Introduction

Human rights are the basic rights available to any human being by virtue of his birth in human race.
It is inherent in all human beings irrespective of their nationality, religion, language, sex, colour or
any other consideration. The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 defines Human Rights as:
“human rights” means the rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual
guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforceable by
courts in India”.

Protection of human rights is essential for the development of the people of the country, which
ultimately leads to development of the national as a whole. The Constitution of India guarantees
basic human rights to each and every citizen of the country. The framers of the Constitution have
put their best efforts in putting down the necessary provisions. However, with continuos
developments taking place, the horizon of human rights has also expanded. The parliamentarians
are now playing a great role in recognizing the rights of people and passing statues, amending
provisions etc. As and when required.

Development of Human Rights

The Human Rights in India originated long time ago. It can easily be recognized from the principles of
Buddhism, Jainism. Hindu religious books and religious texts like Gita, Vedas, Arthasatra and
Dharmashstra also contained provisions of human rights. Muslim rulers like Akbar and Jahangir were
also very much appreciated for his regard for rights and justice. During the early British era, the
people suffered a great violation of several rights and this led to the birth of modern Human Rights
jurisprudence in India.

On January 24, 1947, Constituent Assembly voted to form an advisory committee on Fundamental
Rights with Sardar Patel as the Chairman. Drafted list of rights were prepared by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar,
B. N. Rau, K. T. Shah, Harman Singh, K. M. Musnshi and the Congress expert committee. Although
there were few amendments proposed, there was almost no disagreement on the principles
incorporated. The rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were almost completely
covered in the Indian Constitution either in Fundamental Rights or Directive Principles of State
Policy. Nineteen fundamental rights were covered in Motilal Nehru Committee Report, 1928 out of
which ten appear in the Fundamental Rights whereas three of them appear as Fundamental Duties.

International Human Rights and Fundamental Rights (Part III of COI)

India had signed the Universal Declaration on Human Rights January 01, 1942. Part III of the
Constitution India ‘also referred as magna carta’ contains the Fundamental rights. These are the
rights which are directly enforceable against the state in case of any violation. Article 13(2) prohibits
state from making any law in violation of the Fundamental Rights. It always provides that if a part of
law made is against the Fundamental Rights, that part would be declared as void. If the void part
cannot be separated from the main act, the whole act may be declared as void.

In the case of Keshvanand Bharti v. State of Kerela, the apex court observed: “The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights may not be a legally binding instrument but it shows how India
understood the nature of human rights at the time the Constitution was adopted.”
In the case of Chairman, Railway Board & Ors. V. Chandrima Das & Ors., it was observed that UDHR
has been recognized as Model code of conduct adopted by United Nations General Assembly. The
principles may have to be read if needed in domestic jurisprudence.

Provisions of Universal Declaration of Human Rights along with corresponding provisions in

Constitution of India are as follows:

Brief Description of Provision UDHR COI

Equality and equal protection before law Article 7 Article 14

Remedies for violation of Fundamental Rights Article 8 Article 32

Right to Life and personal liberty Article 9 Article 21

Protection in respect for conviction of offences Article 11(2) Article 20(1)

Right to property Article 17 Earlier a Fundamental Right under Article 31

Right to freedom of conscience and to practice, profess and propagate any religion Article 18
Article 25(1)

Freedom of speech Article 19 Article 19(1)(a)

Equality in opportunity of public service Article 21(2) Article 16(1)

Protection of minorities Article 22 Article 29(1)

Right to education Article 26(1) Article 21A

Many of the civil and political rights contained in the International Covenant on Political and Civil
Rights, 1966 (ICCPR) are also contained in the Part III of the Constitution of India. India has signed
and ratified the ICCPR.

In the case of Jolly George Varghese & Anr. V. Bank of Cochin, J. Krishna Iyer observed that though a
provision is present in ICCPR but not in Indian Constitution, does not make the covenant an
enforceable part of ‘Corpus Juris’ in India.

Provisions of ICCPR along with corresponding provision of Constitution of India are as follows:

Brief Description of Provision ICCPR COI

Right to life and liberty Article 6(1) & 9(1) Article 21

Prohibition of trafficking and forced labour Article 8(3) Article 23

Protection against detention in certain cases Article 9(2), (3) and (4) Article 22

Freedom of movement Article 12(1) Article 19(1)(d)

Right to equality Article 14(1) Article 14

Right not to be compelled to be a witness against own self Article 14(3)(g) Article 20(3)

Protection against double jeopardy Article 14(7) Article 20(2)

Protection against ex-post facto law Article 15(1) Article 20(1)

Right to freedom of conscience and to practice, profess and propagate any religion Article 18(1)
Article 25(1) & 25(2)(a)

Freedom of speech and expression Article 19(1) & (2) Article 19(1)(a)

Right to assembly peacefully Article 21 Article 19(1)(b)

Right to form union/ association Article 22(1) Article 19(1)(c)

Equality in opportunity of public service Article 25(c) Article 16(1)

Equality and equal protection before law and no discrimination on the basis of any ground such as
race, colour, sex, language, religion etc. Article 26 Article 14 & 15(1)

Protection of interests of minorities Article 27 Article 29(1) & 30

Some of the rights which were not earlier included in Fundamental Rights but were available in
ICCPR. They were considered as Fundamental Rights by various judicial pronouncements. Some of
them are Right to fair trial, Right to privacy, Right to legal aid, Right to travel abroad. I will be dealing
with them in detail at the later part of this article.

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and Directive Principles of
State Policy (Part IV of COI)

The ICESCR is a multilateral treaty which mainly focuses on social and cultural rights like food,
health, education, shelter etc. India ratified this covenant on April 10, 1979. Most of the provisions in
this covenant are found in Part IV (DPSPs) of the Indian Constitution.

Provisions of ICESCR along with corresponding provision of Constitution of India are as follows:

Brief Description of Provision ICESCR COI

Right to work Article 6(1) Article 41

Equal Pay for equal work Article 7(a)(i) Article 39(d)

Right to living wage and descent standard for life. Article 7(a)(ii) & (d) Article 43

Humane conditions of work and maternity leave. Article 7(b) and 10(2) Article 42

Faculties and opportunities to children for prevention against exploitation. Article 10(3)
Article 39(f)

Improving public health and raise level of nutrition and standard of living. Article 11
Article 47

Compulsory education for children Article 13(2)(a) Article 45

Protection of interests of minorities Article 27 Article 29(1) & 30

Unremunerated Fundamental Rights

A number of rights that were available in the covenant were not available as fundamental rights at
the time of enactment of Constitution. The judicial interpretations have widened the scope of
fundamental rights available in the Indian Constitution.
In the court of A.D.M. Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla, the apex court had observed that the law of land
does not recognize any natural or common law rights other than specifically provided in the Indian
Constitution.

Later, in the case of Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, J. Bhagwati observed; “The expression
’personal liberty’ in article 21 is of the widest amplitude and it covers a variety of rights, which go to
constitute the personal liberty of man and some of them have been raised to the status of distinct
fundamental rights and given additional protection under Article 19. No person can be deprived of
his right to go abroad unless there is a law made by the State prescribing the procedure for so
depriving him, and the deprivation is effected strictly in accordance with such procedure.”

After the present case, the apex court came up with the “theory of emanation” in order to make
fundamental rights active and meaningful. Also, relaxation to the rule of ‘locus standi’ was given by
the court. Some of the major judicial interpretations of Fundamental Right are as follows:

Conclusion

Human Rights are the basic rights which form the essential part of his/her development as human
being. Constitution acts as a protector of those basic rights as Fundamental Rights and DPSPs. More
emphasis has been given to the fundamental rights and they are directly enforceable in the court of
law. From a deep study of the Part III and Part IV of the Indian Constitution, it is easily evident that
almost all of the rights provided in UDHR (Universal Declaration on Human Rights) are covered in
these two parts.