What are Fundamental Rights?

Fundamental rights are the basic human rights enshrined in the Constitution of India which are
guaranteed to all citizens. They are applied without discrimination on the basis of race, religion,
gender, etc. Significantly, fundamental rights are enforceable by the courts, subject to certain
conditions.

Why are they called Fundamental Rights?

These rights are called fundamental rights because of two reasons:

1. They are enshrined in the Constitution which guarantees them.

2. They are justiciable (enforceable by courts). In case of a violation, a person can approach a court of
law.

How many Fundamental Rights are there in the Indian Constitution?

There are six fundamental rights in the Indian Constitution. They are mentioned below along
with the constitutional articles related to them:

1. Right to Equality (Article 14-18)

2. Right to Freedom (Article 19-22)
3. Right against Exploitation (Article 23-24)
4. Right to Freedom of Religion (Article 25-28)
5. Cultural and Educational Rights (Article 29-30)
6. Right to Constitutional Remedies (Article 32)

Why Right to Property is not a Fundamental Right?

There was one more fundamental right in the Indian Constitution, i.e., the right to property.

However, this right was removed from the list of fundamental rights by the 44th Constitutional
Amendment.

This was because this right proved to be a hindrance towards attaining the goal of socialism and
redistributing wealth (property) equitably among the people.

Is right to property a constitutional right or legal right?

Note: The right to property is now a legal right and not a fundamental right.
6 Fundamental Rights of India
In this section, we list the fundamental rights of India and briefly describe each of them.

1. Right to Equality (Articles 14 – 18)

 Equality Before Law: Article 14 says that no person shall be denied treatment of
equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of
India.

o The right is extended to all persons whether citizens or foreigners,

statutory corporations, companies, registered societies or any other
type of legal person.
 Prohibition of Discrimination: Article 15 provides that no citizen shall be
discriminated on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.

o Exception: Certain provisions can be made for the women, children,

citizens from any socially or educationally backward class for their
upliftment (such as reservation and access to free education).
 Equality of Opportunity in Public Employment: Article 16 of the Indian
constitution provides for equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters of
employment or appointment to any public office.

o Exceptions: There are provisions for reservation in appointments or

posts for any backward class that is not adequately represented in the
state services.

 Abolition of Untouchability: Article 17 abolishes ‘untouchability’ and forbids its

practice in any form.
 Abolition of Titles: Article 18 of the constitution of India abolishes titles

2. Right to Freedom (Articles 19 – 22)

Freedom is one of the most important ideals cherished by any democratic society. The Indian
Constitution guarantees freedom to citizens.

Protection of 6 Rights: Article 19 guarantees to all citizens the six rights of freedom including:
 o Right to freedom of speech and expression.

 Expressing one’s own views, opinions, belief and

convictions freely by word of mouth, writing, printing,
picturing or in any other manner.
o Right to assemble peaceably and without arms.

 Includes the right to hold public meetings, demonstrations

and take out processions which can be exercised only on
public land.
 It does not protect violent, disorderly and riotous
assemblies or strike.
o Right to form associations or unions or co-operative societies.

 It includes the right to form (and not to form) political

parties, companies, partnership firms, societies, clubs,
organisations, trade unions or any body of persons.
o Right to move freely throughout the territory of India.

 The freedom of movement has two dimensions, viz,

internal (right to move inside the country) (article 19) and
external (right to move out of the country and right to
come back to the country) (article 21).
o Right to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India.

 The right of outsiders to reside and settle in tribal areas is

restricted to protect the distinctive culture and customs of
scheduled tribes and to safeguard their traditional
vocation and properties against exploitation.
o Right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation,
trade or business.

 It doesn’t include the right to carry on a profession that is

immoral (trafficking in women or children) or dangerous
(harmful drugs or explosives, etc,).
 Protection in Respect of Conviction for Offences: Article 20 grants protection
against arbitrary and excessive punishment to an accused person, whether citizen or
foreigner or legal person like a company or a corporation.
  Protection of Life and Personal Liberty: Article 21 declares that no person shall
be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure
established by law. This right is available to both citizens and non-citizens.

o The right to life also includes the right to live with human dignity and
all those aspects of life which go to make a man’s life meaningful,
complete and worth living.
 Right to Education: Article 21 (A) declares that the State shall provide free and
compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years.

o This provision makes only elementary education a Fundamental Right

and not higher or professional education.
o This provision was added by the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act
of 2002.
o Before the 86th amendment, the Constitution contained a provision for
free and compulsory education for children under Article 45 in Part
IV of the constitution.
 Protection Against Arrest and Detention: Article 22 grants protection to persons
who are arrested or detained.

o Detention is of two types, namely, punitive (punishment after trial and

conviction) and preventive (punishment without trial and conviction).

3. Right against Exploitation (Articles 23 – 24)

o The Article 23 of the Indian Constitution prohibits human trafficking and begar
(forced labour without payment) to protect the millions of underprivileged and
deprived people of the country.
o The right is available to citizens of India as well as to non-citizens.
o Prohibition of Child Labour: Article 24 of the Indian Constitution forbids
employment of children below the age of 14 years in dangerous jobs like factories
and mines.

4. Right to Freedom of Religion (Articles 25 – 28)

Freedom of Conscience, Profession, Practice and Propagation: Article 25 of the Constitution

of India provides the freedom of conscience, to profess, to practice and to propagate any religion.
These rights are available to citizens as well as non-citizens.
Freedom to Manage Religious Affairs: The Article 26 of the Indian Constitution provides
every religious denomination (or any section of it) the right to establish and maintain
institutions for religious and charitable purposes.

Freedom from Attending Religious Instruction: Article 28 states that no religious instruction
shall be provided in any educational institution wholly maintained out of State (the territory of
India) funds.

This indicates the secular nature of Indian polity. There is equal respect given to all religions.
There is freedom of conscience, profession, practice and propagation of religion. The State has
no official religion. Every person has the right to freely practice his or her faith, and establish
and maintain religious and charitable institutions.

5. Cultural and Educational Rights (Articles 29 – 30)

Protection of Interests of Minorities: Article 29 provides that every section of citizens residing
in any part of the country have the right to protect and conserve its own distinct language, script
or culture (it provides the right to a group/section/community of people).

Right of Minorities to Establish and Administer Educational Institutions: Article 30 grants

all the minorities the following rights:

o The right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.

o The compensation amount fixed by the State for the compulsory acquisition of any
property of a minority educational institution shall not restrict or abrogate the right
guaranteed to them.

 This provision was added by the 44th Amendment Act, 1978 to

protect the right of minorities in this regard.

These rights protect the rights of religious, cultural and linguistic minorities, by facilitating them
to preserve their heritage and culture. Educational rights are for ensuring education for everyone
without any discrimination.

6. Right to Constitutional Remedies (32 – 35)

The Constitution guarantees remedies if citizens’ fundamental rights are violated. The
government cannot infringe upon or curb anyone’s rights. When these rights are violated, the
aggrieved party can approach the courts. Citizens can even go directly to the Supreme
Court which can issue writs for enforcing fundamental rights.
 o The Supreme Court shall have power to issue directions or orders or writs for the
enforcement of any of the fundamental rights.
o Parliament can empower any other court to issue directions, orders and writs of all
kinds.

 Any other court here does not include high courts because (Article
226) has already conferred these powers on the high courts.
o The right to move the Supreme Court shall not be suspended except as otherwise
provided for by the Constitution.

 In the case of national emergency, the right can be suspended by the

President (Article 359).

Features of Fundamental Rights

 Fundamental rights are different from ordinary legal rights in the manner in which they are enforced.
If a legal right is violated, the aggrieved person cannot directly approach the SC bypassing the lower
courts. He or she should first approach the lower courts.
 Some of the fundamental rights are available to all citizens while the rest are for all persons (citizens
and foreigners).
 Fundamental rights are not absolute rights. They have reasonable restrictions, which means they are
subject to the conditions of state security, public morality and decency and friendly relations with
foreign countries.
 They are justiciable, implying they are enforceable by courts. People can approach the SC directly in
case of violation of fundamental rights.
 Fundamental rights can be amended by the Parliament by a constitutional amendment but only if the
amendment does not alter the basic structure of the Constitution.
 The Fundamental Rights of the Indian Constitution can be suspended during a national emergency.
But, the rights guaranteed under Articles 20 and 21 cannot be suspended.
 The application of fundamental rights can be restricted in an area that has been placed under martial
law or military rule.

Fundamental Rights Available Only to Citizens

The following is the list of fundamental rights in the Indian constitution that are available only to
citizens (and not to foreigners):

1. Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of race, religion, caste, gender or place of birth (Article 15).
2. Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment (Article 16).
 3. Protection of freedom of: (Article 19)
 Speech and expression
 Association
 Assembly
 Movement
 Residence
 Profession
4. Protection of the culture, language and script of minorities (Article 29).
5. Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions (Article 30).

Importance of Fundamental Rights

Fundamental rights are very important because they are like the backbone of the country. They
are essential for safeguarding the people’s interests.

According to Article 13, all laws that are violative of fundamental rights shall be void. Here,
there is an express provision for judicial review. The SC and the High Courts can declare any
law unconstitutional on the grounds that it is violative of fundamental rights. Article 13 talks
about not just laws, but also ordinances, orders, regulations, notifications, etc.