Rights In The Indian ConstitutionClass 11 India Constitution At Work NCERT Solutions
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Solution 1 of 10
Q1Exercises
Write true or false against each of these statements: a) A Bill of Rights lays down the rights enjoyed by the people of a country. b) A Bill of Rights protects the liberties of an individual. c) Every country of the world has a Bill of Rights. d) The Constitution guarantees remedy against violation of Rights.
Solution
a) True. The chapter states that a list of rights mentioned and protected by the constitution is called a 'bill of rights'.
b) True. The chapter explains that a bill of rights prohibits the government from acting against the rights of individuals.
c) False. The chapter mentions that it is a practice in most democratic countries, not every country of the world.
d) True. The Right to Constitutional Remedies, as explained in the chapter, is the means through which citizens can seek remedy from courts against the violation of their Fundamental Rights.
Q2Exercises
Which of the following is the best description of Fundamental Rights? a) All the rights an individual should have. b) All the rights given to citizens by law. c) The rights given and protected by the Constitution. d) The rights given by the Constitution that cannot ever be restricted.
Solution
c) The rights given and protected by the Constitution.
This is the most accurate description. The chapter defines Fundamental Rights as rights that are specially protected by the Constitution. It distinguishes them from ordinary legal rights (b) which are protected by ordinary law. While they are essential, they are not 'all the rights an individual should have' (a) as that is a very broad philosophical statement. They can be restricted under certain reasonable conditions, so (d) is incorrect; the chapter explicitly states that fundamental rights are not absolute or unlimited.
Q3Exercises
Read the following situations. Which Fundamental Right is being used or violated in each case and how? a) Overweight male cabin crew are allowed to get promotion in the national airlines but their women colleagues who gain weight are penalised. b) A director makes a documentary film that criticises the policies of the government. c) People displaced by a big dam take out a rally demanding rehabilitation. d) Andhra society runs Telugu medium schools outside Andhra Pradesh.
Solution
a) Right to Equality is being violated. The policy discriminates between male and female employees on the grounds of gender. The Right to Equality prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth, especially in matters of public employment.
b) Right to Freedom is being used. Specifically, the director is exercising the 'freedom of speech and expression'. This right allows citizens to express their views and opinions, including criticism of government policies.
c) Right to Freedom is being used. The displaced people are exercising their right to 'assemble peacefully'. This right allows citizens to gather and hold public meetings or rallies to express their views and protest against government actions or policies, as long as it is done peacefully and without arms.
d) Cultural and Educational Rights are being used. Linguistic minorities have the right to establish and administer their own educational institutions to preserve and develop their language and culture. The Andhra society, being a linguistic minority outside Andhra Pradesh, is exercising this right by running Telugu medium schools.
Q4Exercises
Which of the following is a correct interpretation of the Cultural and Educational Rights? a) Only children belonging to the minority group that has opened educational institution can study there. b) Government schools must ensure that children of the minority group will be introduced to their belief and culture. c) Linguistic and religious minorities can open schools for their children and keep it reserved for them. d) Linguistic and religious minorities can demand that their children must not study in any educational institution except those managed by their own community.
Solution
c) Linguistic and religious minorities can open schools for their children and keep it reserved for them.
This statement correctly interprets the right. The chapter states, "All minorities, religious or linguistic, can set up their own educational institutions. By doing so, they can preserve and develop their own culture." While they can reserve seats for their own community, they are not restricted from admitting students from other communities, making (a) incorrect. The right applies to minority-run institutions, not government schools (b). There is no provision that allows minorities to compel their children to study only in their institutions, making (d) incorrect.
Q5Exercises
Which of the following is a violation of Fundamental Rights and why? a) Not paying minimum wages b) Banning of a book c) Banning of loudspeakers after 9 pm . d) Making a speech
Solution
a) Not paying minimum wages
This is a violation of the Right against Exploitation. The chapter provides a clear example of this from the 1982 Asian Games construction work. The Supreme Court ruled that employing a person to work for less than the minimum prescribed wage amounts to begar or forced labour, which is prohibited under the Constitution. The other options are not necessarily violations:
- Banning of a book: This could be a reasonable restriction on the freedom of speech and expression if the book threatens public order, peace, or morality.
- Banning of loudspeakers after 9 pm: This is a reasonable restriction on the freedom of speech and expression to maintain public order and prevent noise pollution.
- Making a speech: This is an exercise of a Fundamental Right, not a violation.
Q6Exercises
An activist working among the poor says that the poor don't need Fundamental Rights. What they need are Directive Principles to be made legally binding. Do you agree with this? Give your reasons.
Solution
I do not agree with the activist's statement. Both Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy are essential for the poor, and they are complementary to each other.
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Importance of Fundamental Rights: Fundamental Rights are the primary tool for the poor to protect themselves from exploitation and injustice. Rights like the Right to Equality (against discrimination), Right to Life and Personal Liberty (which includes the right to livelihood and dignity), and the Right against Exploitation (prohibiting forced labour) are directly enforceable in a court of law. The Right to Constitutional Remedies empowers even the poorest citizen to approach the Supreme Court if their rights are violated. Without these justiciable rights, the poor would have no legal recourse against oppression by the state or powerful individuals.
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Importance of Directive Principles: Directive Principles are indeed crucial as they guide the government to create policies for social and economic justice, such as ensuring adequate livelihood, equal pay, and welfare of the people. They represent the long-term goals of the state to establish a just society.
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Complementary Relationship: Fundamental Rights restrain the government from acting unjustly, while Directive Principles exhort the government to act positively for social welfare. Making Directive Principles legally binding could be beneficial, but not at the cost of Fundamental Rights. Fundamental Rights provide the immediate, enforceable protection that the poor need in their daily lives, while Directive Principles lay the framework for a state that works towards their upliftment. One cannot be substituted for the other; both are necessary for a truly democratic and just society.
Q7Exercises
Several reports show that caste groups previously associated with scavenging are forced to continue in this job. Those in positions of authority refuse to give them any other job. Their children are discouraged from pursuing education. Which of their Fundamental Rights are being violated in this instance?
Solution
In this situation, multiple Fundamental Rights of the members of these caste groups are being violated:
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Right to Equality (Articles 14, 15, 16, 17):
- Prohibition of discrimination (Article 15): They are being discriminated against on the basis of their caste.
- Equality of opportunity in public employment (Article 16): They are being denied other jobs by people in authority, which violates their right to equal opportunity.
- Abolition of Untouchability (Article 17): Forcing them to continue in a job associated with their caste and treating them as such is a manifestation of the practice of untouchability, which is abolished and is a punishable offence.
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Right to Freedom (Article 19): Their right to 'practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business' is being violated as they are being forced to continue in a specific job against their will.
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Right against Exploitation (Article 23): Forcing them to perform this job can be considered a form of forced labour (begar), which is prohibited under the Constitution.
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Right to Life and Personal Liberty (Article 21): The Supreme Court has interpreted this right to include the right to live with human dignity. Forcing someone into scavenging, a degrading occupation, and denying their children education is a gross violation of their right to a dignified life.
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Cultural and Educational Rights (Article 29): While not a direct violation, discouraging their children from pursuing education infringes upon the spirit of these rights and the Right to Education (Article 21A), which guarantees free and compulsory education for children.
Q8Exercises
A petition by a human rights group drew attention of the court to the condition of starvation and hunger in the country. Over five crore tonnes of food grains was stored in the godowns of the Food Corporation of India. Research shows that a large number of ration cardholders do not know about the quantity of food grains they can purchase from fair price shops. It requested the court to order the government to improve its public distribution system. a. Which different rights does this case involve? How are these rights interlinked? b. Should these rights form part of the right to life?
Solution
a. This case involves the following rights:
- Right to Life (Article 21): The most central right involved is the Right to Life and Personal Liberty. Starvation and hunger are a direct threat to life. The Supreme Court has expanded the scope of this right to include the 'right to live with human dignity', which includes the right to food and livelihood.
- Right to Equality (Article 14): This right is involved as the public distribution system should function in a way that provides equal access to food for all needy citizens without discrimination.
- Right to Information (Implicit in Article 19): The fact that ration cardholders do not know their entitlements points to a violation of their right to information. This right, implicit in the freedom of speech and expression, is crucial for citizens to access government benefits and hold the system accountable.
Interlinkage of Rights: These rights are deeply interlinked. The Right to Life is meaningless without the means to sustain it, primarily food. To access the right to food through the public distribution system, people need the Right to Information about their entitlements. The Right to Equality ensures that this access is fair and non-discriminatory. Therefore, the denial of information leads to a failure in accessing food, which in turn becomes a direct violation of the fundamental Right to Life.
b. Yes, these rights should form part of the Right to Life. The chapter explicitly states that the Supreme Court has expanded the scope of the Right to Life. It says, "The court has held that right to shelter and livelihood is also included in the right to life because no person can live without the means of living, that is, the means of livelihood." The right to food is the most basic component of the means of livelihood and is essential for human survival and dignity. Without the right to food, the right to life would be just a hollow promise. Therefore, ensuring access to food and information about it is an integral and inseparable part of the Right to Life.
Q9Exercises
Read the statement by Somnath Lahiri in the Constitutent Assembly quoted in this chapter. Do you agree with him? If yes, give instances to prove it. If not, give arguments against his position.
Solution
Somnath Lahiri stated, "I feel that many of these fundamental rights have been framed from the point of view of a police constable... Almost every article is followed by a proviso which takes away the right almost completely,...".
Yes, I agree with Somnath Lahiri's observation to a large extent. The chapter provides several instances that support his view that Fundamental Rights are granted with one hand and are significantly curtailed by restrictions with the other.
Instances to support the argument:
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Right to Freedom: The chapter clearly mentions that rights under the Right to Freedom are not absolute. For example:
- The 'right to freedom of speech and expression' is subject to restrictions on grounds of public order, peace, and morality.
- The 'freedom to assemble' is limited by the condition that it must be peaceful and without arms. The government also has the power to impose restrictions in certain areas, declaring an assembly of five or more people as unlawful.
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Preventive Detention: This is the strongest example supporting Lahiri's statement. Under the provision for preventive detention, the state can arrest and detain a person merely on the apprehension that they might engage in unlawful activity. This is a significant restriction on the 'right to life and personal liberty' (Article 21) and bypasses the normal procedure of arrest and trial. The chapter itself acknowledges that "this provision has often been misused by the government" and that there is a "clear tension between right to life and personal liberty and the provision for preventive detention."
These provisos and restrictions give the state considerable power to limit the rights of individuals, which aligns with Lahiri's concern that the rights are framed from an administrative or law-and-order perspective, rather than from the perspective of granting absolute civil liberties to the citizens.
Q10Exercises
Which of the Fundamental Rights is in your opinion the most important right? Summarise its provisions and give arguments to show why it is most important.
Solution
In my opinion, the most important Fundamental Right is the Right to Constitutional Remedies (Article 32).
Provisions:
This right empowers a citizen to approach a High Court or the Supreme Court directly to get any of the Fundamental Rights restored in case of their violation. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar called this right the 'heart and soul of the constitution'. To enforce these rights, the courts can issue special orders known as writs:
- Habeas Corpus: Orders an arrested person to be presented before the court to determine if the detention is lawful.
- Mandamus: Orders a public official who is not performing their legal duty to do so.
- Prohibition: Prohibits a lower court from proceeding in a case that is beyond its jurisdiction.
- Quo Warranto: Restricts a person from acting as an office holder if they are not entitled to that office.
- Certiorari: Orders a lower court to transfer a matter pending before it to a higher court.
Arguments for its Importance:
The Right to Constitutional Remedies is the most important because it makes all other Fundamental Rights meaningful and enforceable. Without this right, the other rights listed in the Constitution would be mere declarations without any practical value. A right is only as good as the remedy available for its violation. This right acts as a constitutional guarantee that a citizen's rights will not just exist on paper but will be protected by the highest courts of the land. It transforms the list of rights from a set of principles into a set of legally enforceable entitlements, making the judiciary the ultimate protector of citizens' liberties against any encroachment by the state. Therefore, it is the bedrock upon which the entire structure of Fundamental Rights stands.