Choose any two Fundamental Rights mentioned in the constitution of India.
Write a small introduction.
Write what they guarantee to the citizens of India.
Analyse, if the citizens enjoy the rights guaranteed by the Constitution in the current
socio-political scenario.
Minimum two pages write up.
Answers
Answer:
THE IMPORTANCE OF RIGHTS
In 1982 during the construction work for Asian Games the
government engaged a few contractors. These contractors employed
a large number of very poor construction workers from different
parts of the country to build the flyovers and stadiums. These workers
were kept in poor working conditions and were paid less than the
minimum wages decided by the government.
A team of social scientists studied their poor condition and
petitioned the Supreme Court. They argued that employing a person
to work for less than the minimum prescribed wage amounts to
begar or forced labour, which is a violation of the Fundamental Right
against exploitation. The court accepted this plea and directed the
government to ensure that thousands of workers get the prescribed
wages for their work.
Machal Lalung was 23 when he was arrested. A resident of
Chuburi village of Morigaon district of Assam, Machal was charged
of causing grievous injuries. He was found mentally too unstable to
stand trial and was sent as under trial to Lok Priya Gopinath Bordoloi
Mental Hospital in Tejpur for treatment.
Machal was treated successfully and doctors wrote twice to jail
authorities in 1967 and 1996 that he was fit to stand trial. But no
one paid any attention. Machal Lalung remained in “judicial custody.’’
Machal Lalung was released in July 2005. He was 77 then. He
spent 54 years under custody during which his case never came up
for hearing. He was freed when a team appointed by the National
Human Rights Commission intervened after an inspection of
undertrials in the State.
Machal’s entire life was wasted because a proper trial
against him never took place. Our Constitution gives every
citizen the right to ‘life and liberty’: this means that every
citizen must also have the right to fair and speedy trial.
Machal’s case shows what happens when rights granted
by the Constitution are not available in practice.
What if Machal was a rich
and powerful man? What
if those working with the
construction contractor
were engineers? Would
their rights have been
violated? violated?violated?
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Indian Constitution at Work
In the case of the first instance also there was violation
of rights provided in the Constitution. But it was
challenged in the court. As a result, workers could get
what was due to them in the form of their rightful wages.
The constitutional guarantee of the right against
exploitation ensured justice to these workers.
Bill of Rights
Both these examples show the importance of having rights
and of the actual implementation of these rights. A
democracy must ensure that individuals have certain
rights and that the government will always recognise these
rights. Therefore it is often a practice in most democratic
countries to list the rights of the citizens in the constitution
itself. Such a list of rights mentioned and protected by
the constitution is called the ‘bill of rights’. A bill of rights
prohibits government from thus acting against the rights
of the individuals and ensures a remedy in case there is
violation of these rights.
From whom does a constitution protect the rights of
the individual? The rights of a person may be threatened
by another person or private organisation. In such a
situation, the individual would need the protection of the
government. So, it is necessary that the government is
bound to protect the rights of the individual. On the other
hand, the organs of the government (the legislature,
executive, bureaucracy or even the judiciary), in the course
of their functioning, may violate the rights of the person.
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN THE INDIAN
CONSTITUTION
During our freedom struggle, the leaders of the freedom
movement had realised the importance of rights and
demanded that the British rulers should respect rights of
the people. The Motilal Nehru committee had demanded
a bill of rights as far back as in 1928. It was therefore,
natural that when India became independent and the
Constitution was being prepared, there were no
I get it! The bill of rights
is like a warrantee card
that we get when we
purchase a TV or a fan.
Isn’t it? Isn’t it?Isn’t it?
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Chapter 2: Rights in the Indian Constitution
Bill of rights in the South African
Constitution