What are the features of fundamental rights in India?
Q. What are the features of the fundamental rights?
1) Law for giving effect to fundamental rights can be made only by the Parliament.
2) Fundamental rights are defended and guaranteed by the Supreme Court.
3) Fundamental rights available are absolute.- Published on 21 Feb 17a. 2, 3
b. 1, 2
c. 1, 3
d. All of the above
ANSWER: 1, 2
- Some of them are available only to the citizens. Others are available to all including foreigners or legal persons like corporations or companies, etc.
- They are not absolute but qualified. The state can impose reasonable restrictions on them (balance between individual liberty and social control).
- The courts can decide whether such restrictions are reasonable or not.
- Most of them are available against the arbitrary action of the State, with a few exceptions like those against the State’s action and against the action of private individuals.
- When the rights that are available against the State’s action only are violated by the private individuals, there are no constitutional remedies but only ordinary legal remedies.
- Some of them are negative in character, as they place limitations on the authority of the State,while others are positive as they confer certain privileges on the persons.
- They are justiciable, allowing persons to move the courts for their enforcement on violation.
- They are defended and guaranteed by the Supreme Court.
- They are not permanent and so the Parliament can curtail or repeal them but only by a constitutional amendment act without affecting the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution.
- They can be suspended during the operation of a National Emergency except the rights guaranteed by Articles 20 and 21.
- The six rights guaranteed by Article 19 can be suspended only when emergency is declared on the grounds of war or external aggression(i.e., external emergency) and not on the ground of armed rebellion (i.e., internal emergency).
- Their scope of operation is limited by Article 31A (saving of laws providing for acquisition of estates, etc.), Article 31B (validation of certain acts and regulations included in the 9thSchedule) and Article 31C (saving of laws giving effect to certain directive principles).
- Their application to the members of armed forces, para-military forces, police forces,intelligence agencies and analogous services can be restricted or abrogated by the Parliament(Article 33).
- Their application can be restricted while martial law is in force in any area (Article 34).
- Most of them are directly enforceable (self-executory) while a few of them can be enforced on the basis of a law made for giving effect to them.
- Such a law can be made only by the Parliament and not by state legislatures so that uniformity throughout the country is maintained.
