PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHT

THROUGH PART IV OF THE CONSTITUTION

By Nitika Jain
Law Associate
National Judicial Academy Bhopal
(12th March, 2016)
 What is meant by Directive Principles?

• They are a set of guidelines or principle

• Fundamental in the governance of a country.
• India is a party to Universal Declaration of Human Rights
1948, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1976
(ICCPR) and International Covenant on Economic, Social and
cultural Rights (ICESCR)
No. Name of Rights Universal Declaration Indian Constitution

Article 23 (1) Article 41

1. Right to work, to just and
favourable conditions of work
2. Right to equal pay for equal work Article 23(2) Article 39 (d)

Articles 21 (A), 41, 45 &

3. Right to Education Article 26
51A(k)
Article 23(3) Article 43
4. Right to just and favorable
remuneration
Article 24
5. Right to rest and leisure Article 43

6. Right of everyone to a standard Article 25(1) Article 39(a) & Article 47

of living adequate for him and his

family
7. Right to proper social order Article 28 Article 38
 PREAMBLE
• The preamble to the constitution of India provides
for securing:
 Justice, social, economic and political
 Liberty of thought, expression, belief faith and
worship
 Equality……

• Social Justice, economic justice and equality have

been guaranteed by Directive Principles of State
Policy. These principles are contained under Part IV
of the constitution, articles 36 to 50.
Directive Principles of State Policy
• Aims of DPSP is establishment of a “welfare state”
which is envisaged in the preamble to the
Constitution.

• Many of the provisions corresponds to the Provisions

of ICESCR. As a party to the ICESCR, the Indian
legislature has enacted laws giving effect to some of
the treaty obligations and these laws are in turn
enforceable in and by the courts as laid down in
various judgesments.
• The directive principles have, through important
constitutional amendments become the benchmark
to insulate enacted to achieve social objectives as
enumerated in some of the directive principles.

• The courts have sometimes used DPSP to uphold

the constitutional validity of statutes that
apparently impose restrictions of Fundamental
rights as long as they are stated to achieve the
objective of DPSP.
Chandra Bhavan v. State of Mysore
(1970) 2 SCR 600
• The DPSP are seen as aids to interpret the Constitution, and
more specifically to provide the basis and extent of the
content of a fundamental right.

• Keshavananda Bharti v. State of Kerala (1973) 4 SCC 225

It was held that fundamental right themselves have no fixed
content; most of them are empty vessels into which each
generation must pour its content in the light of its
experience. Restrictions abridgements, curtailments and
even abrogation of these rights in circumstances not
visualized by the constitution makers might become
necessary; their claim to supremacy or priority is liable to be
borne at particular stages in the history of the nation by the
moral claims embodied in Part IV
• The expanded interpretation of Right to life led the court
into areas where there was crying need for social Justice.

• Areas where there was direct interaction between law

and poverty, as in the cases of bonded labour, child labor
and crime and poverty as in the case of under trials in
jails.

• Reading several of these concomitant rights of dignity,

living conditions, health into the ambit of the right to life,
the court overcame the difficulty of justifiability of these
economic and social rights which were earlier, in their
manifestation as DPSP considered non enforceable.
 Human Rights protected through Directive
Principles

They can be classified into following groups:

• Social and economic justice
• Ideals of social security
• Indian Polity
• The definition of Human Rights can be found
under Section 2(d) of the Protection of Human
Rights Act, 1993 as, “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 the Court of India.”

• So it is evident that Courts have a major role

to play in enforcing the rights.
The District judiciary renders an active role in
dispense of justice, they have a massive duty
to protect the constitutional rights of the
citizens. Barring few limitations, the District
Judicial Officers are in charge of all matters
including application and interpretation of
constitutional provisions like Articles 14, 19,
21 etc