Human Rights are commonly understood as “inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is
inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being”. India being a diverse country with
its multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious population, the protection of human rights is the
sine qua non for peaceful existence.
Of course, all legal rights are human rights but it is unfortunate that all human rights have not
become legal rights as on date. This is because the law follows the action, as a consequence, it is
not possible to codify
all probable laws in anticipation for protection of human rights, and this is when the due
procedure of law or the principle of natural justice plays an active role in protecting the rights of
the people when there is no legislation available.
Fundamentally, the basic motive of all the three wings of the democratic government, namely, the executive, the legislative, and the Judiciary revolves around the
protection of human rights. They strive together and separately to uphold the human rights of the
people in the country. The Judiciary with no doubt has played a vital role in protection of Human
rights over the decades. Some of the most unpleasant violation of human rights like Sati, Child
Marriage, Honor Killings, Slavery, Child labour etc., have been abolished wholly owing to
widespread awareness and strict implementation measures taken by the Judiciary.
The status of human rights is fairly high under the Constitution of India which makes provision
for fundamental rights and empowers Supreme Court of India and High Courts to enforce these
rights. The Indian judiciary with its widest interpretation in observance of Human Rights has
contributed to the progress of the nation and to the goal of creating India as a vibrant State. The
definition of Human Rights can be found under Section 2(d) of the Protection of Human Rights
Act, 1993 as, “The rights relating to life, liberty,equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed
by the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforceable by the Court of
India.” So it is evident that Courts have a major role to play in enforcing the rights.
Barriers
Working towards the protection of human rights ought to be the paramount goal of any Court of
the country. There are some barriers which are to be set aside.
· Avoidance of the legal system due to economic reasons or fear.
· Excessive number of laws.
· Expensive legal procedures.
· Inadequate Legal Aid Systems.
· Inadequate information about laws, the rights arising out of them and the prevailing practices.
·Failure of legal systems to provide remedies which are preventive, just, nondiscriminatory and
adequate.
·Lack of public participation in reform movements.PIL is an excellent example to refer to at this
moment. During our lifetime we’ve seen plethora of injustices being dealt with using the
mechanism of PIL.
We can vividly recollect a few for which the Supreme Court has been approached in the last few
decades:
· lack of access to food,
· deaths due to starvation,
· out-of-turn allotment of government accommodation,
· prohibition of smoking in public places,
· investigation of alleged bribe taking,
· employment of children in hazardous industries,
· rights of children and bonded labours,
· extent of the right to strike,
· right to health,
· right to education,
· sexual harassment in the workplace,
Yes, it is true that Judiciary has done a tremendous job in the past by actively involving in
safeguarding the human rights in process of delivering justice. But the future is far more
challenging with the new social innovations like Surrogacy, Cyber Terrorism, etc..; which
does not have a concrete law as on date and the scope of violation of human rights are far more
severe than anticipated; therefore it is only with due conviction and determination by the
subordinate judicial officers these challenges can be overcome in an orderly manner.
The right to enforce the Human Rights provided in the Constitution of India is protected through
enabling provisions.
Article 226 of the Constitution empowers High Courts to issue directions, orders or writs
in the nature of Habeas Corpus, Quo Warranto, Mandamus, Certiorari, Prohibition for the
enforcement of fundamental rights as well as any other legal rights.
Article 32, itself a Fundamental Right, invests the Supreme Court with the power of
judicial review for the enforcement of fundamental rights with the power to issue directions,
orders and writs as well. It is worth mentioning that Dr. Ambedkar who in course of his speech
referred to draft Article 25 corresponding to the present Article 32, in the Constituent Assembly,
said, “if I was asked to name any particular article in the Constitution as the most important-an
article without which this Constitution would be nullity – I would not refer to any other article
except this one. It is the very soul of the Constitution and very heart of it and I am glad that the
House, has realized the importance”.
. Any aggrieved person could have direct access to superior Courts for obtaining quick relief
against the state for violation of any fundamental right. In addition to the above provisions,
Article142 enables the Supreme Court to make such orders as are necessary to do complete
justice in the cause;
Article 141 provides that the law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding on all; and
Article 144 obliges all authorities to act in the aid of the Supreme Court.
The intervention by the courts for issues involving the economic, social and cultural rights
definitely created a positive implication.
The District judiciary renders an active role in dispense of justice, they have a massive duty to
protect the constitutional rights of the citizens. Barring few limitations, the District Judicial
Officers are in charge of all matters including application and interpretation of constitutional
provisions like Articles 14, 19, 21 etc. It is after the appreciation of work done by the District
judicial officers, that the legislators enacted the Human rights Act, 1993. One of the main
objectives of the Human Rights Act, 1993 is to establish the Human Rights Courts at every
district level. Section 30 of the Act enables the State Government to specify for each district, a
Court of Sessions to be a Human Rights Court after the due concurrence with the Chief Justice of
the respective High Courts. The motive behind the provision is to provide speedy trial of offences arising out of violation of human rights. The creation of Human Rights Courts at the district level
has a great potential to protect and realize human rights at the grassroots level.
On 9th September 2011, the West Bengal government was the first to set up Human Rights’
Courts in all 19 districts of the State to ensure speedy disposal of cases concerning human rights.
These courts functions from the district headquarters and it is under the District Sessions Judge.
Separate public prosecutors are being appointed in each District Human Rights Court, as provided
by the section 31 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. More and more Session Courts
must be specified as the Human Rights Courts for achieving the full
benefits from the act.
In the present era, the human rights refers to more than mere existence with dignity. The
International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg divides the human rights into three
generations.
First-generationhuman rights are fundamentally civil and political in nature, as well as strongly
individualistic in nature;
theSecond-generation human rights are basically economic, social and cultural in nature, they
guarantee different members of the citizenry with equal conditions and treatment;
the Third-generation human rights refers to the right to self-determination and right to
development.
As a consequence with the expansion of scope of human rights, the ambit of safeguarding the
rights also increases, as a result, the judiciary should toil more to prevent the violation of human
rights. Judiciary is the only organ which can translate these rights into reality; which is not
possible without the help of the judicial officers of the respective courts.
The Indian judiciary is playing a role incomparable in the history of judiciaries of the world. It
must, therefore, prove itself worthy of the trust and confidence which the public reposes in it. The
judiciary must not limit its activity to the traditional role of deciding dispute between two parties,
but must also contribute to the progress of the nation and creation of a social order where all
citizens are provided with the basic economic necessities of a civilized life, viz. employment,
housing, medical care, education etc. as this alone will win for it the respect of the people of the
country.
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