Right against Exploitation

· The Constitution of India provides distinct and clear provisions to prevent exploitation of the weaker sections of the society.

· The Constitution prohibits the following practices as evil and declares them illegal −

o Trafficking of human beings, i.e., the selling and buying of human beings, (generally, women and children are the victims of trafficking).

o Forced labor or beggar in any form is illegal and is prohibited (beggar is work or service without remuneration, which is called as bonded labor if this practice runs through life of the worker).

o Child labor is also prohibited. The children below 14 years of age, cannot be employed to work in any factory or mine or in any other hazardous work, such as railways and ports.

· The Parliament of India has enacted laws to implement constitutional right that prohibits children below 14 years of age from working in hazardous industries such as beedi making, firecrackers and matches, printing, and dyeing.

Right to Freedom of Religion

· India is a secular state, which means the State has no official religion and India does not promote/protect any one religion over the other religion.

· The Fundamental Rights under Articles 25 to 28 facilitate individuals the freedom to live by their religious beliefs and practices as they interpret these beliefs.

· Every citizen in India has liberty to profess, practice, and propagate the religion that he or she believes in.

· Every sect or a religious group is free to manage its religious affairs, but it is subject to reasonable restrictions debarring, any person, or organization to compel another person to convert into his religion by means of force, fraud, inducement, or allurement.

· This right is in the form of restrictions upon the government not to compel any person to pay any taxes for the promotion or maintenance of any particular religion or religious institution.

· In the educational institutions run or added by the government, neither any religious instruction can be imparted nor can any person be compelled to take part in any religious instruction or to attend any religious worship.

Cultural and Educational Rights

· The democracy is based upon the wishes of the majority. In this system, the right and interest of the minorities need to be protected by developing a mechanism that cannot be changed prejudicially by the majority.

· Therefore in a democratic country, Special Protection is provided in the constitution to preserve and develop the language, culture, and religion of minorities.

· Any section of citizens with a distinct language or culture has the right to conserve its language, culture, and religious practices.

· Articles 29 and 30 provide Cultural and Educational Rights, which states that all minorities, religious or linguistic groups, having a distinct language, script or culture of its own can set up their own educational institutions in order to preserve and develop their language, script, or culture.

Right to Constitutional Remedies

· A person aggrieved by the violation of any of his/her fundamental right can approach either to the Supreme Court (under Article 32) or High Court (under Article 226) for the restoration of his/her fundamental right/s.

· The enforceability of rights is a very important aspect of all fundamental rights and hence, it is called as the “Right to Constitutional Remedies.”

· According to Dr. Ambedkar, the right to constitutional remedies is the ‘heart and soul of the Constitution.’

· If someone violates someone’s Fundamental Rights, then he/she can approach either a High Court or directly the Supreme Court to get proper remedy.

· The Supreme Court or the High Court (as the case may be) can issue orders (known as writs) and give directives to the Government for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights.

· Following are the five writs/orders issued by either the Supreme Court or High Courts −

o Habeas corpus − A writ of habeas corpus means that the court orders that the arrested person should be presented before the court. The court can also order to set free an arrested person if the manner and/or grounds of arrest are not lawful or satisfactory.

o Mandamus − This writ is issued when a court finds that a particular office holder is not doing legal duty and thereby is infringing on the right of an individual.

o Prohibition − This writ is issued by a higher court (High Court or Supreme Court); when a lower court has considered a case, which is going beyond its jurisdiction.

o Quo Warranto − If a court finds that a person is holding office but is not entitled to hold that office, it issues the writ of quo warranto and restricts that person from acting as an office holder.

o Certiorari − Under this writ, a higher court orders a lower court or another authority to transfer a matter pending before it to the higher authority or court.

· Apart from the judiciary, some other bodies and mechanisms that protect an individual’s right are −

o The National Commission on Minorities,

o The National Commission on Women,

o The National Commission on Scheduled Castes, etc.

· In 1993, the Government of India has established ‘National Human Rights Commission’ (NHRC), which consists of −

o A former chief justice of the Supreme Court of India;

o A former judge of the Supreme Court;

o A former chief justice of a High Court, and

o Two other members who have knowledge and practical experience in the matters relating to human rights.

· However, NHRC does not have the power of prosecution. It can merely make recommendations to the government or recommend to the courts to initiate proceedings based on the inquiry that it conducted.

Expansion and Scope of Fundamental Rights

· Since independence, the scope of Fundamental Rights have expanded greatly to include several other rights from time to time.

· The Fundamental Rights embedded in our constitution are the source of all rights, based on this, the Government of India enacted several laws e.g. −

o Right to information,

o Right to freedom of press, and

o Right to education.

· The Parliament of India has amended the Constitution to include ‘school education’ as a Fundamental Right for the Indian citizens. Resultantly, now it is the duty and responsibility of the governments to provide free and compulsory education to all children up to the age of 14 years.

· The Parliament has enacted a law ‘right to information act’ under the Fundamental Right to freedom of thought and expression, which provides a right to seek information from the government offices.

· The Supreme Court of India by explaining the Fundamental Rights has further expanded the scope and meaning of the Fundamental Rights, as it included ‘right to food’ in the ‘right to life’ section (i.e. Article 21).

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