Abstract:
-
Ever since the Constitution of India came into force
on 26th November 1949, the world looked at India with high surprise
particularly towards fundamental rights as concerned. The right to citizens has
been accelerating in today’s civil/criminal jurisdiction and judicial arena in
India. Passing of the fundamental rights and implementing the humanitarian
principles enshrined in Part III (Art.12-35) of The Constitution of India
during the past 65 years has become a serious matter of study and debate in and
around India.
Key words: - Indian
Constitution, Fundamental Rights, Violation, Statistics, Remedies
Introduction:-
I see mixed reactions from various sections of the
society toward the national document. Some of them are positive, some are
negative, some feels that only constitution can save this country from all the
problems and certain class of people feels that constitution needs to be
changes/amended since it has failed to give equal rights to everyone! Though
the opinions of the people vary in understanding the very spirit of the
Constitution, most of them were so positive towards it and feels that the
campaign which I am running must reach to the common masses so that they could
be enlighten over their constitutional and legal rights, their duties towards
the society and nation as a whole.
With due respect to the opinions of all the sections
of people, they are correct at their place, however, I would go to the extent
saying that it is the Constitution which is keeping India united and strong !
Constitution not only gives us the rights but also provides the machinery which
can protect the rights of the citizens. There is no doubt that India is one of
the fastest growing economies of the world just because of constitution. But, the important question is whether the common
man is aware of the greatness of this constitution? Do they really feel that
knowledge of the greatest document can help us not only in protecting our
rights but strengthening the country as a whole? It is evident that, whenever
there is any administrative and legal failure, people held constitution
responsible for the clutter. They straight away say that the constitution is
not workable and needs to be changed at the earliest. I do not say that they
should question the administration, but at the same time we also have to
understand the reasons behind all the so call administration/legal failure.
The people of the country have to understand that
Constitution of any country provides the machineries and guidelines of working.
It is the three branches of the country ie Executive, Legislature and Judiciary
who have to implement the welfare provisions enshrined in the constitution.
Indian Constitution was adopted on 26th November
1949 with 395 Article, 8 schedules 22 parts and came into force from 26th
January 1950. Whole world congratulated India for adopting democracy. Glanville
Austin in his word said “With the adoption of the Constitution by the members
of the Constituent Assemble on November 26th 1949, India became the
largest democracy in the world, by this act of strength and will, Assembly
members began what was perhaps the greatest political venture that originated
in Philadelphia in 1787”.[1]Such
is the greatness of Indian Constitution and the system of parliamentary
democracy that whole world respects and revere the greatest document.
The preamble explains us the egalitarian spirit of
the constitution. As per the learned thinkers, Preamble is the window of the
framers of the constitution. We can understand by reading the Preamble what the
framers intended to achieve through this constitution. We should understand
that the Preamble is the statement of object which is expected by the
Constitution makers to be realized through the implementation. It makes it very
clear in the first line which says [2]“We,
The People of India”. It means the constitution is emanated from the people of
India and not from any other external sources.
We can see the four objects enshrined in the
Preamble i.e. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity and Justice in Part IV Art.36-51 of
the constitution. The constitution directs the States to implement the
provisions for social, economical, educational and political development of the
citizens. But unfortunately during the past 65 years of independence we see
that these humanitarian principles have been neglected greatly. As a result,
the rich are becoming richer and poor are becoming poorer! Article 21 gives the
right to live a dignified life. But the larger section of the nation is still
fighting for breading their families!
When we look at Fundamental Rights Art.12-35 Part
III, we can see that the articles speak about the rights of citizens. The
Fundamental Rights, embodied in Part III of the Constitution, guarantee civil
rights to all Indians, and prevent the State from encroaching on individual
liberty while simultaneously placing upon it an obligation to protect the
citizens' rights from encroachment by society. Seven fundamental rights were
originally provided by the Constitution – right to equality, right to
freedom, right against exploitation, right to freedom of religion, cultural and
educational rights, right to property and right to constitutional
remedies. However, the right to property was removed from Part III of the
Constitution by the 44th Amendment in
1978.[3]
The purpose of the Fundamental Rights is to preserve
individual liberty and democratic principles based on equality of all members
of society. They act as limitations on the powers of the legislature and
executive, under Article 13, and in case of any violation of these rights the Supreme Court of India and
the High Courts of the states have
the power to declare such legislative or executive action as unconstitutional
and void.
These rights are largely enforceable against the
State, which as per the wide definition provided in Article 12, includes not
only the legislative and executive wings of the federal and state governments,
but also local administrative authorities and other agencies and institutions
which discharge public functions or are of a governmental character. However,
there are certain rights – such as those in Articles 15, 17, 18, 23, 24 –
that are also available against private individuals. Further, certain
Fundamental Rights – including those under Articles 14, 20, 21, 25 –
apply to persons of any nationality upon Indian soil, while others – such
as those under Articles 15, 16, 19, 30 – are applicable only to citizens of India. The imposition of
a state of emergency may lead
to a temporary suspension any of the Fundamental Rights, excluding Articles 20
and 21, by order of the President.
Right
to Equality: ( Article 14-18)
The Right to Equality is one of the chief guarantees
of the Constitution. It is embodied in Articles 14–16, which collectively
encompass the general principles of equality before law and
non-discrimination and Articles 17–18 which collectively further the
philosophy of social equality.[4]Article 14 guarantees equality before law as
well as equal protection of the law to all persons within the territory of
India. This includes the equal subjection of all persons to the authority
of law, as well as equal treatment of persons in similar
circumstances. The latter permits the State to classify persons for
legitimate purposes, provided there is a reasonable basis for the same, meaning
that the classification is required to be non-arbitrary, based on a method of
intelligible differentiation among those sought to be classified, as well as have
a rational relation to the object sought to be achieved by the classification.
The spirit of Art.14 is to give equal status to all
the citizens of this nation. It also speaks about the equal protection of law
to all the citizens irrespective of their social and economical status. But
unfortunately, it is a naked truth that poor people won’t get justice, in fact
the justice is beyond their reach these days. The concept “All are equal before
law” is supposed to be not being practiced in India. Poor has different
treatment and rich have different treatment. The middle class and below middle
class get tired of running around the police stations and courts but they most
of the times they suffer unequal treatment at both the places. At the other
hand people like Mr.Vijay Malya, Mr.Subrato Roy, Mr.Suresh Kalmadi, Asaram
Babu, Narayan Swamy etc., who can influence the departments enjoys the VIP
treatment even in the jails! This is a biggest irony of this great nation where
Constitution speaks about equal rights to everyone but the system favors
certain classes and killing the very spirit of Art.14.
The hon’ble former justice of Supreme Court
Mr.V.N.Khare said, “The Law is not for
the common man. Many of the poor without committing any crime are in jail on
false allegations and been convicted. They cannot prove their innocence nor can
hire a good lawyer due to financial scarcity. The rich people hire highly paid lawyers
and win the cases which are almost against them”.[5]Article 15 prohibits discrimination
on the grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, or any of
them. This right can be enforced against the State as
well as private individuals, with regard to free access to places of public
entertainment or places of public resort maintained partly or wholly out of
State funds. However, the State is not precluded from making special
provisions for women and children or any socially and educationally backward
classes of citizens, including the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
This exception has been provided since the classes of people mentioned therein
are considered deprived and in need of special protection.
The intention of the framers of the constitution
behind inscribing Art.15 in the constitution was to remove and prohibit all
sorts discrimination be it religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, or any
of them. We all know that India is a country with thousands of castes,
religion, races, faith and traditions. The Caste monster has always killed the
spirit of brotherhood among the people. It has killed the very purpose of being
together and stood as a biggest hurdle in making democracy successful. Since
the ages, India has seen inequality on the basis of Caste and Religion. And to
remove these inequalities Siddhart Gautam Buddha, Mahatma Fule and Dr.B.R.Ambedkar
fought throughout their lives.
If the
reports published by [6]National Human Rights Commission Report on the
Prevention and Atrocities against Scheduled Castes are to be believed, Every
18 minutes a crime is committed against a Dalit, everyday 3 Dalit women are
being raped, 2 Dalits are murdered & 2 Dalits Houses are burnt in India, 11
Dalits are beaten just because he belongs to the low caste. Every week 13
Dalits are murdered on some or the other reasons, 5 Dalits home or possessions
are burnt by the castiest people and 6 Dalits are kidnapped or abducted and
sometimes even killed by the high class people. These are just the recorded figures;
there are thousands of issues which goes unrecorded and unheard. This is the
tragic life of dalits and low caste people in India. Article 15 prohibits the
discrimination on the grounds of caste but unfortunately this has been
neglected by the majority of people.
When we look at the unequal treatment in the name of
Sex/Gender inequality, it makes me shameful to see the data available with us.
The sex/gender inequality is still going strong despite India progressing
rapidly on world level. United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA)[7]
data for 150 countries over 40 years showed that India and China are the only
two countries in the world where female infant mortality is higher than male
infant mortality. India was found to be
the most dangerous place in the world to be a baby girl. The data revealed that
an Indian girl child aged 1-5 years is 75% more likely to die than an Indian
boy, making this the worst gender differential in child mortality for any
country in the world.
India is the worst performer when
it comes to child mortality sex ratio. In the year 2000s, there were 56 male
child deaths for every 100 female, compared with 111 in the developing world.
This ratio got progressively worse since the 1970s in India, even as Pakistan,
Sri Lanka, Egypt and Iraq improved.
India accounts for the maximum number of
maternal deaths in the world — 17 per cent or nearly 50,000 of the 2.89 lakh
women who died as a result of complications due to pregnancy or childbearing in
2013. Nigeria is second with nearly 40,000, stated the UN report on maternal
deaths. In contrast, China — with the largest population in the world —
reported 5,900 maternal deaths in 2013 mainly due to its “one-child policy”.
According to
Art.42 of the Indian Constitution, “The State shall make provisions for
securing just and humane conditions of work and for Maternity relief”[8],
but the records shows that In India, the infant mortality rate (IMR) is 47 per
thousand live births which translates into 12.5 lakh infant deaths per year.
Unfortunately, IMR and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) in India are very bad. As
bad that it cannot be compared with our neighboring countries of Nepal, Sri
Lanka and Bangladesh. Pakistan is the only country India can be compared with.
Almost 800 women die every day due to complications in pregnancy and
childbirth. 1/3 of total global deaths are in two countries Nigeria - 40,000, India 50,000.[9] Is
it not the violation of Art.15 needs to be introspected?
Article 16 guarantees equality of opportunity in matters
of public employment and prevents the State from discriminating against anyone
in matters of employment on the grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex,
descent, place of birth, place of residence or any of them. It creates
exceptions for the implementation of measures of affirmative action for the benefit
of any backward class of citizens in order to ensure adequate representation in
public service, as well as reservation of an office of any religious
institution for a person professing that particular religion.
Despite having the fundamental right of equal opportunities
in the matters of public employment it is evident that maximum no. of
employment is enjoyed by certain class of people. The basic needs of majority
of the citizens is been denied during the past 65 years of independence. Art.16
provides the right of having equal opportunities to everyone but, we can see
that even today the SCs, STs and Muslims are far away from mainstream
development.
The Social and Economic condition of Dalits is
too much degraded. [10]The
statistics says that 37% of Dalits living below poverty in India, More than
half (54%) of their children are undernourished in Indian, 83 per 1000 live
birth children born in Dalit community are probability of dying before the
first birthday, 45% of Dalits and muslims
do not know read and write in India, more than half of the dalits and
muslim households do not have basic facilities to live. The very purpose of
Art.16 is to provide equal opportunities to all the sections of the society so
that they can raise their standard of living and take part in nation building.
But unfortunately the picture is adverse!
To move ahead with Art. 17,The practice of untouchability has
been declared an offence punishable by law under Article 17, and the Protection
of Civil Rights Act, 1955 has been enacted by the Parliament to further this
objective. But sadly, the practice of
untouchability is still prevalent in Indian society though not directly but
indirectly. It is to be noted that Public health workers refused to visit Dalit
homes in of villages, Dalits were
prevented from entering police station of villages and been treated inhumanly
even today. There are States where Dalit children had to sit separately while
eating in many government schools. Dalits are still denied access to water
sources in 48.4% of villages because of segregation & untouchabilty
practices, Literacy rates for Dalit women are as low as 37.8% In Rural India.
The conviction rate under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act is 15.71% and
pendency is as high as 85.37%. These conditions are seen when the Act has
strict provisions aimed as a deterrent. But unfortunately, by contrast,
conviction rate under IPC is over 40%.[11]
These statistics speaks loudly the real picture of the Indian society and the
mindsets of people. If we really want to make India a great country we have to
remove these differences at the earliest possible.
Article 18 prohibits the State from conferring any
titles other than military or academic distinctions, and the citizens of India
cannot accept titles from a foreign state. Thus, Indian aristocratic titles and
titles of nobility conferred by the British have been abolished. However,
awards such as the Bharat Ratna have been held to be valid by the
Supreme Court on the ground that they are merely decorations and cannot be used
by the recipient as a title.
Right
to Freedom ( Article 19-22)
The Right to Freedom is covered in Articles 19–22,
with the view of guaranteeing individual rights that were considered vital by
the framers of the Constitution, and these Articles also include certain
restrictions that may be imposed by the State on individual liberty under
specified conditions. [12]Article 19 guarantees six freedoms in the
nature of civil rights, which are available only to citizens of India. These
include the freedom of speech
and expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of
association without
arms, freedom of movement throughout the territory of
India, freedom to reside and settle in any part of the country of India and the
freedom to practice any profession.
All these freedoms are subject to reasonable
restrictions that may impose on them by the State, listed under Article 19
itself. The grounds for imposing these restrictions vary according to the
freedom sought to be restricted, and include national security, public order,
decency and morality, contempt of court, incitement to offences, and
defamation. The State is also empowered, in the interests of the general public
to nationalize any trade, industry or service to the exclusion of the citizens.
The freedoms guaranteed by Article 19 are further sought to be protected by
Articles 20–22.
The judicial interpretation has broadened the scope
of Article 21 to include within it a number of rights including those to livelihood,
clean environment, good health, speedy trial and humanitarian treatment while
imprisoned. The right to education at elementary level has been made one of the
Fundamental Rights under Article 21A by the 86th Constitutional amendment of
2002.[13]
Article 20
provides protection from conviction for offences in certain respects, including
the rights against ex post facto laws, double jeopardy and
freedom from self-incrimination[14].
Article 22 provides specific rights to arrested and detained persons, in particular
the rights to be informed of the grounds of arrest, consult a lawyer of one's
own choice, be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours of the arrest, and
the freedom not to be detained beyond that period without an order of the
magistrate. The Constitution also authorizes the State to make laws providing
for preventive detention, subject to
certain other safeguards present in Article 22.The provisions pertaining to
preventive detention were discussed with skepticism and misgivings by the
Constituent Assembly, and were reluctantly approved after a few amendments in
1949.
Article 22 provides that when a person is detained
under any law of preventive detention, the State can detain such person without
trial for only three months, and any detention for a longer period must be
authorized by an Advisory Board. The person being detained also has the right
to be informed about the grounds of detention, and be permitted to make a
representation against it, at the earliest opportunity.
Right
against Exploitation ( Article 23-24)
The Right against Exploitation, contained in
Articles 23–24, lays down certain provisions to prevent exploitation of the
weaker sections of the society by individuals or the State.
Article 23 provides prohibits human traffic,
making it an offence punishable by law, and also prohibits forced labor or
any act of compelling a person to work without wages where he was legally
entitled not to work or to receive remuneration for it. However, it permits the
State to impose compulsory service for public purposes, including conscription and community service. The
Bonded Labour system (Abolition) Act, 1976, has been enacted by Parliament to
give effect to this Article. Human Trafficking has become one of the major
trades in India. No.of girls and children are transferred from one state to
another state and sold on cheap rates. They are either forced to beg on the
roads or sent to do household work in elite families.
Article 24 prohibits the employment of children
below the age of 14 years in factories, mines and other hazardous jobs.
Parliament has enacted the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986,
providing regulations for the abolition of, and penalties for employing, child
labour, as well as provisions for rehabilitation of former child laborers. [15]India formulated a National Policy on Child
Labour in 1987. This Policy seeks to adopt a gradual & sequential approach
with a focus on rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations. It
envisioned strict enforcement of Indian laws on child labor combined with
development programs to address the root causes of child labor such as poverty.
In 1988, this led to the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) initiative. This
legal and development initiative continues, with a current central government
funding of 
6 billion, targeted solely to
eliminate child labour in India. Despite these efforts, child labour remains a
major challenge for India.
6 billion, targeted solely to
eliminate child labour in India. Despite these efforts, child labour remains a
major challenge for India.
[16]According to 2005 Government of India NSSO (National Sample
Survey Org.), child labour incidence rates in India is highest among Dalits and
Muslim Indians, about 40% higher than Hindu Indians. Child labour was found to
be present in other minority religions of India but at significantly lower
rates. Across caste classification, the lowest caste Dalit children had child labour incidence rates of 2.8%, statistically
similar to the nationwide average of 2.74%. Tribal populations, however, had
higher child labour rates at 3.8%.
India, an IT giant and the world's second-fastest growing
major economy, has millions of child labors all under 14 years of age, some as
young as 4 or 5, and all toiling hard just to get a square meal to keep body
and soul from parting company. Over 60 Million (6
Crore) child labour in India, Child labor
is a dagger through India's soul. The country has the dubious distinction
of being home to the largest child labor force in the world, with an estimated
30 percent of the world's working kids living here. You find children being exploited in restaurants, silk
industry, carpet weaving, firecracker units, etc. 80 percent of child laborers
reside in rural India, where they are forced to work in agricultural activities
such as fanning, livestock rearing, forestry and fisheries.
Reports say that there are more
children under the age of 14 in India than the entire population of the United
States. And children under 14 years of age account for about 4 percent of the
total labor force in the country. Of these children, nine out of every ten work
in their own rural family settings. Two
out of every three working children are physically abused.
Over 50% children were being subjected to one or
the other form of physical abuse. 50.2% children worked seven days a week.
53.22% children reported having faced one or more forms of sexual abuse. 21.90%
child respondents reported facing severe forms of sexual abuse and 50.76
percent other forms of sexual abuse.
Every second child reported facing
emotional abuse. The
Indian Constitution says that child labor is a wrong practice and standards
should be set by law to eliminate it. The Child Labor Act of 1986 implemented
by the government of India makes child labor illegal in many regions and sets
the minimum age of employment at 14 years.
India has a federal form of government,
and child labour is a matter on which both the central government and country
governments can legislate, and have. The major national legislative
developments include the following:
[17]The Factories Act of 1948 prohibits the employment of
children below the age of 14 years in any factory. The law also placed rules on
whom, when and how long can pre-adults aged 15–18 years be employed in any
factory.
[18]The Mines Act of 1952 Act prohibits the employment of
children below 18 years of age in a mine.[19]The
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 Act prohibits the
employment of children below the age of 14 years in hazardous occupations
identified in a list by the law. The list was expanded in 2006, and again in
2008. [20]The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act of
2000 made it a crime, punishable with a prison term, for anyone to procure or
employ a child in any hazardous employment or in bondage. [21]The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of
2009, mandates free and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14
years. This legislation also mandated that 25 percent
of seats in every private school must be allocated for children from
disadvantaged groups and physically challenged children.
Right
to Freedom of Religion (Articles 25–28)
[22]The
Right to Freedom of Religion, covered in Articles 25–28, provides religious freedom to
all citizens and ensures a secular state in
India. According to the Constitution, there is no official State religion, and
the State is required to treat all religions impartially and neutrally.
Article 25 guarantees all persons the freedom of conscience and the
right to preach practice and propagate any religion of their choice. This right
is, however, subject to public order, morality and health, and the power of the
State to take measures for social welfare and reform. The right to
propagate, however, does not include the right to convert another
individual, since it would amount to an infringement of the other's right to
freedom of conscience.
Article 26 guarantees all religious denominations and sects,
subject to public order, morality and health, to manage their own affairs in
matters of religion, set up institutions of their own for charitable or
religious purposes, and own, acquire and manage property in accordance with
law. These provisions do not derogate from the State's power to acquire
property belonging to a religious denomination. The State is also empowered to
regulate any economic, political or other secular activity associated with
religious practice.
Article 27 guarantees that no person can be
compelled to pay taxes for the promotion of any particular religion or
religious institution. Article 28 prohibits religious instruction in a
wholly State-funded educational institution, and educational institutions
receiving aid from the State cannot compel any of their members to receive
religious instruction or attend religious worship without their (or their
guardian's) consent.
[23]Cultural and Educational
Rights (Articles 29 and 30)
India is a land of multiple religions, faith and
traditions. The Constitution has defined several castes such as SC, ST, OBC, OC
and Minorities. The beneficiary provisions have been promulgated as per their
social and economical status. Any section of the citizens residing in the
territory of India having distinct language, script or culture of its own and
with less population is treated as minority. As per the guidelines of Supreme
Court Buddhists, Christians, Parsis, Jains, Sikhs are considered to be
Minorities. And the Cultural and Educational rights, given in Articles 29 and
30, are measures to protect the rights of cultural, linguistic and religious
minorities, by enabling them to conserve their heritage and protecting them
against discrimination.
Article 29 grants any section of citizens having a
distinct language, script culture of its own, the right to conserve and develop
the same, and thus safeguards the rights of minorities by preventing the State
from imposing any external culture on them. It also prohibits discrimination
against any citizen for admission into any educational institutions maintained
or aided by the State, on the grounds only of religion, race, caste, language
or any of them. However, this is subject to reservation of a reasonable
number of seats by the State for socially and educationally backward classes,
as well as reservation of up to 50 percent of seats in any educational
institution run by a minority community for citizens belonging to that
community.
Article 30 confers upon all religious and linguistic
minorities the right to set up and administer educational institutions of their
choice in order to preserve and develop their own culture, and prohibits the
State, while granting aid, from discriminating against any institution on the
basis of the fact that it is administered by a religious or cultural minority.
The term "minority", while not
defined in the Constitution, has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to mean
any community which numerically forms less than 50% of the population of the
state in which it seeks to avail the right under Article 30. In order to claim
the right, it is essential that the educational institution must have been
established as well as administered by a religious or linguistic minority.
Further, the right under Article 30 can be availed of even if the educational
institution established does not confine itself to the teaching of the religion
or language of the minority concerned, or a majority of students in that
institution do not belong to such minority. This right is subject to the power
of the State to impose reasonable regulations regarding educational standards,
conditions of service of employees, fee structure, and the utilization of any
aid granted by it
Right
to Constitutional Remedies (Article 32 and 226)
The Right to Constitutional Remedies empowers
citizens to approach the Supreme Court of India to seek
enforcement, or protection against infringement, of their Fundamental Rights. [24]Article
32 provides a guaranteed remedy, in the form of a Fundamental Right itself, for
enforcement of all the other Fundamental Rights, and the Supreme Court is
designated as the protector of these rights by the Constitution. The
Supreme Court has been empowered to issue writs,
namely habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo warranto,
for the enforcement of the Fundamental Rights, while the High Courts have been
empowered under Article 226 – which is not a Fundamental Right in itself to
issue these prerogative writs even in cases not
involving the violation of Fundamental Rights. The Supreme Court has the
jurisdiction to enforce the Fundamental Rights even against private bodies, and
in case of any violation, award compensation as well to the affected
individual. Exercise of jurisdiction by the Supreme Court can also be suo motu or
on the basis of a public interest litigation.
This right cannot be suspended, except under the provisions of Article 359 when
a state of emergency is declared.
The American Bill of Rights declared rights in terms
almost absolute, leaving it to the courts to impose restrictions over them
based on some doctrines. However Indian Constitution provided a new fundamental
right under Article 32, namely the right to move the Supreme Court for
enforcement of Fundamental Rights. The unique feature of Indian Constitution is
provision of a fundamental right to remedy. [25]As
aptly described by Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, Chairman of Drafting Committee of
Constituent Assembly, “Article 32 is the real heart and soul of the
Constitution”. It is through Article 32, a victimized citizen can approach the
apex court of justice without completing the formalities of passing through all
the hierarchy. A kind of straight and instant remedy is provided in summary
manner to ensure the protection of the fundamental rights and realize the
guarantees offered by the state.
Article 33 provides the power of parliament to
modify the rights conferred by Part III Art.12-35. That’s the reason why we see
many amendments and sub clauses being added to the actual fundamental rights
such as Art.21A etc., Article 34 provides restrictions on the rights conferred
under Part III of the constitution and Article 35 speaks about legislation to
give effect to the provisions made under Part III from Article 12-35.
Conclusion:
-
To conclude with the above insights, while the
proximate context of its origin in the political economy of India’s emergency
era shaped its initial focus around the civil and political rights of the
citizens as guaranteed in the Constitution’s fundamental rights chapter, the social
base of the activists of the movements, as well as the new generation of human
rights concerns in the more globalized international arena have influenced to
expand its sights. The operational complexities of political democracy in India
has recurrently brought the constitution to the centre stage of political
controversy and partisan populist politics particularly since the late 1960s
after the first orchestrated split within the ruling Congress party in 1969.
Many such controversies have been around the chapter on citizens’ rights. In 64
years, the Indian Constitution has been amended almost twice more often than
the US in over 200 years. In the process, the political legitimacy of the
Constitution itself has been undermined in popular perception. There have been
periodic demands for a new Constitution, without any consensus on its content.
We need to understand the very spirit of the Constitution and the intention of
the framers of the Constitution to know what exactly they wanted to give us.
The time has come for all of us to devote our time and energy to read,
understand and promote the humanitarian principles such as Liberty, Equality,
Fraternity and Justice. The responsibility lies on our shoulders to to make the
greatest democracy an example for the rest of the world to show that we are the
example for greatest modern democratic nations..!
[1] Evolution of Indian Constitution
[2] Constitution of India – D.D.Basu
[3] Evolution of Indian Constitution
[4] Constitution of India – D.D.Basu
[5] Constitution of India – D.D.Basu
[6] National Human Rights Commission
Report on Prevention and Atrocities against Scheduled Castes – 2007-08
[7] United Nations Dept.of Economic
and Social Affairs ( UN-DESA)
[8] Constitution of India – D.D.Basu
[9] CIA World Fact Book
[10] NSSO-2012
[11]
National Human Rights Commission Report on the Prevention and Atrocities
against Scheduled Castes.
[12] Constitution of India – D.D.Basu
[13] 86th Constitution
Amendment 2002
[14] ibid
[15] National Policy on Child Labor -
1987
[16] NSSO ( National Sample Survey
Organization) Report 2005.
[17] The Factories Act 1948
[18] The Mines Act 1952
[19] The Child Labor ( Prohibition
and Regulation) Act 1986
[20] The Juvenile Justice ( Care and
Protection) of Children Act 2000
[21] Right of Children to Free and
Compulsory Education Act - 2009
[22] Constitution of India – D.D.Basu
[23] ibid
[24] Constitution of India –
Wikipedia Page
[25] Evolution of Making of
Constitution
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