Article (19 – 22) Rights to Freedom

Article 19 – Guarantees to all citizens the six rights

1. Freedom of speech and expression.
2. To assemble peacefully and without arms.
3. To form associations or unions or cooperative societies.
4. To move freely throughout the territory of India.
5. To reside and settle in any part of the territory of India.
6. To practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.

Originally, Article 19 has seven freedoms. But Article 19 i.e. right to freedom of property was omitted by the 44th Amendment Act, 1978 and now it is a legal right enforcement by law.

Article 20 – Protection in Respect of Conviction for Offences

It contains three provisions :

1. No Ex-post Facto Law : It means enacting law and giving retrospective effect to it.
2. No Double Jeopardy : It means not punishing an individual twice for the same crime.
3. No Self-incrimination : it means not compelling an individual to make a statement and making use of that statement against himself. This is to save the individual from the arbitrary acts of the executive.

Article 21 – Rights to Life and Liberty

No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.

Different Facts of Right to Life

1. Right to livelihood
2. Right of a couple to adopt a son for making their life more meaningful
3. Right not to commit suicide
4. Right to shelter
5. Right to marry the person of one’s choise
6. Right to Privacy
7. Right of women to be treated with decency ad dignity

Different Facts of Right to Personal Liberty

1. Right to go abroad
2. Right to write a book
3. Right to socialise
4. Right against hand-cuffing
5. Right to bail

There are some example facts of right to life and liberty.

Article 21A – Right to Elementary Education

The state shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of 6 to 14 years in such a manner as the state may, by law, determine.

Article 21A was added by the 86th Constitution (Amendment Act), 2002.

Article 22 – Protection against arrest and Detention in certain cases

Article 22 grants protection to persons under both kind of detention namely, Punitive and Preventive.

• Punitive Detention is to punish a person for an offence committed by him/her after trial and conviction in a court
• Preventive means detention of a person without trial and conviction by a person for a past offence, but to prevent him/her from committing an offence in the near future.

Safeguards against Punitive Detention

• To inform the ground of arrest.
• To consult and be defended by the lawyer
• Produced before a magistrate within 24 hours

Safeguards against Preventive Detention

• Maximum detention can be for 3 months
• Must be give a opportunity to make a representation
• Grounds of detention must be communicated to the arrested person