Right to Life & Personal Liberty. How Courts expanded its meaning?

'Right to life and personal liberty' as a fundamental right is provided by the constitution of India under Article 21. It guarantees that no person shall be deprived of his live and personal liberty except in accordance with the procedure established by law. Right to life and personal liberty is available to the citizens as well as non-citizens. Supreme Court opined that 'personal liberty' was held to mean only liberty relating to or concerning the person or body of the individual, in the famous Gopalan case. The Supreme Court has constantly expanded meaning and scope of Article - 21.

In Meneka Gandhi vs. Union of India case of 1978 the Supreme Court held that the right to 'live' is not merely confined to physical existence but it includes within its ambit the right to live with human dignity. M. C. Mehta's case opened a new horizon by including pollution free environment as a component of the right to life. Similar importance was given again when it was interpreted to cover the right to education in case of uninikrishnan vs. Union of India of 1993. Right to free legal aid and speedy trial is a part of right to life.

Even a prisoner has right to speedy trial and legal aid. Fair procedure cannot be denied to him. Recently, a Supreme Court Bench of Justice Ajit Pasayat and Justice S. H. Kapadia has remarked that rape is a crime against basic human rights and is violative of the victim's most cherished fundamental right, which is indeed right to live under Article - 21.

« Go Back to Model Answer Page