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The fundamental rights in India enshrined in Part III of the Constitution of India guarantee civil liberties so 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 the law, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of association and peaceful assembly, freedom to practice religion, and the right to constitutional measures to protect civil rights Habeas Corpus like Writ. Violation of these rights is punishable as prescribed in the Indian Penal Code, subject to the discretion of the judiciary.
Fundamental rights are defined as the basic human freedoms which every Indian citizen is entitled to enjoy for the proper and harmonious development of the personality. These rights are universally applicable to all citizens, irrespective of race, place of birth, religion, caste, creed, color, or gender. They are enforceable by the courts, subject to certain restrictions. Rights have their origins in several sources, including England's Bill of Rights, the United States Bill of Rights, and France's Declaration of the Rights of Man.
Part III (Articles 12-35) of the Indian Constitution provides for the Fundamental Rights, which are the basic rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India. All the six fundamental rights are as follows:
- Right to Equality - Article 14-18
- Right to Freedom - Article 19-22
- Right against Exploitation - Article 23-24
- Right to Freedom of Religion - Articles 25-28
- Cultural and Educational Rights - Articles 29-30
- Right to Constitutional Remedies - Articles 32-35
Basic Concept of Fundamental Rights:
The origin of the concept of fundamental rights can be traced back to 13th-century England. In 1215, the people of England revolted against the king and demanded certain rights, the king gave certain assurances in the form of the 'Magna Carta'. It is credited with paving the way for modern democratic rights. He was the first American to give constitutional status to the Bill of Rights. However, in the original US Constitution, there was no mention of a Bill of Rights.
Subsequently, the First Amendment was enacted in 1791, incorporating some of the fundamental rights. The framers of the Indian Constitution followed the American model and included rights in the Constitution itself. An important feature of fundamental rights in India is that the remedy for the enforcement of fundamental rights is declared to be a fundamental right itself. It is to be noted that there is no definite content of fundamental rights explicitly included in the constitution and the courts have expanded the scope of fundamental rights through interpretation.
The first demand for fundamental rights came in the form of the Swaraj Bill of 1895, later the demand for fundamental rights arose till the framers of the constitution made it. The fundamental rights were not ratified in the Government of India Act of 1935. Both the Simon Commission and the Joint Parliamentary Committee were opposed to the inclusion of a declaration to this effect in a constitutional document. They believed that the Declaration of Rights would pose a serious risk of a large number of laws being declared void and would place restrictions on the powers of the legislature.
Subsequently, the framers of the Indian Constitution adopted England's Magna Carta, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (France), and the U.S. Inspired by the Bill of Rights. This inclusion of fundamental rights was in accordance with the democratic idea.
The fundamental rights of the Indian Constitution are also known as the Magna Carta of India. These rights are those rights that protect the rights and liberties of the people against the arbitrary nature of the state. These rights are called fundamental because they are essentially necessary for an individual to lead a dignified life with freedom and independence. If any law curtails the fundamental rights then that law will be declared void.
The constitution itself secures the fundamental rights:
Being that one group dominates and fundamental rights say they should not and then it should not be seen in the narrow perspective of state versus citizens; Rather it has to be seen in the wider perspective of dominance versus supremacy.
The basic objective of fundamental rights is to ensure the maximum reduction of group dominance in certain areas. Also, they provide equitable rights to the people that can be enforced through the courts and they place limits or restrictions on the action of the government.
Fundamental rights are primarily meant to protect the individual against the state. But it should not be seen as an individual versus the state struggle. The state itself is the means of achieving the rights of the individual. The state can guarantee the rights of an individual as compared to other individuals. But what about the rights of the individual against the state itself? This is guaranteed by fundamental rights.
The concept also finds its origin in the social contract theory propounded by Locke, Rousseau, and Hobbes. Hobbes held that the people, in a sort of social contract with the state, had alienated their rights and vested them in the state. The state, in turn, undertakes to protect these rights.
The purpose of fundamental rights is not really to curtail anything from the state but to ensure a better life for those who ultimately constitute the state itself. Fundamental Rights were created by the architects of the constitution to secure certain basic, natural, and inalienable rights, these rights have been declared in order to preserve human liberty, the development of human personality, and effective social and democratic life can be promoted.
The fundamental rights ensure that the country has the rule of law and not the people. The objective is to establish the rule of law and the Indian constitution has gone a long way- the objective is not only to provide security and equality of certification to the people and thereby help in nation-building but also to provide justice and certification to certain standards of conduct It's going on.
The SC in Maneka Gandhi v. The Union of India held that the fundamental right is to protect the dignity of an individual and to provide an environment that enables the personality development of an individual to the fullest extent.
The SC in Society for Enhanced Private Schools of Rajasthan v. The Union of India held that the fundamental rights legislative powers act as a restraint and provide for the full development of the citizens.
The SC in Olga Tellis v Bombay Municipal Corporation held that fundamental rights also confer statutory rights as it is part of the life and honor of an individual.
Fundamental Rights: Available to Citizens Vs Non-Citizens
The Fundamental Rights in the Constitution are concurrent with the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, while the Constitution provisioning the Fundamental Rights took care to follow the specifics and priorities of the Human Rights declared by the United Nations.
Most of the fundamental rights are available to both citizens and non-citizens. Account 14 (right to equality), Account 21 (protection of life and liberty), etc. But there are certain rights that are available to the sole citizens of India - they are -
- Article 15
- Article16
- Article 19
- Article 29
- Article 30
These rights are every fundamental right left to both citizens and non-citizens of India. There are some more rights that were secured by the constitution and interpreted by the judiciary to secure the rights of an individual. And the interpretation of a provision of the Indian Constitution made the scope of fundamental rights very wide.
Some more powers conferred by the Judiciary in the context of the Constitution:
- The right of liberty to determine the number per newspaper was upheld by the Supreme Court in the case of gross letters;
- The right to travel abroad has also been laid down as a fundamental right by the SC in the Maneka Gandhi case;
- The right to vote has been upheld by the Supreme Court in Union of India v. Association for Democratic Reforms, the Supreme Court held that the right of voters to know about their candidate is a fundamental right, etc.
There are many more such rights that were dealt with by the Supreme Court in various cases but each such right was derived from the interpretation of the Constitution, therefore, it is the Constitution itself that provides and secures every Indian fundamental right.
Further, it is not necessary that the rights specifically mentioned should be mentioned in a particular article. It can be a fundamental right if it is a superseding part of the fundamental rights having the same basic nature and character as the fundamental rights. Every situation which is based on the name of fundamental rights can be considered as an ideal part of that right and hence it is a real right.
