Article 21 is a Blessing!

Article 21 says, “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law”. And the law explains itself as it can only be claimed when a person is deprived of his “life” or “personal liberty” by the state as defined in article 12. Also, violation of the right by private individuals is not within the preview of article 21.

As article 21 secures two rights,

1. Right to life 

2. Right to personal liberty

it prohibits the deprivation of the above-mentioned rights but except according to a procedure established by law. This right applies and is available to every person or citizen. Thus, even a foreigner can claim this right. However, it doesn’t permit a foreigner to have a right to reside or settle in India, as mentioned in Article 19(1)(e).

Well, everyone has got a right to life, liberty and the security of a person. Undoubtedly, the right to life is the most fundamental right given to a person of all the rights. All the other rights exist/depend on the pre-existence of life itself for their functioning. Because, this right is attached directly to living beings, as no other rights could be utilised without life. If it wasn’t Article 21, what we say today as fundamental rights to safeguard ourselves would be of no use in interpreting in its original sense. This Section will examine the right to life as interpreted and applied by the Supreme Court of India.

The “life” in Article 21 doesn’t just apply to a mere act of physically breathing or it doesn’t akin to mere animal existence or toil through life. But it pertains from the Right to live with human dignity to the Right to pollution-free air and so on.

In philosophical terms, the Right to life is utmost fundamental to our very existence, without which we cannot live as a human being with all those meaningful aspects of life such as, complete and worth living. Article 21 is of utmost important in the Constitution, as it is the only article that has received the widest and meaningful interpretation. Or one could say it is the home to several many other rights, as it gives shelter, nourishes and nurtures them. This right is the core essential and as important as breathing for surviving in democracy. The basic Rights that are being hosted under Right to life, are;
1. Right to Live with Human Dignity.
2. Right Against Sexual Harassment at Workplace.
3. Right Against Rape.
4. Right to Reputation.
5. Right to Livelihood.
6. Right to Work is not a Fundamental Right under Article 21.
7. Right to Shelter.
8. Right to Social Security and Protection of Family.
9. Right Against Honour killing.
10. Right to Health.
11. Right to Medical Care.
12. No Right to Die.
13. Euthanasia and Right to Life.
14. Sentence to Death Rarest of Rare Cases.
This means when a death sentence is pronounced it is not a violation of Article 14, 19 and 21.
15. Right to Clean Environment.
16. Right Against Noise Pollution.
17. Right to Know or be Informed.
18. Right to Privacy.
19. Right to go Abroad.
20. Right Against Illegal Detention.
21. Article 21 and Prisoner’s Right.
This means even the convicted person in jail can claim protection under Article 21. This doesn’t permit convicted from fundamental freedom of moving freely throughout the territory of India. But a convict is granted to the precious right guaranteed under Article 21.
•Right to Free Legal Aid and Right to Appeal.
•Right to Speedy Trial.
•Right to Fair Trial.
•Right to Bail.
No Right to Anticipatory Bail (for non-bailable offences).
•Right Against Handcuffing.
•Right Against Solitary Confinement.
•Right Against Custodial Violence.
Death by Hanging does not violate Article 21.
•Right Against Public Hanging.
•Right Against Delayed Execution.
•Right to Write a Book.
•Right Against Bar Fetters.

How “procedure established by law” works?
The expression “procedure established by law” has been the subject of matter of interpretation in a chain of cases. A survey of these cases reveals that courts in the process of judicial interpretation have enlarged the scope of the expression. The Supreme Court took the view that “procedure established by law” in article 21 means procedure prescribed by law as enacted by the state and rejected to equate it with the American “due process of law’.

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