link in |publisher= (help) This was the case where Public interest litigation was introduced (date of ruling 15 December 1995).
  8. ↑ Tayal, B.B. & Jacob, A. (2005), Indian History, World Developments and Civics, pg. A-25
  9. 1 2 3 "Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2003" (PDF). Rajya Sabha. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2006. Retrieved 2006-05-25. External link in |publisher= (help)
  10. ↑ "Bodhisattwa Gautam vs. Subhra Chakraborty; 1995 ICHRL 69". World Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 2006-05-25. External link in |publisher= (help) This was the case where fundamental rights were enforced against private individuals (date of ruling 15 December 1995).
  11. ↑ Kesavananda Bharati vs. The State of Kerala; AIR 1973 S.C. 1461, (1973) 4 SCC 225 – In what became famously known as the "Fundamental Rights case", the Supreme Court decided that the basic structure of the Constitution of India was unamendable
  12. ↑ Tayal, B.B. & Jacob, A. (2005), Indian History, World Developments and Civics, pg. A-24
  13. ↑ Constitution of India-Part III Article 14 Fundamental Rights.
  14. ↑ Constitution of India-Part III Article 15 Fundamental Rights.
  15. ↑ Constitution of India-Part III Article 16 Fundamental Rights.
  16. ↑ Constitution of India-Part III Article 17 Fundamental Rights.
  17. ↑ Constitution of India-Part III Article 18 Fundamental Rights.
  18. ↑ Basu, Durga Das (1988). Shorter Constitution of India. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India. Basu, Durga Das (1993). Introduction to the Constitution of India. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India.
  19. ↑ Democratic Politics Class 9. NCERT.
  20. ↑ Constitution of India-Part III Article 19 Fundamental Rights.
  21. ↑ "Article 19 in The Constitution Of India 1949". Indiankanoon.org. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  22. ↑ Pylee, M.V. (1999). India's Constitution. New Delhi: S. Chand and Company. ISBN 81-219-1907-X.
  23. ↑ Vasudha Dhagamwar (4 May 2004). "The price of a Bill". Retrieved 24 March 2009.
  24. ↑ "Home: Central Information Commission (CIC) Online". rti.india.gov.in. Retrieved 2016-02-10.
  25. 1 2 Constitution of India-Part III Article 23 Fundamental Rights.
  26. ↑ Constitution of India-Part III Article 24 Fundamental Rights.
  27. ↑ Constitution of India-Part III Article 26 Fundamental Rights.
  28. ↑ Constitution of India-Part III Article 27 Fundamental Rights.
  29. ↑ Constitution of India-Part III Article 28 Fundamental Rights.
  30. ↑ Constitution of India-Part III Article 25 Fundamental Rights.
  31. ↑ Constitution of India-Part III Article 20 Fundamental Rights.
  32. ↑ Constitution of India-Part III Article 21 Fundamental Rights.
  33. ↑ Nandan G (May 1994). "Indian grants right to suicide". BMJ 308 (6941): 1392. doi:10.1136/bmj.308.6941.1392.
  34. ↑ Paper 3: Abolition and Restoration of Section 309 IPC – an overview by BR Sharma, A Sharma, D Harish: Anil Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine: Vol. 7, No. 1 (January – June 2006)
  35. ↑ Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India; AIR 1978 S.C. 597, (1978).
  36. 1 2 86th Amendment Act, 2002.
  37. ↑ right to education bill.
  38. ↑ Constitution of India-Part III Article 22 Fundamental Rights.
  39. ↑ Constitution of India-Part III Article 29 Fundamental Rights.
  40. ↑ Constitution of India-Part III Article 30 Fundamental Rights.
  41. ↑ Constitution of India-Part III Article 32 Fundamental Rights.
  42. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tayal, B.B. & Jacob, A. (2005), Indian History, World Developments and Civics, pg. A-33
  43. ↑ Constitution of India-Part IV Article 41 Directive Principles of State Policy.
  44. ↑ Senior Inspector justifies lathi-charge during the 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests
  45. ↑ Lathi Charge in Mumbai during the 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests
  46. ↑ "Child labour in India". India Together. Retrieved 2006-06-27. External link in |publisher= (help)
  47. ↑ https://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results
  48. ↑ Index of perception of corruption, published by Transparency International.
  49. ↑ Sovereign means possessing supreme or ultimate power. "in modern democracies the people's will is in theory sovereign" synonyms: supreme, absolute, unlimited, unrestricted, unrestrained, unbounded, boundless, infinite, ultimate, total, unconditional, full, utter, paramount; principal, chief, dominant, predominant
  50. ↑ 44th Amendment Act, 1978.
  51. ↑ Mahapatra, Dhananjay (28 February 2009). "Should right to property return?". The Times of India. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  52. ↑ "Court rejects plea to make property a fundamental right". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 19 October 2010.
  53. ↑ "Education is now a fundamental right of every child". Hindustan Times. 1 April 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

Footnotes

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