The Rights of the People: A Comprehensive Overview

When India’s Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950, it did something remarkable – it handed ordinary people a set of legally enforceable rights against the state. Not aspirations. Not promises. Actual rights backed by the courts. Part III of the Constitution, covering Articles 12 to 35, lays out these Fundamental Rights and is widely regarded as the cornerstone of Indian democracy. What makes this framework especially interesting is the deliberate distinction it draws between rights available to everyone – citizen or not – and those reserved exclusively for Indian citizens.

Rights for all persons vs. rights for citizens only 🔗

Not all fundamental rights work the same way. Some protect every individual present on Indian soil, regardless of nationality. Others belong exclusively to Indian citizens. This distinction is deliberate – it reflects a balance between universal human dignity and the specific obligations a state has toward its own people.

Rights available to all persons (citizens and non-citizens alike) include equality before the law (Article 14), protection against arbitrary arrest (Article 22), the right to life and personal liberty (Article 21), and freedom of religion (Articles 25-28). These are considered basic human protections that the Indian state cannot deny to anyone within its territory.

Rights reserved exclusively for citizens include the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth (Article 15), equality of opportunity in public employment (Article 16), the six freedoms under Article 19 – including speech and expression, movement, and residence – and the cultural and educational rights of minorities (Articles 29-30).

The right to equality: Articles 14 to 18 🔗

The right to equality is not a single provision but a cluster of five articles, each addressing a different dimension of the same principle.

Equality before the law (Article 14) 🔗

Article 14 guarantees that the state shall not deny any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within India. The phrase “any person” is key – this protection extends to citizens, foreigners, and legal entities like companies. It establishes the rule of law as a foundational principle: the state cannot act arbitrarily, and every individual is subject to the same ordinary law.

Prohibition of discrimination (Article 15) 🔗

Article 15 goes further and specifically bars the state from discriminating against citizens on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth. No citizen can be denied access to shops, public restaurants, hotels, public entertainment venues, or the use of public infrastructure on these grounds. At the same time, the Constitution permits affirmative action – the state can make special provisions for women, children, and socially or educationally backward classes, including reservations in educational institutions.

Equality in public employment (Article 16) 🔗

Article 16 extends the principle of equality specifically to matters of government employment. It prohibits discrimination against any citizen in public employment on grounds of religion, race, caste, descent, place of birth, or residence. The state can, however, reserve posts for communities that are inadequately represented in public services – a provision that forms the constitutional basis for reservation policies.

Abolition of untouchability (Article 17) 🔗

Article 17 is one of the most significant and unique provisions in the Indian constitutional framework. It directly abolishes untouchability in all its forms and declares its practice a punishable offence. Unlike most other fundamental rights, which restrict state action, Article 17 operates against private individuals too – it is, notably, the only article among the rights provisions that is considered absolute, admitting no exceptions or reasonable restrictions.

The term “untouchability” is not defined in the Constitution, but courts have clarified that it refers to the historically developed practice of imposing social disabilities on certain groups by reason of their birth in particular castes. In State of Karnataka v. Appa Balu Ingale (1993), the Supreme Court held that untouchability was an indirect form of slavery and merely an extension of the caste system. To give Article 17 legal teeth, Parliament enacted the Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955, which was later strengthened and renamed the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955. It prescribes imprisonment of one to two years for acts such as preventing entry into places of worship, denying access to public facilities, or refusing goods and services on grounds of untouchability.

The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 further reinforced this protection by establishing special courts and making atrocity offences non-bailable.

Abolition of titles (Article 18) 🔗

Article 18 prohibits the state from conferring titles of any kind, except military and academic distinctions. It also bars Indian citizens from accepting titles from foreign states. This provision directly dismantled the British-era system of aristocratic honours and was intended to ensure that no hierarchy of prestige incompatible with republican equality could be reestablished through the state.

The right to freedom: Article 19 🔗

Article 19 guarantees six freedoms exclusively to Indian citizens: freedom of speech and expression; the right to assemble peaceably without arms; the right to form associations or unions; the right to move freely throughout India; the right to reside and settle anywhere in the country; and the right to practise any profession or carry on any occupation, trade, or business.

These freedoms are not absolute. The state may impose reasonable restrictions in the interests of national security, public order, decency or morality, friendly relations with foreign states, or the sovereignty and integrity of India. What counts as “reasonable” is ultimately for the courts to decide – a check that has generated an extensive body of constitutional jurisprudence.

Right against exploitation: Articles 23 and 24 🔗

Articles 23 and 24 together form the right against exploitation. Article 23 prohibits traffic in human beings, forced labour (begar), and similar practices, making these offences punishable by law. Article 24 bars the employment of children below the age of 14 in factories, mines, or any hazardous work. Both provisions apply to all persons, not just citizens, and operate both against the state and private parties.

Freedom of religion: Articles 25 to 28 🔗

India is constitutionally secular – not in the sense that religion is absent from public life, but in the sense that the state does not favour any religion and treats all faiths equally. Articles 25 to 28 provide the framework for this religious neutrality.

Article 25 guarantees all persons freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practise, and propagate any religion, subject to public order, morality, and health. Critically, the right to propagate does not include the right to convert another person – that would infringe the other’s freedom of conscience.

Article 26 extends protection to religious denominations, allowing them to manage their own affairs, establish institutions for religious or charitable purposes, and own and administer property – again subject to public order, morality, and health.

Article 27 ensures that no person is compelled to pay taxes specifically for the promotion or maintenance of any religion. Article 28 prohibits religious instruction in any educational institution fully funded by the state.

Constitutional remedies: Article 32 🔗

A right that cannot be enforced is not really a right at all. The framers of the Constitution understood this, which is why they included Article 32 – the right to constitutional remedies – as itself a fundamental right. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar famously described it as the “heart and soul of the Constitution.” In his words before the Constituent Assembly, “If I was asked to name any particular article in this Constitution as the most important – an article without which this Constitution would be a nullity – I could not refer to any other article except this one.”

Article 32 gives every citizen the right to approach the Supreme Court directly when any fundamental right is violated. The Supreme Court has mandatory jurisdiction under this article – it cannot refuse to hear such petitions. Under Article 226, High Courts have a parallel and broader discretionary writ jurisdiction that covers both fundamental rights and ordinary legal rights.

The five writs 🔗

The Supreme Court can issue five types of writs to enforce fundamental rights, each designed for a specific purpose:

Habeas Corpus (meaning “produce the body”) – orders the detaining authority to bring a detained person before the court. If the detention is found unlawful, the person must be released. Any individual can file this writ even on behalf of the detained person.

Mandamus (meaning “we command”) – directs a public official or government body to perform a duty they are legally obligated to carry out but have failed or refused to perform.

Prohibition – issued to prevent a lower court or tribunal from acting beyond its legal jurisdiction, effectively stopping proceedings that are outside its authority.

Certiorari – transfers a case from a lower court to a higher court for review, or nullifies a lower court’s order made in excess of jurisdiction or based on an error of law.

Quo Warranto (meaning “by what authority”) – questions the legal basis of a person’s claim to a public office, ensuring only those duly entitled can hold such positions.

Together, these five writs form a comprehensive legal toolkit. The right to seek them is itself protected – it can be suspended only during a national emergency under Article 359, and even then, Articles 20 and 21 (protection in respect of conviction for offences, and the right to life and personal liberty) remain in force.

What makes the Indian rights framework distinctive 🔗

Several features set India’s fundamental rights apart from comparable constitutional frameworks. First, the direct constitutional prohibition of untouchability – enshrined in Article 17 – is uncommon globally. Most constitutions address caste-based discrimination through general equality provisions; India made it a specific, absolute, and criminally enforceable prohibition. Second, the Constitution recognises that formal equality is insufficient without affirmative action, and explicitly permits reservations and special provisions for marginalised groups. Third, the right to seek enforcement – Article 32 – is itself a fundamental right, not merely a procedural mechanism, making the judiciary a constitutionally mandated guarantor of individual liberties rather than an optional last resort.

Fundamental rights are also justiciable – courts can invalidate any law or government action that violates them. Under Article 13, all laws inconsistent with or in derogation of fundamental rights are void to the extent of the inconsistency. This provision forms the constitutional basis for judicial review in India.

What do you think? The Constitution drew a clear line between rights that belong to every person and those reserved for citizens – does this distinction still make sense in a world of increasing global migration and transnational communities? And given that Article 17 abolished untouchability over seven decades ago, what does its continued relevance in court cases today tell us about the gap between constitutional promise and social reality in India?

References

1. https://knowindia.india.gov.in/profile/fundamental-rights.php
2. https://www.drishtijudiciary.com/to-the-point/ttp-constitution-of-india/fundamental-rights-available-to-citizens-and-non-citizens
3. https://vajiramandravi.com/upsc-exam/fundamental-rights/
4. https://www.mea.gov.in/images/pdf1/part3.pdf
5. https://www.constitutionofindia.net/articles/article-17-abolition-of-untouchability/
6. https://www.drishtijudiciary.com/to-the-point/ttp-constitution-of-india/abolition-of-untouchability
7. https://samistilegal.in/article-17-of-the-constitution/
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_rights_in_India
9. https://vajiramandravi.com/current-affairs/article-32-of-indian-constitution/
10. https://padhai.ai/blogs-padhai/writs-article-32-of-the-indian-constitution-upsc
11. https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/fundamental-rights/