The Constitution and Human Rights in India

Best Citation – Bhavesh Khatri, The Constitution and Human Rights in India, 3 IJLR 107, 2022.

Abstract

Human Rights are the rights and privileges that form the condition for the peaceful coexistence and for individual growth in the society. With fresh memories of the awful violations of human rights in the colonial period, after the independence, the law makers were in a complete agreement of enshrining the human rights in the Indian Constitution, so the law of the land is there to protect the citizens from any such future infringements. Human rights have existed in the society for ages and will continue with the humanity as absence of human rights would destroy the harmonious coexistence. The Constitution encompasses many of the rights of the International Bill of Rights within it, majorly present in the Fundamental Rights (Part III) and the Directive Principles of the State Policy (Part IV) of the Indian Constitution. India has not accepted the International Bill of Rights as such, it has taken inspiration from it and modified them to suit and serve the needs of India. Apart from the Constitution as the savior of the human rights, the role played by the Judiciary to ensure justice and human rights to everyone is commendable. The courts have played a pinnacle role in interpreting the circumstances of the cases and enforcing the suitable right. The Judiciary has not only ensured justice in the field of human rights but has also widened the scope of the existing rights to make them more meaningful and comprehensive. But there exist various challenges to the human rights due to the changing world dynamics, which require the constitution and all the organs of the government working in coherence with each other and may even require international cooperation to overcome such issues, which if not worked upon may lead to human crisis.