Fundamental Rights Of Indian Citizens: Know In Detail

Fundamental Rights Of Indian Citizens: Know In Detail

Fundamental rights are the rights of every citizen of the country essential for the development of an individual. Fundamental Rights of Indian Citizens have been provided in the constitution of India under Part 3 from Article 12 to 35. The six Fundamental rights depicted in the constitution were borrowed from the Constitution of the USA. Initially, there were 7 fundamental rights but later on the "Right to Property" was abolished under the 44th Constitutional Amendment, 1978. Every citizen must be aware of their fundamental rights that have been listed below along with the proper explanation.

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF INDIAN CITIZENS
S.No	Fundamental Right	Article of Constitution
1	Right To Equality (Article- 14 to 18)	Art. 14- Equality Before Law
		Art. 15- Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth
		Art. 16- Equality of opportunity in public employment
		Art. 17- Abolition of untouchability
		Art. 18- Abolition of Titles
2	Right To Freedom (Article- 19 to 22)	Art 19- Freedom of speech, expression, movement
		Art 20- Protection from conviction for offences
		Art 21- Right to life & Personal Liberty
		Art 22- Protection against arrest or detention
3	Right Against Exploitation (Article- 23 & 24)	Art 23- Protection from trafficking & Forced Labour
		Art 24- Ban on child labour
4	Right To Freedom of Religion (Article- 25 to 28)	Art 25- Freedom to practice one's own religion
		Art 26- Freedom to manage religious affairs
		Art 27- No taxation for promotion of religion
		Art 28- Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in institutions
5	Cultural & Educational Rights (Article 29 & 30)	Art 29- To Protect & Preserve the minorities
		Art 30- Right of minorities to administer educational institutions
6	Right To Constitutional Remedies (Article 32)	Art 32- Remedies for enforcement of rights

1. Right To Equality (Article- 14 to 18)

• Equality before the law and equal protection of laws (Article 14).
• Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth (Article 15).
• Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment (Article 16).
• Abolition of untouchability and prohibition of its practice (Article 17).
• Abolition of titles except military and academic (Article 18).

The exception to Right to equality allowed by the Indian Constitution is: The President or the Governor of a state is not answerable to any court.

2. Right To Freedom (Article- 19 to 22)

• Protection of six rights regarding freedom of (Article 19):

(i) speech and expression

(ii) assemble peacefully and without arms,

(iii) Form associations or unions

(iv) Move freely throughout the territory of India,

(v) Reside of settle in any part of the country,

(vi) Practise any profession or to carry any trade or business

• Protection in respect of conviction for offences (Article 20)
• Protection of life and personal liberty (Article 21): No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty
• Right to elementary education (Article 21A): It makes the right of education for children of the age of 6 to 14 years a fundamental right.
• Protection against arrest and detention in certain cases (Article 22): No person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed of the grounds for such arrest.

3. Right Against Exploitation (Article- 23 & 24)

• Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour. (Article 23)
  Traffic in human beings and the beggar and other similar forms of forced labour are prohibited.
• Prohibition of employment of children in factories, etc. (Article 24)
  No child below the age of 14 years can be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.

4. Right To Freedom of Religion (Article- 25 to 28)

• Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion (Article 25)
• Freedom to manage religious affairs (Article 26)
• Freedom from payment of taxes for promotion of any religion (Article 27)- The state can not compel any citizen to pay any taxes for the promotion or maintenance of any particular religion or religious institutions.
• Freedom from attending religious instruction or worship in certain educational institutions (Article 28)

5. Cultural & Educational Rights (Article 29 & 30)

• Protection of language, script and culture of minorities (Article 29)
  Where a religious community is in the minority, the constitution enables it to preserve its culture and religious interests.
• Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions (Article 30)- Such community have the right to establish educational institutions of its choice and the state shall not discriminate against such an educational institution maintained by a minority community.

6. Right To Constitutional Remedies (Article 32)

Right to constitutional remedies is termed as the "Soul of the constitution" by Dr BR Ambedkar. 

The Writs

For the enforcement of fundamental rights, the judiciary has been armed with the power to issue the writs. Supreme court can issue an order or following writs for the enforcement of the fundamental rights against any person or Government within the territory of India:

(i) Habeas Corpus: It is issued to the official or a private person who has detained another person in his custody. The latter is produced before the court in order to let the court know on what grounds he has been confined.

(ii) Mandamus: It literally means Command. It commands the person to perform some public or legal duty which the person has refused to perform.

(iii) Prohibition: This writ is issued by a higher court to the lower court to not exceed its jurisdiction limit. It is issued during the pendency of the proceedings.

(iv) Certiorari: This writ is also issued against courts or tribunals to quash order or decision of the court or tribunal. It can be issued only after the order has been made.

(v) Quo warranto: It is a proceeding where the court enquires into the legality of the claim. In this, a higher court can remove a public official if he/she has acquired the post illegally.