PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHT THROUGH PART IV OF THE CONSTITUTION By Nitika Jain Law Associate National Judicial Academy Bhopal (12 th 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 DeclarationIndian Constitution 1. Right to work, to just and favourable conditions of work Article 23 (1)Article Right to equal pay for equal work Article 23(2)Article 39 (d) 3. Right to Education Article 26 Articles 21 (A), 41, 45 & 51A(k) 4. Right to just and favorable remuneration Article 23(3)Article Right to rest and leisure Article 24 Article Right of everyone to a standard of living adequate for him and his family Article 25(1)Article 39(a) & Article Right to proper social order Article 28Article 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