Human Rights Law
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.
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