The idea that every individual possessed certain inherent rights was one of the prominent moving
spirits of freedom struggle and therefore, the inclusion of rights was considered as an essential
part of the Constitution to be framed by the Constituent Assembly of India. This was made amply
clear in the objectives resolution moved by Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 December 1946. The
resolution promised to all citizens of India:
Justice: Social, economic and political,:
Equality: of status, of opportunity and before the law; and
Freedom: of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation, association and action, subject
to law and public morality.
The objectives Contained in the above resolution were later adopted as part of the Preamble of the
Constitution. You will appreciate that in a society full of divisions of caste, religions, tribes,
languages etc, as also having a large population of poor, such promises were revolutionary. At the
same time mere political legal equality was not sufficient for the deprived sections of society.
Therefore, apart from granting freedoms and equality, provisions for providing protective
safeguards were also necessary. The Constituent Assembly therefore made provisions for both
negative and positive rights as also special provisions for vulnerable sections of the society within
rights. Negative rights refer to freedoms and equality that the State must not encroach upon. That
38
is State is prohibited from exercising power. Positive rights require State to take active steps
towards their realisation. The Constituent Assembly divided the rights into two parts. In chapter
III of the Constitution- under Fundamental rights- were guaranteed primarily negative rights and
in chapter IV under Directive Principles of State Policy were provided positive rights. The
Preamble, Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles combined the values of freedom, equality
and economic and social justice
No comments:
Post a Comment