Fundamental Rights:-
Right to Equality (Articles 14–18)
Article 14 –
Equality before Law or equal protection of laws.
Article 15 –
No discrimination on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth.
Special provisions allowed for women, children, and backward classes.
Article 16 –
Equality of Opportunity in Public Employment.
Equal opportunity in government jobs.
Reservation is allowed for backward classes.
Article 17 –
Abolition of Untouchability.
Untouchability is completely abolished.
Its practice is a punishable offence.
Article 18 –
Abolition of Titles.
No any title except military or academic shall be conferred by the State.
No citizen of India shall accept any title from any foreign State.
Right to Freedom (Articles 19–22)
Article 19 –
Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech, etc.
(1) All citizens shall have the right—
a)Speech and expression
b)Peaceful assembly
c)Form associations/unions
d)Move freely throughout India
e)Reside and settle anywhere
g)Practice any profession or trade
Reasonable restrictions may apply.
Article 20 –
Protection in respect of Conviction for Offences.
1) No person shall be punished for an act which was not an offence at the time of its
commission, nor be given a penalty greater than what the law prescribed at that time.
2) No person shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence
more than once.
3) No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness
against himself.
Article 21 –
Protection of Life and Personal Liberty.
No person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty except according to law.
Rights included under Article 21
(as interpreted by courts):
Right to Live with Human Dignity
Right to Privacy – K.S. Puttaswami vs Union of India (2017)
Right to Clean Environment – M. C. Mehta vs Union of India (1987)
Right to Speedy Trial – Hussainara Khatoon vs State of Bihar (1979)
Right to Free Movement and Personal Choice – Including choice of food, clothing, and
lifestyle.
Right to Die with Dignity –
Passive euthanasia under strict legal guidelines
Aruna Shanbaug vs Union of India (2011).
Living will – Common Cause vs Union of India (2018)
Right against handcuff – Prem Shankar Shukla vs Delhi Administration (1980)
Right to go abroad – Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India (1978)
Narco Test, Brain Mapping and Lie Detector Test violet Right to Privacy and Article 20 (3) –
Selvi vs State of Karnataka (2010)
Right to remain silent – Nandini Satpathy vs P. L. Dani (1978)
Article 21A –
Right to Education.
Free and compulsory education for children aged 6–14 years.
Added by the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002 (Introduced Article 21A)
Right to Education Act, 2009 (Enforced Article 21A).
Article 22 –
Protection against Arrest and Detention.
1)Right to be informed of grounds of arrest,
Right to consult a lawyer.
2) Every person who is arrested shall be produced before the nearest magistrate within a
period of twenty four hours.
Right against Exploitation (Articles 23–24)
Article 23 –
Traffic in human beings, begar and other similar forms of forced labour are prohibited.
Article 24 –
Prohibition of Child Labour.
No one can employ a child below the age of 14 to work in any factory or mine or in any other
hazardous work.
Right to Freedom of Religion (Articles 25–28)
Article 25 –
Freedom of Conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.
Article 26 –
Freedom to manage religious affairs.
Establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes.
Manage its own affairs in matters of religion.
Own and acquire movable and immovable property.
Administer such property in accordance with law.
Article 27 –
No Tax for Promotion of Religion.
No person can be forced to pay taxes for religious promotion and maintenance of any
particular religion.
Article 28 –
1) No religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institution that is wholly
maintained by State funds.
2) If a school was started by a private group or a trust specifically to teach a certain religion,
but later on the government took over the management of that school, the school can keep
teaching religion.
3) It means that any school receiving government aid cannot force students to attend
religious classes or prayers without their (or their parents') consent.
Cultural and Educational Rights (Articles 29–30)
Article 29 –
Protection of Interests of minorities.
1) Minorities have the right to protect their language, script, and culture.
2) No citizen shall be denied admission into any State-maintained or State-aided educational
institution on grounds of
religion, race, caste, language, or any of them.
Article 30 –
Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions.
All minorities have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their
choice.
NOTE - There are 6 religious minorities in India.
Muslims,Christians,Sikhs,Buddhists,Jains,Parsis.
Article 32 – Right to Constitutional Remedies
When any of our rights are violated we can directly approach the Supreme Court or the High
Court of a state to enforce fundamental rights.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar called the right to constitutional remedies
‘the heart and soul’ of our constitution.
The Supreme Court and High Courts have the power to issue writs for the enforcement of
the fundamental rights.
These are the writs -
[Link] Corpus,
[Link],
[Link],
[Link],
[Link] Warranto.
• Supreme Court issues writs under Article 32.
• High Courts issue writs under Article 226.
By - Raja Sir