INTRODUCTION OF

INDIAN CONSTITUTION
MS. JHELIK SAMANTA
NURSING TUTOR
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS:
The six fundamental rights are:
 Right to equality (Article 14–18)
 Right to freedom (Article 19–22)
 Right against exploitation (Article 23–24)
 Right to freedom of religion (Article 25–28)
 Cultural and educational rights (Article 29–30)
 Right to constitutional remedies (Article 32–35)
RIGHT TO EQUALITY:
Article 14
 Article 14 guarantees equality before law as well as equal
protection of the law to all people 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.
Article 15
 Article 15 prohibits discrimination on the grounds of
religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, and also gender 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 are considered deprived and in need
of special protection.
Article 16
 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 income.
 It creates exceptions for the implementation of measures
of affirmative action for the benefit of any backward class
of citizens 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.
Article 17
 Article 17 abolishes the practice of untouchability in any
form, making it an offense punishable by law. The
Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 was enacted by
Parliament to further this objective.
Article 18
 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.
 Indian aristocratic titles and title of nobility conferred by
the British have been abolished.
 Military and academic distinctions can be conferred on the
citizens of India.
 The awards of Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan can be
used by the recipient as a title and do not, accordingly,
come within the constitutional prohibition".
 The Supreme Court, on 15 December 1995, upheld the
validity of such awards
RIGHT TO FREEDOM:
 The Right to Freedom is covered in Article 19 to 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.
 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 without arms, freedom of
association, freedom of movement throughout the territory
of our country, 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 be imposed 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.
Right to information (RTI)
 Right to information has been given the status of a
fundamental right under Article 19(1) of the Constitution in
2005. Article 19 (1) under which every citizen has freedom
of speech and expression and the right to know how the
government works, what roles it plays, what its functions
are, and so on
Right against exploitation
 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 prohibits human trafficking, making it an offence
punishable by law, and also prohibits forced labour 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.
 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
labourers
Right to freedom of religion
 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
equally, 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 a
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 one can be compelled to pay taxes for
the promotion of any particular religion or religious institution.
 Article 28 prohibits religious instruction in a wholly or partially
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.
Cultural and educational rights
 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
Right to Constitutional Remedies:
 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.
 Article 33 of the Indian constitution grants the Parliament
the authority to enact legislation aimed at limiting the
extension of fundamental rights to particular groups, which
may encompass individuals within the Indian Army and
intelligence agencies
 Article 34 of the Constitution grants authority to the
Parliament to provide indemnification for government
servants or individuals who may have taken actions in
relation to the maintenance or restoration of order within
regions where martial law had been enforced.
 Article 35 of the Indian Constitution is a provision that
gives the Parliament the exclusive power to make laws on
certain matters related to the fundamental rights, such as the
reservation of public employment, the application
of fundamental rights to the armed forces, the restriction of
fundamental rights during martial law, and the punishment
for violating the fundamental rights.
RIGHT TO VICTIM:
 Right to be treated with self-respect
 Right to notification.
 Right to be present.
 Right to be heard.
 Right to rational protection from terrorization and injury.
 Right to restitution.
 Right to information.
 Right to compensation especially for crimes of violent

nature.
 Right to speedy proceedings
 Rights to privacy
RIGHT TO ACCUSED:
 Right to equality before law and equal protection of law
(Article 14)[12] is one of such rights that are provided to
the citizens by the Constitution of India. Every person in
the country should be treated equally despite being an
accused criminal.
 Protection against retrospective provisions of an Act No
person shall be convicted of any offence except for
violation of a law in force at the time of the commission of
the act charged as an offence, nor be subjected to a penalty
greater than that which might have been inflicted under the
law in force at the time of commission of the offence.
 Right to protection against double jeopardy No person
shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence for
more than once. This is a restriction on enforcement of
criminal law. By undergoing trial, the accused has cleared
his debt to society and he cannot be prosecuted twice even
though he is in fact guilty.
 Right to protection against self-incrimination No person
accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness
against himself. The Supreme Court has held that the
protection against self-incrimination is a broad protection
that extends to stage of investigation. Therefore, the right of
self-incrimination protects persons who have been formally
accused as well as those who are examined as suspects in
criminal case. It also extends to cover witnesses who
apprehend that their answers could expose them to criminal
charges in the ongoing investigation or even in cases other
than the one being investigated
 Right to be released on bail Bail is the rule and jail
exception. The Supreme court has aptly said that the
primary purpose of bail in a criminal case are to relieve the
accused of imprisonment, to relieve the state of the burden
of keeping him, pending the trial, at the same time, to keep
the accused constructively in the custody of court, weather
before or after the conviction, to assure that he will submit
to the jurisdiction of the court and be in attendance thereon
whenever his presence is required.
 Right to know the reason of arrest No person who is
arrested shall be detained in custody without being
informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds for such
arrest nor shall he be denied the right to consult and to be
defended by, a legal practitioner of his choice.
 A person who is said to have been involved in a crime has a
right to know the reason of his arrest
 Right to engage an advocate Accused or arrested person
has the right to consult and to be defended by a legal
practitioner of his choice. This is a fundamental right.
 Right to free legal aid the Supreme court stated that if a
prisoner is disabled from engaging a lawyer on reasonable
grounds such as indigence, on in communicate situation, a
court shall, if the circumstances of the case, the gravity of
the sentence and the ends of justice so require, assign a
competent council for the person defence, provided the
party does not object to that lawyer.
 Right to be presented before the Magistrate Every person
who is arrested and detained in custody shall be produced
before the nearest Magistrate within a period of twenty four
hours of such arrest excluding the time necessary for the
journey from the place of arrest to the court of the
Magistrate and no such person shall be detained in custody
beyond the said period without the authority of the
Magistrate.
 Right to appeal Right to appeal is a constitutional right and
a statutory right
 Right to be free from torture and maltreatment the
Supreme court held that Article 21 prohibited mental
torture, physical pressure and physical infliction and torture
beyond the limits of lawful imprisonment.