- What are the various Fundamental Rights listed in the Constitution of India;
- How these rights are protected;
- What role the judiciary has played in protecting and interpreting these rights; and
- What is the difference between the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy.
In 1982 during the construction work for Asian Games the government engaged a few contractors. These contractors employed a large number of very poor construction workers from different parts of the country to build the flyovers and stadiums. These workers were kept in poor working conditions and were paid less than the minimum wages decided by the government.
A team of social scientists studied their poor condition and petitioned the Supreme Court. They argued that employing a person to work for less than the minimum prescribed wage amounts to begar or forced labour, which is a violation of the Fundamental Right against exploitation. The court accepted this plea and directed the government to ensure that thousands of workers get the prescribed wages for their work.
Bill of Rights
- A democracy must ensure that individuals have certain rights and that the government will always recognise these rights.
- Therefore it is often a practice in most democratic countries to list the rights of the citizens in the constitution itself.
- Such a list of rights mentioned and protected by the constitution is called the ‘bill of rights’.
A bill of rights prohibits government from thus acting against the rights of the individuals and ensures a remedy in case there is violation of these rights.
From whom does a constitution protect the rights of the individual?
- The rights of a person may be threatened by another person or private organisation.
- In such a situation, the individual would need the protection of the government. So, it is necessary that the government is bound to protect the rights of the individual.
- On the other hand, the organs of the government (the legislature, executive, bureaucracy or even the judiciary), in the course of their functioning, may violate the rights of the person.
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION
- During our freedom struggle, the leaders of the freedom movement had realised the importance of rights and demanded that the British rulers should respect rights of the people.
- The Motilal Nehru committee had demanded a bill of rights as far back as in 1928. It was therefore, natural that when India became independent and the Constitution was being prepared, there were no two opinions on the inclusion and protection of rights in the Constitution.
The Constitution listed the rights that would be specially protected and called them ‘fundamental rights’.
The word fundamental suggests that these rights are so important that the Constitution has separately listed them and made special provisions for their protection. The Fundamental Rights are so important that the Constitution itself ensures that they are not violated by the government.
- Fundamental Rights are different from other rights available to us.
- While ordinary legal rights are protected and enforced by ordinary law, Fundamental Rights are protected and guaranteed by the constitution of the country.
- Ordinary rights may be changed by the legislature by ordinary process of law making, but a fundamental right may only be changed by amending the Constitution itself.
- Besides this, no organ of the government can act in a manner that violates them.
- Judiciary has the powers and responsibility to protect the fundamental rights from violations by actions of the government.
- Executive as well as legislative actions can be declared illegal by the judiciary if these violate the fundamental rights or restrict them in an unreasonable manner.
- However, fundamental rights are not absolute or unlimited rights.
- Government can put reasonable restrictions on the exercise of our fundamental rights.
Part-III Fundamental Right
The fundamental rights of all the citizens of India are given in the Constitution of India. These fundamental rights are mentioned in part-III of the Constitution of India.
The Constitution of India not only provides fundamental rights to its citizens but also mentions the reasonable restriction of those rights.
The six Fundamental Rights given in the Constitution of India are mentioned below:
- Right to Equality
- Right to Freedom
- Right against Exploitation
- Right to Freedom of Religion
- Right to Constitutional Remedies
- Cultural and Educational Rights
- Articles 14-18 cover the Right to Equality
- Articles 19-22 cover the Right to Freedom
- Articles 23-24 cover the Right against Exploitation
- Articles 25-28 cover the Right to Freedom of Religion
- Articles 29-30 cover Cultural and Educational Rights
- Article 32 covers the Right to Constitutional Remedies.
Right to Equality
The Constitution of India, the Right to Equality provides the following to the citizens of India:
- Abolition of untouchability
- Equal opportunities when it comes to public employment.
- Every citizen will be equal in front of the law. Every citizen of India will get equal protection of laws.
- All the citizens will have equal access to hotels, shops, roads, wells, etc.
- Discrimination of citizens is completely prohibited on the grounds of place of birth, sex, caste, race, religion, etc.
One of the biggest examples of inequality was untouchability, which was practiced in India. The Constitution of India has completely abolished it thereby bringing equality among all citizens. No person will be given any kind of title, except for people who have excelled in the fields of military and academics.
The preamble of the Indian Constitution says that every citizen will have equality in opportunity and status.
Right to Freedom of Religion
As per the Constitution of India, the Right to Freedom of Religion provides the following rights:
- Citizens of India will have the freedom to attend religious instruction or worship in certain educational institutions.
- People have the freedom to pay taxes for the promotion of any religion of their choice.
- Citizens are given the right to manage the religious affairs
- Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of a particular religion.
Right to Freedom
As per the fundamental rights of India mentioned in the Constitution of India, the Right to Freedom provides the following rights:
- Right to life and liberty.
- Right to live and settle in any part of India.
- Right to form unions or associations.
- Right to carry out trade or business, right to work in any occupation, and right to work in any profession.
- Right to assemble peacefully.
- Right to freedom of speech and expression.
The Right to Freedom and the Right to Equality are the two most essential rights in a democracy. When the Constitution of India mentions liberty, it means freedom of action, expression, and thoughts.
However, it must be noted that such freedom comes with its limitations. Every citizen can enjoy the above-mentioned freedom without endangering the law and order situation, and without threatening the freedom of other people.
Cultural and Educational Rights
As per the fundamental rights of India mentioned in the Constitution of India, the Cultural and Educational Rights provide the following rights to the citizens of India:
- Minorities have the right to establish educational institutions.
- The culture and language of the minorities will be protected.
Right against Exploitation
As per the fundamental rights of India mentioned in the Constitution of India, the Right against Exploitation provides the following rights to the citizens of India:
- Children are prohibited from employment in hazardous jobs.
- Forced labour is prohibited.
- Trafficking of human beings is prohibited by the Constitution of India.
Right to Constitutional Remedies
As per the fundamentals rights of India mentioned in the Constitution of India, the
Right to Constitutional Remedies provides the following rights to the citizens of India:
- Citizens have the right to ask the courts to enforce their fundamental rights by requesting the courts to issue writs, orders, and directions to the Government.
Right to Property – Earlier it was a Fundamental Right
There was an amendment to the Constitution of India in 1978. It was the 44th amendment of the Constitution of India which declared that the Right to Property will no longer be a Fundamental Right. Article 31 and Article 19(1)(f) were completely removed from Part III – Fundamental Rights of the Constitution with the 44th Amendment.
Fundamental Rights of India – Interesting Facts
- As per Articles 226, High Courts can issue writs for enforcement of Fundamental Rights.
- Fundamental Rights are enforceable through the Supreme Court and High Courts. As per Article 32, the Supreme Court can enforce Fundamental Rights.
- Not all the citizens of India can enjoy Fundamental Rights absolutely. An example would be personnel belonging to the Indian Military.
- Fundamental rights can be suspended during a national emergency. But, the rights guaranteed under Articles 20 and 21 cannot be suspended.
- Fundamental Rights were borrowed from the Constitution of the United States of America.
- Some of the Fundamental Rights are available exclusively to the Citizens of India only, whereas some of the Fundamental Rights are extended to foreigners as well.
- Fundamental Rights are amendable on the condition that the changes are not contrary to the basic structure of the constitution.
- Some of the Fundamental Rights are available exclusively to the Citizens of India, whereas some of the Fundamental Rights are extended to foreigners as well.
- Fundamental Rights are political and social in character. There is no scope for guaranteed economic rights since it doesn’t mention anything about a guaranteed job.
