FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

The fundamental rights have been provided in part III of the Constitution. These are primarily in
the nature of civil and political rights. There are two kinds of rights, some available to all persons
living in India and some available only to citizens of India. These rights are justiciable, which
means in case of violation of these rights, the citizens can go to courts for enforcement of these
rights. The rights as such are Constitutional guarantees. These can be infringed only to the extent
provided by the Constitution itself or under conditions of emergency. Originally, the Fundamental
rights were provided under seven categories. In 1978, through 44th amendment of the
Constitution, one right that is right to property, was deleted from the chapter on rights. As such
there are now six categories of Fundamental Rights. These are discussed as below:

Right to Equality 

Through Articles 14 to 18, the Constitution provides equality before law, of opportunity, dignity
and status.

Article 14 provides that the state shall not deny to any person equality before law or the equal
protection of the law within the territory of India.

Article 15 prohibits the state to discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race,
caste, sex, place of birth or any of them. Prohibition of discrimination is placed also on society as
no citizen on any of the above mentioned grounds can be denied access to shops, restaurants,
hotels, places of public entertainment, and use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of
use of the general public. The State, however, can make special provisions for women and
children. Article 15 also allows state to make special provisions for the advancement of backward
classes of citizens and for Scheduled castes and tribes.

Article 16 provides equality of opportunity for all citizens in respect of public employment. They
cannot be deprived of this on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth,
residence etc. The State can, however, make special provisions for reservations of jobs for the
Scheduled Castes and Tribes as also promotions in jobs. It means denial of opportunity to others
in jobs reserved for Scheduled Castes and Tribes. This is known as affirmative action for the
welfare of deprived sections.

Article 17 abolishes practice of untouchability in any form. It declares practice of untouchability
as a crime punishable in accordance with law. Thus equality of dignity is assured. To provide
equality of status

Article 18 provides that the state shall not confer any title other than military or academic. No
citizen of India shall accept any title from any foreign state. No person other than a citizen, while
holding an office of profit, under the state shall, without the consent of the president, accept title
from a foreign state.

It thus becomes clear that in India all citizens are equal in all respects. State candiscriminate only
for welfare of Scheduled castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes of citizens to provide
them justice that was denied to them for centuries.

 Right to Freedom 

Articles 19 to 22 of the Constitution grant various types of freedoms to persons.
Basic Freedoms
Article 19 guarantees six basic freedoms. These are
 (i) freedom of speech and expression,
(ii) Freedom to assemble peacefully without arms,
(iii) Freedom to form associations and unions,
(iv) Freedom of movement,
 (v) Freedom to reside and settle in any part of India, and
(vi) Freedom to practice any profession or carry on any occupation, trade orbusiness.

These freedoms, however, are not absolute; clauses 2 to 6 of the Article 19 provide for conditions
under which the state can put reasonable restrictions on these freedoms under certain conditions.

These are: security of the state, public order, foreign relations, defamation, contempt of court,
sovereignty and integrity of India, public morality or incitement to commit an offence.

Protection in respect of Conviction of offences

Article 20 gives to citizens, protection against conviction for offences except for the violation of
the law in force, against punishment for the same offence more than once and against forcing a
person to be a witness against one self.

Right to Life and Personal Liberty 

Article 21 guarantees all persons right to life. According to this, no person shall be deprived of his
life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. Right to life has been
expended by the Supreme Court declaring that right to life means a dignified life. The
Government of India has also agreed with it and through an amendment of the Constitution, it
added Article 21 A guaranteeing the right to education to all children between the age of six and
fourteen years. Issues of pollution have also been taken up as affecting the right to life.
 
Protection in cases of Arrest and Detention

Article 22 provides for right to be informed of the grounds of arrest, right to consult and be
defended by a lawyer, right to be presented before a magistrate within 24 hours etc. These rights
are, however, withheld from enemy, aliens and persons who are arrested or detained under any
law providing for preventive detention.

Right against Exploitation 

Articles 23 and 24 provide Right against Exploitation. This right assures guarantee against ‘traffic
in human beings’, forced labour, begging etc. Article 24 protects children below the age of 14
from employment in factories, mines, and other hazardous jobs.

 Right to Freedom of Religion 

 Articles 25 and 26 guarantee freedom of Conscience and free profession; practice and
propagation of religion, establishment and maintenance of institutions for religious and charitable
purposes. These freedoms, however, are subject to public order, morality and health. It means all individuals and religious groups are free to practice their faith without endangering public order
and health.

Article 27 provides that no person shall be compelled to pay any taxes, the proceeds of which are
specifically appropriated in payment of expenses for the promotion or maintenance of any
particular religion or religious denominations.

Article 28 forbids the imparting of religious instructions in educational institutions funded by
state. In institutions aided by state, students cannot be forced to attend religious instructions. The
above provisions of Article 25 to 28 make it clear that while all individuals are free to adopt and
practice any religion, and all religions are free to flourish according to their established traditions,
the state will not promote or favour any particular religion nor will it discriminate against any. It
is these provisions that make India a secular country.

Cultural and Educational Rights 

Articles 29 and 30 protect the interest of minorities in terms of their traditions and languages. Any
section of the citizens, residing in the territory of India having a distinct language, script or
culture, has the right to conserve the same. No citizen can be denied admission to a State owned
or State-aided educational institution on grounds of religion, race, caste or language.

 Article 30 gives minorities the right to establish and administer educational institutions. This
Article also provides that the State cannot discriminate against any educational institution on the
ground that it is under the management of a minority.

 Right to Constitutional Remedies 

As you have read in the beginning, the Fundamental Rights are justiciable. For this Article 32
gives right to persons to appeal to courts- both Supreme Court and High Court- in cases of
violation of any right. The Courts have been given powers to enforce Rights by appropriate
remedies. They can issue writs of habeas corpus (asking the detaining authority to bring a
detained person to the court for trial); mandamus (ordering a government to do its duty);
prohibition (stopping an authority from violating someone’s right); quo warrant (asking an
official body of the authority under which power has been exercised), and certiorari (taking over
of a case from a lower court by a higher court). From the above discussion, you might have
understood that Fundamental Rights basicallyprotect individuals against violation of their
freedom, liberty and equality by state. These are called negative because the state has been asked
not to violate these rights.

The Articles 15 and 16 empower the state to initiate positive action also for the welfare of
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes. In general, Chapter III primarily
provides Civil and Political Rights. Chapter IV of the Constitution provides the rights that are
positive in nature as State has to provide these through its policies and actions.