MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution

Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

UNIT-II

As a citizen of India, we are entitled to certain rights as well as obliged to certain duties. It is our
duty as responsible citizens that we abide by these laws and carry out our duties. Similarly,
knowledge of our fundamental rights is important so as to prevent injustice. Let us update
ourselves about the Fundamental Rights and Duties laid down by the constitution of India.

Introduction to Fundamental Rights and Duties

During the period of 1947 to 1949, Constitution of India developed and prescribed the
fundamental obligations of the State to its citizens and the duties and the rights of the citizens
towards the State under the following sections which constitute the vital elements of the
constitution.

 Fundamental Rights

 Directive Principles of State Policy

 Fundamental Duties

These sections consist of a constitutional bill of rights for government policy-making

and lay down a foundation for the appropriate the behaviour and conduct of citizens.

The Fundamental Rights

These are the basic human rights of all citizens, defined in Part III of the Constitution. These are
applicable irrespective of race, place of birth, religion, caste, creed, or gender. They are
enforceable by the courts, subject to specific restrictions. Following are some of the important
rights of the citizens of India in accordance with the Constitution.

 Right to Equality

 Right to freedom

 Right against exploitation

 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

 Right to freedom of religion

 Cultural and Educational Rights

 Right to Constitutional Remedies

Right to Equality

Right to Equality (Articles 14-18):

Article 14 (Equality before law):

 Article 14 says that state shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal
protection of the laws within the territory of India.

 Art. 14 is available to any person including legal persons viz. statutory corporation,
companies, etc.

 Art. 14 is taken from the concept of equal protection of laws has been taken from the
Constitution of USA.

 The concept of the rule of law is a negative concept while the concept of equal protection
of laws is a positive concept.

 The concept of equality before the law is equivalent to the second element of the concept
of the ‘rule of law’ propounded by A.D. dicey, the British jurist. But certain exceptions to
it are, the president of India, state governors, Public servants, Judges, Foreign diplomats,
etc., who enjoy immunities, protections, and special privileges.

Article 15 (Prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of
birth):

 Article 15 says that the state shall not discriminate against only of religion, race, sex,
place of birth or any of them.

 Under Article 15 (3) & (4), the government can make special provisions for women &
children and for a group of citizens who are economically and socially backward.
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

Article 16 (Equality of opportunities in matters of public employment):

 Article 16 says that there shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters
relating to employment or appointment to any office under the state.

Article 17 (Abolition of Untouchability): Article 17 says that Untouchability is abolished and its
practice in any form is forbidden. The enforcement of any disability arising out of untouchability
shall be an offense punishable by law.

Article 18 (Abolition of titles):

 Article 18 says that no title, not being a military or academic distinction, shall be
conferred by the State. No citizen of India shall accept any title from any foreign state.

 The awards, Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhuhan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, called as
The National Awards would not amount to title within the meaning of Article 18(i).

Right to Freedom (Articles 19-22):

Article 19 (Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech, etc.):
Article 19 says that all citizens shall have the right

1. to freedom of speech and expression.

2. To assemble peacefully and without arms.

3. To form associations or unions.

4. To move freely throughout the territory of India.

5. To practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.

Article 20 (Protection in respect of conviction for offenses):

Article 20 says that state can impose reasonable restrictions on the groups of security of the state,
friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency, morality, contempt of court,
defamation,etc.
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

Article 21 deals with Protection of life and personal liberty.

Article 21A states that that state shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of
the age of6-14years.Article 22 deals with protection against arrest and detention in certain cases.

Right Against Exploitation (Articles 23-24):

Article 23 deals with the prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labor.
Article 24 deals with prohibition of employment of children in factories, etc.

Right to Freedom of Religion (Articles 25-28):

Article 25 deals with freedom of conscience and free profession, practice, and propagation of
religion.
Article26dealswithfreedomtomanagereligiousaffairs.
Article 27 deals with freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion.
Article 28 deals with freedom as to attendance at religious instructions or religious worship in
certain educational institutions.

Cultural and Educational Rights (Articles 29-30):

Article 29 deals with the protection of language, script, and culture of minorities.
Article 30 deals with the right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions.

Right to Constitutional Remedies (Article 32):

Article 32 deals with the right to move to the supreme court for the enforcement of Fundamental
Rights including the Writs of (i) Habeas corpus, (ii) Mandamus, (iii) Prohibition, (iv) Certiorari
and (iv) Quo warranto.

Right to Privacy:

 Right to privacy is an intrinsic part of Article 21 that protects life and liberty of the
citizens.

 The ruling has implications for the government’s vast biometric ID scheme, covering
access to benefits, bank accounts and payment of taxes.
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

 Rights groups are concerned personal data could be misused. The authorities want
registration to be compulsory.

Directive Principles of State Policy

These are included in Part IV of the Constitution. For the framing of certain Laws, the
Government requires certain guidelines. These are included in the Directive Principles of State
Policy. According to Article 37, they are not enforceable by the courts. It just lays down the
fundamental principles and guidelines on which they are based are fundamental guidelines for
governance that the State need to follow while designing the laws. Emphasis is on the Welfare of
State Model.

The establishment of Directive Principles of State Policy is in accordance with certain articles of

the Constitution of India. Let us explore more about the importance of these articles.

Article Significance

37 Non-enforceability in court

39A Securing participation of workers in management of industries

Mandate the state to endeavour to secure to all citizens right to work,

41-43
living wage, security, maternity relief and a decent standard of living

 Promotion of industries

43
 Establishment of Several Boards for the promotion of Khadi
and other handlooms

 Free and compulsory education to children between age group

of 6-14
45
 After 2002 amendment childhood care age limit was shifted to
below 6 years

47   Raise the standard of living and improve public health

 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

 Prohibition of consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs

injurious to health

 Organize agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and

48
scientific lines

Protection of the environment and safeguard the forests and wildlife

48A
of the country

49 Preservation of monuments and objects of national importance

50 Separation of judiciary from the executive in public services

 International peace and security

51
 Implementation of Laws giving effect to International Treaties

The Fundamental Duties

These are defined as the moral obligations of all citizens to help promote a spirit of patriotism
and to uphold the unity of India and concern the individuals and the nation. Included in Part IVA
of the Constitution, like the Directive Principles, they are not enforceable by the law. According
to the constitution, following are the duties to be followed by every citizen of India

 To abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and
the National Anthem.

 To cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom.

 To uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India.

 To defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so.
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

 To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of
India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce
practices derogatory to the dignity of women.

 To value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture.

 To protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, wildlife
and to have compassion for living creatures.

 To develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.

 To safeguard public property and to abjure violence.

 To strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity, so that
the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement.

 Who is a parent or guardian, to provide opportunities for education to his child, or as the
case may be, ward between the age of six to fourteen years.

 According to the 86th constitutional amendment in 2002, it is the duty of the people of
India to adapt to make India a safer place to live, to be clean and make the surrounding
clean and not to hurt anybody physically and mentally.

The Relationship between the Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles and Fundamental
Duties

Directive Principles have been used to uphold the Constitutional validity of legislation in case of
conflict with Fundamental Rights. According to the amendment of 1971,  any law that even
though it deviates from the Fundamental Rights, but has been made to give effect to the
Directive Principles in Article 39(b)(c) would not be deemed invalid. The Fundamental Duties
will be held obligatory for all citizens subject to the State enforcing the same by means of a valid
law.

Rights Protective Mechanisms in India

 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

Community-based child protection mechanisms – Global synthesis report of Plan International's

support to CBCPMs

Support for Community-based child protection mechanisms (CBCPMs) is one of the global
priorities defined in Plan International's Global strategy for child protection programming 2015-
2020. 

The global synthesis report on community-based child-protection mechanisms is a mapping of

Plan International's work in 50 countries. It captures the work being undertaken by more than
15,000 child-protective mechanisms that are in one or the other way supported by Plan
International and its partners.

The synthesis includes:

 highlights of key achievements and challenges

 good practices and lessons learned

 recommendations to Plan International and others who are supporting CBCPMs

 Key advocacy messages for Plan International to use with primary policy makers.

Right to Education Act 2009

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, which is often
referred as Right to Education (RTE) Act in common parleys, came into force from 1
April, 2010.

Under The Right To Education Act:

 It is the duty of the State to ensure that every child between 6-14 years is entitled to free
and compulsory education.

 No child can be denied admission to a school due to the lack of age proof or domicile
certificate.

 A child can be admitted to school at any time during the year.

 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

 Every school needs to have adequate infrastructure such as separate toilets for boys and
girls; clean drinking water; a proper school building.

 No physical punishment can be meted out to children.

 Penalties will be charged to schools demanding capitation fees or tuition fees for
admissions.

Positive highlights of the RTE Act:

Out-of-School Children

 The number of out-of-school children has declined from 25 million in 2003 to 8.1 million
in mid-2009.

 The most significant improvements have been in Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur and
Chhattisgarh.

 The percentage of out-of-school children in highly populated states like Uttar Pradesh,
West Bengal, Orissa and Bihar remains a cause of concern.

Access

 There has been tremendous progress in improving access to schools, with 99% of
habitations having a primary school within one kilometre, and 92% with an upper
primary school within three kilometres.

Social Inclusion

 There have been significant improvements in the proportion of children from socially
disadvantaged groups enrolled in school.

 For Scheduled Caste (SC) students, 19.7% were enrolled in 2008-2009, with 11%
enrolled for Scheduled Tribe (ST) students. This is greater than their share of the
population as a whole (16.2% for SCs and 8.2% for STs).
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

 The proportion of ST children at upper primary level is much lower, which indicates that
ST children are more vulnerable to dropping out of the school system.

Sanitation

 84 out of 100 schools have drinking water facilities in India.

 65 out of 100 schools have common toilets in India;

 54 out of 100 schools have separate toilets for girls.

Gaps in Access to Free Quality Education that continue to persist:

RTE Violations issues

 Admissions continue to be denied due to not having TC & Birth Certificate or local
residence proof

 Parents continue to pay admission fee, and were asked to pay monthly fees for admission.
In many cases, a receipt against the paid amount has not been provided to the parents by
the school authorities.

 Children continue to be denied admission mid-year or after the half-yearly school test

RTE Implementation-based challenges

 The main challenge will be the implementation of the 25 per cent reservation for poor
students, keeping all children in school until class V while reaching acceptable standard
learning levels, monitoring private schools’ recognition, establishing School
Management Committees that function well, and all done with similar mechanism in all
States and Territories.

 With the no detention scheme in the Act, maintenance of standards of learning would be
a challenge

 Whether it is prohibiting tuitions or schools taking capitation fee, the Act and the State's
draft rules are weak on penalties
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

 Training of teachers within 3 years of implementation of the RTE Act seems to be a

daunting task

 Implementation of remedial teaching to realize age-appropriate grades for children would

be a daunting task

 Lack of awareness among the people regarding the various provisions of the RTE

 Lack of awareness regarding grievance redressal mechanism for RTE violations

 Lack of monitoring of RTE implementation

 Lack of accountability

 Multiple structures, systems and functions

 Lack of clarity on issues such as the 25% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections
in private schools

Right to Information (RTI)

Right to Information (RTI) is act of the Parliament of India to provide for setting out
the practical regime of the right to information for citizens and replaces the erstwhile
Freedom of information Act, 2002. Under the provisions of the Act, any citizen of India
may request information from a "public authority" (a body of Government or
"instrumentality of State") which is required to reply expeditiously or within thirty days.
The Act also requires every public authority to computerise their records for wide
dissemination and to proactively certain categories of information so that the citizens
need minimum recourse to request for information formally.

This law was passed by Parliament on 15 June 2005 and came fully into force on 12
October 2005. Every day, over 4800 RTI applications are filed. In the first ten years of
the commencement of the act over 17,500,000 applications have been filed.

Information disclosure in India is restricted by the Official Secrets Act 1923 and various
other special laws, which the new RTI Act relaxes. Right to Information codifies a
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

fundamental right of the citizens of India. RTI has proven to be very useful, but is
counteracted by the Whistleblowers Act.

Scope

The Act covers the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir, where J&K Right to
Information Act is in force. It covers all the constitutional authorities, including
executive, legislature and judiciary; any institution or body established or constituted by
an act of Parliament or a state legislature. It is also defined in the Act that bodies or
authorities established or constituted by order or notification of appropriate government
including bodies "owned, controlled or substantially financed" by government, or non-
Government organizations "substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds".

Private bodies

Private bodies are not within the Act's ambit directly. In a decision of SarbjitroyvsDelhi
Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Central Information Commission also reaffirmed
that privatised public utility companies fall within the purview of RTI. As of 2014,
private institutions and NGOs receiving over 95% of their infrastructure funds from the
government come under the Act.

Political parties

The Central Information Commission (CIC) held that the political parties are public
authorities and are answerable to citizens under the RTI Act. The CIC said that six
national parties - Congress, BJP, NCP, CPI(M), CPI and BSP and BJD - has been
substantially funded indirectly by the Central Government and have the character of
public authorities under the RTI Act as they perform public functions. But in August
2013 the government introduced a Right To Information (Amendment) Bill which would
remove political parties from the scope of the law. Currently no parties are under the RTI
Act and there has a case been filed for bringing all political parties under it.

Governance and process

The Right to information in India is governed by two major bodies:

 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

 Central Information Commission (CIC) – Chief Information commissioner who heads all
the central departments and ministries- with their own public Information officers (PIO)s.
CICs are directly under the President of India.

 State Information Commissions – State Public Information Officers or SPIOs head over
all the state department and ministries. The SPIO office is directly under the
corresponding State Governor.

State and Central Information Commissions are independent bodies and Central
Information Commission has no jurisdiction over the State Information Commission.

Fees

A citizen who desires to seek some information from a public authority is required to
send, along with the application (a Postal order or DD (Demand draft) or a banker’s
cheque) payable to the Accounts Officer of the public authority as fee prescribed for
seeking information. If the person is from a disadvantaged community, he/she need not
pay The applicant may also be required to pay further fee towards the cost of providing
the information, details of which shall be intimated to the applicant by the PIO as
prescribed by the RTI ACT

Controversies

The Right to information in India has been mired with controversies ranging from their
use in political battles, asking for educational degrees of political rivals, or cases of
blatant refusals to provide information on high profile projects to allegations of misuse
by civil society.

Digital right to information systems

A digital portal has been set up, RTI Portal, a gateway to the citizens for quick search of
information on the details of first Appellate Authorities, PIOs etc. amongst others,
besides access to RTI related information / disclosures published on the web by various
Public Authorities under the government of India as well as the State Governments. It is
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

an initiative taken by Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel,

Public Grievances and Pensions

Though there are recent efforts on digital governance, Right to Information

implementation has seen digitalisation neglect even after 11 years of its enactment. A
recent research on 'BallotBoxIndia' outlines that though central ministries are covered by
a single Digital window to file Right to Information requests with integrated payment
gateways and tracking mechanism none of the states have, as of yet, come forward to
implement their versions or use the existing Right to Information Digital Infrastructure.
The research report covering 29 states and union territories also highlights the responses
from the SPIOs (State Public Information Officers). Researchers in the study focussed on
the Digital implementation and asked about plans or timeline to provide such facility.
64% State Public Information failed to respond while the rest of the responses merely
took cognizance without any hard timelines. The research also covers in details - the
difficulty in filing manual Right to Information requests with the states with delays
ranging many months of wait time and various follow ups and rejections. Every state in
India has different rules and fee structures to file an application through registered post
without any tracking mechanism as covered in details in the report. Right to information
is a scheme to provide the individual acts for all citizens of all across in the world.

Activism around an efficient right to information

Researchers and activists have been proposing changes to make the process easier,
efficient and meaningful. One of it demands state and central information systems under
one Digital System to streamline information flow and provide proactive information
backed by streamlined mandatory reporting.

Right to Information (RTI Act 2005) - One RTI campaign flyer started by
ballotboxIndia researchers after doing a survey with 28 states SPIOs and Central CIC.

The Right to information (RTI Act 2005) was touted as one law which would bring in
transparency and eradicate corruption by civil society direct involvement. Failure to
implement it in a thoroughly and efficiently has led to rough loss estimate of $245
million yearly as per one estimate.
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

India being a federal state has many items in concurrent list and projects have multiple
departments working on them, and sometimes projects are moved from one department
to another. With Central and State information commissions working in such a
disconnect, and manual transfers of the request for information between departments lead
to big delays, confusion, and loss of traceability. It not only denies timely information,
creates high barriers to information only a few with very strong motivations and means
can cross, but puts a common citizen at the risk by exposing them directly to the
departments and agencies which they are trying to find information on.

Digital RTI Mission was initiated by a policy think tank based in Kochi (CPPR) to make
Kerala the first RTI digital state in India.

Attacks on RTI activists and protection suggestions

Main article: Attacks on RTI activists in India

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) data points to over 310 casesacross
India where people were either attacked, murdered, physically or mentally harassed or
had their property damaged because of the information they sought under RTI. The data
throws up over 50 alleged murders and two suicides that were directly linked with RTI
applications filed.

There is a consensus felt that there is a need to amend the RTI Act to provide for the
protection of those seeking information under the Act. The Asian Centre for Human
Rights recommends that a separate chapter, "Protection of those seeking information
under the (RTI) Act", be inserted into the Act.

Protection measures suggested include:

 Mandatory, immediate registration of complaints of threats or attacks against RTI

activists on the First Information Report and placing such FIRs before the magistrate or
judge of the area within 24 hours for issuance of directions for protection of those under
threats and their family members, and periodic review of such protection measures
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

 Conducting inquiry into threats or attacks by a police officer not below the rank of
Deputy Superintendent of Police/Assistant Commissioner of Police to be concluded
within 90 days and we also use RTI and get its benefit.

Intellectual property rights

Many civil society members have recently alleged the subversion of the right to information Act
by the invocation of Intellectual Property rights argument by the government agencies from time
to time.

Most notable are:

 The Right to Information denied by RBI on Demonetization citing Intellectual Property

Laws.
 The Right to Information Denied by Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department after more than
8 months of a wait on under construction Gomti Riverfront Development Project. A
group of researchers requested for environment Impact and Project Report on the project
which is flagged for negative impacts, tax money wastage by environmental scientists
and research reports