IX Chapter - 5 Democratic Rights

  

IX Chapter - 5

Democratic Rights

 

Rights

Rights are claims of a person over other fellow beings, over the society and over the government.

Rights are reasonable claims of persons recognized  by society and sanctioned by law.

 

Why Fundamental?

 

(i) They are fundamental to our life.

(ii)  Rights secure equality, liberty and justice for all citizens  as  they are given in the Preamble to our constitution.

The Indian Constitution has given us six Fundamental Rights. They are the basic features of India’s Constitution. Fundamental Rights are:

 

 (i) Right to Equality (ii) Right to Freedom (iii) Right against

Exploitation (iv) Right to Freedom of Religion (v) Cultural and Educational Rights (vi) Right to Constitutional Remedies.

 

Importance

 

rights are necessary to sustain democracy.   Rights are the heart and soul of democracy.

2- In a democracy, every citizen has the right to vote and the right to be elected t o government. For democratic elections to take place, it is necessary that citizens should have the right to express their opinion, form political parties and take part in political activities.

3-Rights also perform a very special role in a democracy. They  protect minorities from the oppression of the majority. They ensure that interests of the minorities are protected and majority does not act as per its whims and fancies.

4-  Rights are guarantees which can be used when things go wrong. Things may go wrong  when some citizens may wish to take away the rights of others. Generally, the majority wants to dominate the minority.

5-The government should protect the citizens’ rights in such a situation. Sometimes elected governments may not protect or even attack the rights of their own citizens (as happened in Yugoslavia underMilosevic).  Therefore,  some  basic  rights  of  the  citizens  are  written  down  in  the  constitution  of  most democracies. it in public interest. Even a newspaper article or report can be treated as a PIL by the court.

6.  Every one desires security, dignity  equality and justice.  Rights ensure these values in democracy

Right to Equality.

i) Rule of law- The Constitution says that the government shall not deny to any person in India  equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws.

it means equality before the law or equal protection of the laws. It means that the laws apply in the  same  manner  to  all,  regardless  of  a  person’s  status.  Rule  of  law  is  the  foundation  of  any democracy.  It implies that no person is above the law. There cannot be any distinction between a political leader, government official and ordinary citizen.

No person can legally claim any  special  treatment  or  privilege  just  because  he  or  she is  an important person.

ii)  The government shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds of religion, caste, ethnicity, sex or place of birth. Every  citizen  shall  have  access  to  public  places  like  shops,  restaurants,  hotels, and cinema halls.

iii)  Similarly,  there  shall  be  no  restriction  with  regard  to  the  use  of  wells,  tanks, bathing  ghats,  roads,  playgrounds  and  places  of  public  resorts  maintained  by government or dedicated to the use of general public.

iv)  The  same  principle  applies  to  public  jobs.  All  citizens  have  equality  of opportunity in matters relating to employment or appointment to any position in the government. No citizen shall be discriminated against or made ineligible for employment on the grounds mentioned above.

 

Reservations

 

These reservations are not against the Right to Equality.

2-In a broader sense, equality does mean giving everyone the same treatments, no matter what they need.

3-Equality means giving everyone an equal opportunity to achieve whatever one is capable of. Sometimes, it is necessary to

give job reservations to socially and economically backward sections of the society to ensure equal opportunity.

4-The constitution says that reservations of this kind are not a violation of the Right to Equality.

 

Right against exploitation

 

The Constitution mentions three specific evils and declares these illegal.

i)  First,  the  Constitution  prohibits  ‘traffic  in  human beings’.  Traffic  here  means selling and buying of human beings, usually women, for immoral purposes.

ii)  Second,  our  Constitution  also  prohibits  forced  labour  or  begar  in  any  form. ‘Begar’ is a practice where the worker is forced torender service to the ‘master’free of charge or at a nominal remuneration. When this practice takes place on a life-long basis, it is called the practice of bonded labour.

iii)  Finally, the Constitution also prohibits child labour. No one can employ a child below  the  age  of  fourteen  to  work  in  any  factory  or mine  or  in  any  other hazardous work, such as railways and ports. Using this as a basis many laws have been made to prohibit children from working in industries such as beedi making, firecrackers and matches, printing and dyeing.

 

Rights  of detained person

 

(i) A person who is arrested and detained in custody will have to be informed of the reasons for such arrest.

(ii) Such a person shall be produced before the nearest magistrate within a period of 24 hours of arrest.

(iii) Such a person has the right to consult a lawyer or engage a lawyer for his defence.

 

Right to freedom (cluster of six )

 

The right to freedom is a cluster of six rights. Therefore:

(i) Freedom of speech and expression   

(ii) Freedom of assembly in peaceful manner

(iii) To form association and unions   

  (iv)Move freely throughout the country

(v) Reside in any part of the country  

(vi) Practice any profession or occupation.

 

Limitations of right to freedom

 

(i) we cannot use your Right to Freedom to incite people to rebel against government or to defame others.

(ii) We can hold meetings but peacefully.

(iii) We cannot carry weapons while participating in a procession or a meeting

 

Right to freedom of religion.

 

a.  India  is a  secular  state. A  secular  state  is  one  that  does  not establish any  one religion as official religion. Indian secularism practices an attitude of an equal distance from all religions. The state has to be neutral and impartial in dealing with all religions.

b.  Every person has a right to profess, practice and propagate any religion that he or she believes in.

c.  There  shall  be  no  religious  instruction  in  the  government  educational institutions.  In  educational  institutions  managed  by  private  bodies  no  person shall  be  compelled  to  take  part  in  any  religious  instruction  or  to  attend  any religious worship.

 

Cultural and educational rights

 

The working of democracy gives power to the minority. It is the language, culture and religion of minorities that needs special protection. Otherwise, they may get neglected or undermined under the impact of the language, religion and culture of the majority. That is why the Constitution specifies the cultural and educational rights of the minorities.

Provisions

i)  Any  section  of  society  with  a  distinct  language  or culture  have  a  right  to conserve it.

ii)  Admission to any educational institution maintained by government or receiving government aid cannot be denied to any citizen on the ground of religion or language.

iii)  All minorities have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice

iv)Full compensation has to be paid if the state seeks to acquire the property of a minority educational institution.

Minority

 

*Minority does not mean only religious minority at the national level. In some places, people speaking a particular language are in majority; people speaking a different language are in a minority.

 

* For example, Telugu speaking  people  form  a  majority  in  Andhra  Pradesh  but  they  are  a  minority  in  Karnataka.  Sikhs constitute a majority in Punjab, but they are a minority in Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi.

Right to Constitutional remedy

 

Rights guaranteed by the constitution are useless if there are no special provisions to guarantee them.

2-The Fundamental Rights in the constitution are legal and enforceable. We have the right to seek the enforcement of these  rights  by  moving  to  the  High  Courts  or  the  Supreme  Court.  This  is  called  the  Right  to  Constitutional  Remedies which is provided by Article 32 of the constitution.

3-This  itself  is  a  Fundamental  Right.  This  right  makes  other rights  effective.  It is  possible  that  sometimes  our  rights may be violated by fellow citizens, private bodies or by the government.

4-When any of the rights are violated we can seek remedy through a court. We can challenge such laws of the central and  state  governments,  the  policies  and  actions  of  the  government  or  the governmental organizations like the nationalized banks or electricity boards. we can directly approach the Supreme Court or the High Court of a state.l

5- Dr. Ambedkar called the Right to Constitutional Remedies (Article 32) the ‘heart and soul’ of our constitution. There can be no law or action that violates the Fundamental Rights. Such a law can be declared null and void by the Supreme Court. Courts can award compensation to the victims and punishment to the violators through writs .

 

Heart of the constitution

 

This 'Right' makes other 'Rights' effective. If sometimes our rights are  violated by fellow citizens, private bodies or by the government, we can seek remedy through courts.

2-If it is  a Fundamental  Right we can directly approach the Supreme Court or the high court of a state.  That is why Dr. Ambedkar called it "the heart and soul" of our constitution.

 

 

Role of judiciary in protecting fundamental rights

 

i)  In case of any violation of a Fundamental Right the aggrieved person can go to a court for remedy. The Supreme Court and High Courtshave the power to issue directions, orders or  writs for the enforcement of the Fundamental Rights. They can also award compensation to the victims and punishment to the violators

 

ii)  Now, any person can go to court against the violation of the Fundamental Right, if it is of social or public interest. It is called  Public Interest Litigation (PIL).Under the PIL any citizen or group of citizens can  approach the Supreme Court or a High Court for the protection of public interest against a particular law or action of the government. One can write to the judges even on a postcard. The court will take up the matter if the judges find itin public interest.

 

(NHRC)

 

*National  Human  Rights  Commission  is  an  independent  organisation  established  in  1993.  Its  main  work  is  to focus on human rights and help the victims, whose rights are violated

 

*Human rights  include all the rights granted to the citizens by the constitution. For NHRC human rights also include the rights mentioned in the UN-sponsored international treaties that India has signed.

 

*The  NHRC  cannot  by  itself  punish  the  guilty  –  that  is  the  responsibility  of  the  courts.  The  NHRC makes  an independent and credible inquiry into any case of violation of human rights.

*The commission presents its findings and recommendations to the government or intervenes in the court on behalf of the victims.

 

*Like any court, it can summon witnesses, question any government official, demand any official paper, visit  any prison for inspection or send its own team for on-the-spot inquiry

 

New rights in the constitution of South Africa

 

The scope of rights has been expanding and new rights are evolving over time. They are the result of the struggle of the people. New rights emerge as societies develop or as new constitutions are made. The constitution of South Africa guarantees its citizens several kinds of new rights.

2-Right  to  privacy,  so  that  citizens  or  their  home  cannot  be  searched,  their  phones  cannot  be  tapped,  their communication cannot be opened.

3- Right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being.

4- Right to have access to adequate housing.

5-Right  to  have  access  to  health  care  services,  sufficient  food  and  water;  no  one  can  be  refused  emergency medical treatment.

 

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