CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH BIHAR

GAYA 823001

FREEDOM TO FORM ASSOCIATION

IN INDIA

SUBMISSION TO
Mrs. Poonam Kumari
Asst. Professor
School of Law and Governance

Assignment by- Navneet Chandra (2nd Sem)

Roll- 23 E.no. CUSB1713125023
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am very much thankful to all the people who helped me understand and
make this assignment.

Specially our professor Mrs. Poonam Kumari, a very knowledgeful soul

who helped me understand this topic i.e. Article 19 (1) (c)
And Google and some precious books, from which I learnt a lot about
this topic.

And a few seniors for inspiring me.

Navneet Chandra
 CONTENTS

Table of Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 1-3

Article 19(1)(c) ...................................................................................................................................... 1
Article 19(4) .......................................................................................................................................... 3
Related cases ............................................................................................................................................. 3-4
State of Madras v V.G. Row ............................................................................................................... 3-4
P. Balakotaiah v Union of India ............................................................................................................. 4
Reasonableness (with cases)......................................................................................................................5

Right to form association does not carry the right to recognition……………………………………………………..5

Right to association does not carry the right to strike……………………………………………………………………….5

Right to form association does not carry the right to inform rival union………………………………………..5-6

Freedom not to join an association……………………………………………………………………………………………….6-7

Law of conspiracy and unlawful association……………………...…………………..………………………………………..…7-8

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...9

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….10
 INTRODUCTION

According to the Indian Constitution. Each and every citizen of India are given some
fundamental rights. Which are given under part III of Indian constitution. These rights are those
rigid part of Indian Constitution which cannot be manipulated or removed easily.
Some of the our fundamental rights are 'right to equality ', 'right to freedom ', right of freedom of
religion, right against exploitation ,cultural and educational rights , right to constitutional
remedy, etc.

One of them is freedom to form Association in India, which come under article 19 (1) (c).

FREEDOM TO FORM ASSOCIATION IN INDIA

ART 19(1)(c) AND 19(4)

An association means “a collectible of persons who have joined together for a certain object,
which may be for the benefit of its members or the improvement, welfare or advantage of the
members or the improvement, welfare or the advantage of the public or some scientific,
charitable or similar purpose”. Article(1)(c) includes the right to form companies, societies
partnership firms, trade unions, clubs, political parties and the like body of persons. This freedom
implies that several individuals can get together and form voluntary admit in the association with
common aims, legitimate purpose and a community of interests. The person who form the
association have the associational right to continue with the members with those other whom
they voluntarily admit an association. Any state action directed to highjack association by taking
it over, introducing officials in the management body of association, trading out the member or
restricting the committees and bodies constitution in accordance with the constitution of the
association. Association of which citizens may be members may be social, academic creational,
religious, cultural, or professional, vocational or political. These may include associations for
cultural activities.
Recognizing the importance of the right of forming associations in a democratic society, the
courts have not favored the vesting of absolute discretion in the executive to interfere with this
fundamental right. A preference entrusted in the government official to prohibit formation of an
association, without proper safeguards, has to be held unconstitutional.

 It is a fundamental Right given in the Constitution of India under Article 19(1) (c).
 It proclaims that all citizens shall have freedom to form associations or unions for a
lawful purpose.
 The right to form associations indicates that several individuals get together and form
voluntarily an association with a common aim, legitimate purpose and having a
community of interest.
 It is not an absolute Right rather it has certain Reasonable Restrictions.

(B) ARTICLE 19 (4):

Article 19(4) incorporates that ‘reasonable restrictions’ ‘in the interest of’ ‘sovereignty and
integrity of India’ or ‘public order’ or ‘morality’ may be imposed on this right by law. Art. 19 (4)
serves two purposes, namely, on the one hand, it specifies that these freedoms are not absolute
but are subject to regulation; on the other hand, it puts a limitation on the power of a legislature
to restrict these freedoms. Essential elements of Art.19 (4) are as follows.

(1) The restrictions can be imposed only by or under the authority of law; no restriction can be
imposed by executive action alone without there being a law to back it up.

(2) Each restriction must be reasonable.

It is difficult to give an exact definition of the word “reasonable”. There is no definite test to
state reasonableness of a restriction. Each case is to be judged on its own merits, and no abstract
standard or general pattern of reasonableness is applicable uniformly to all cases as observed by
Supreme Court in V. G. Row.1

1
http://www.grkarelawlibrary.yolasite.com/resources/LLMSY-Lab-1-Prakash.pdf 03/04/2018
However, According to Article 19(4), nothing in the sub-clause(c) of clause (1) shall affect the
operation of any existing law in so far as it imposes, to prevent the state from making any law
imposing, in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India or public order or morality,
reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by the sub-clause(c).2

In State of Madras v V.G. Row, 1952 AIR 196

Brief Facts and Procedural History:
The state of Tamil Nadu by passing an ordinance on 10 March 1950 declared “Peoples
Education Society” as unlawful. It was declared unlawful on the grounds that the society as an
association interferes with the administration and maintenance of law and order and thus
constitutes a danger to the public peace. V.G. Rao, the Chairman of Peoples Education Society,
had claimed this action of the state government to be in violation of his fundamental right
guaranteed under Article 19(1) (C) of the Indian Constitution. It is pertinent to note that while
this matter was pending before the High Court, the State Government brought an amendment in
section 15(1) (b) of Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1908, as amended by Criminal Law Madras
Amendment Act 1950.

The issue before the court was:

(1) Whether the action of the Tamil Nadu government was in violation of fundamental right
guaranteed under section 19(1)(C) of the Constitution?
(2) Whether the amendment brought on by the state government was justifiable?

Decision Held:
In the present case, on the basis of the information received by the deputy secretary to the
government, the secretary had reasons to believe that the society has such interference with its
object that it was actively helping the communist party in Madras which was declared as
unlawful. Under the previous Section 16 it was expressly conferred on the provincial government
power to declare association unlawful if in its opinion there existed certain specified grounds in
relation to them, those grounds are now incorporated under section 15(2)(b) as amended and the
reference to the “opinion” of the government is dropped.

2
P. M. Bakshi, The constitution of India, Universal law publishing, 14th edition
The Court arrived at the conclusion that in agreement with the learned judges of the High Court,
that, having regard to the peculiar features, Section 15(2) (b) of the Criminal Law Amendment
Act, 1908, as amended by the Criminal Law Amendment (Madras) Act, 1950, falls outside the
scope of authorized restrictions under clause (4) of Article 19 and is therefore unconstitutional
and void. The appeal thus failed.3

In P. Balakotaiah v. Union of India, AIR 1958 S.C. 232

The services of the appellant was terminated under Railway Service Rules for his being a
member of the communist party and a trade unionist.

The appellant contended that the termination from service amounted in substance to a denial to
him the right to form association. The appellant had no doubt a fundamental right to form
association, but he had no fundamental right to continue in Government service.

Hence, it was held that the order terminating his services was not in contravention of Article 19 (1) (c)
because the order did not prevent him to continue in Communist Party as a trade unionist. Reasonable
Restrictions.4

Reasonableness:

a) Right to form association does not carry the right to recognition

In Raja Kulkarni Vs State of Bombay ,1954 SC 73 , the Supreme Court held that the unions
are classified as representative unions and qualified unions under the Bombay Industrial
Relations Act, 1946 is according to the percentage of membership. Giving the right to unions
with membership of 15% alone to represent workers was a reasonable classification and there
was no infringement of the fundamental right of the workers to freedom of speech and
expression and to form association or unions under Article 19(a) and (c) of the Constitution.

3
http://lawbriefs.in/2018/01/09/case-brief-state-of-madras-v-s-vg-row-and-others-1952/ 02/04/2018
4
http://www.shareyouressays.com/knowledge/right-of-the-citizens-to-form-associations-and-unions-as-
guaranteed-under-article-19-1-c-of-the-constitution-of-india/115323 02/04/2018
b) Right to form association does not carry the right to strike

In T.K.Rangarajan Vs State of Tamil Nadu, AIR 2003 SC 3032 the Supreme Court delivering
its final verdict on August 6, 2003 made it amply clear that “Government employees have no
fundamental, legal, moral or equitable right to go on strike”, thus holding the state machinery
and citizens to ransom.

Although the Tamil Nadu Government had initially dismissed 1,70,241 employees, the
government in response to the wishes of the Supreme Court agreed to take back those employees
who had not resorted to violence on ‘compassionate grounds’, yet still 6,072 employees remain
dismissed. The Supreme Court had recommended the establishment an effective redressal
machinery to take care of the complaints and demands of employees.

c) Right to form association does not carry the right to inform rival union

In K.R.W Union vs. Registrar, it was held that an order under Section 8 of the Trade Unions
Act, 1926 without informing to the existing rival union was not violative of Art 19(1) (c). The
right to be recognized by government or the right to represent workmen was not absolute. Article
19(1)(c) did not confer on any individual or association the right to carry on trade union activities
free of competition from rivals, therefore state action which introduced new competitors could
not be challenged as disobeying Article 19(1)(c). Since an order of the Registrar under Section 8
granting recognition to a rival union did not place any restrictions on the fundamental rights of
the existing union, that union had no locus standi to file a writ petition under Article 226”.

d) Freedom not to join an association

The question whether the associational freedom not to join an association, or union was raised in
S.M. Kala vs University of Rajasthan is left open to be measured at some appropriate moment
in future. His associational freedom protects the right of a person not to become a member, if he
does not want to join it, or voluntarily to cease or to resign its membership. It was stated by C.J.
P.N. Bhagwati that,

“These writ petitions have become infructuous since the students for the enforcement of whose
fundamental right under Article 19(1) (c) of the Constitution these writ petitions have been filed have
already completed their studies in the college and there is no longer any question of their being required
compulsorily to pay the subscription for membership of the Rajasthan University Students Council. We
do not therefore propose to go into the interesting question whether the freedom of association
under Article 19(1) (c) also includes within it freedom not to join an association or union. That question
may have to be considered at some future point of time. We would therefore make no order on these writ
petitions”.

Right to form associations and unions is guaranteed so that the people can form a group of
people having the similar view, In Sitamacharya v Dy, Inspector of School5, it was held that
this right necessarily implies a right not to be a member of an association. Thus, no one can be
compelled to become member of an association.

The right to form associations or unions can be restricted only in the interests of public order or
morality. There can be no association or union for an illegal or conspiratorial purpose. Nor can
there be an association to further immorality. Interpreting the scope of the right the Supreme
Court held in the case of State of Madras vs. V.G. Rao: "The right to form associations or
unions has such wide and varied scope for its exercise and its curtailment is fraught with such
potential reactions in the religious, political and economic fields. That the vesting of authority in
the executive government to impose restrictions on such right, without allowing the grounds of
such imposition, both in their factual and legal aspects, to be duly tested in a judicial enquiry, is a
strong element which, in our opinion, must be taken into account in judging the reasonableness
of the restrictions imposed on the exercise of the fundamental right under Article 19 (1) (c)."
The right to form associations or unions, however, is not available to every citizen in the same
measure. A member of the public services, although he is a citizen, cannot claim the right to the
extent that a private citizen can. Being a Government servant, he is bound by his service rules

5
AIR 1958 A.P. 78
and he cannot challenge his service rules on the ground that they stand in his way of fully
enjoying the right to form associations. This has been made clear by the Supreme Court in
Balakotiah vs. The Union of India.6

Law of conspiracy and unlawful association

The act of forming an association is lawful, unless it constitutes a crime, or tort of conspiracy.
The tort of conspiracy consists in a combination for the purpose of damaging the plaintiff’s
interests in trade or otherwise. The tortious conduct of one of the defendants can be attributed to
all of them. A combination of traders in a trade to ward off free lawful competition with a rival
trader, or of the trade union officers to get a non-union employee dismissed by the employer and
the like constitutes a tortious conspiracy7.

An unlawful association is one which encourages aids, or aims at unlawful purposes, supports
commission of acts of violence, intimidation or immorality. An association otherwise lawful
ceases to be lawful.

6
http://www.preservearticles.com/2011111216878/essay-on-the-right-to-form-associations-or-unions-in-
india.html 04/04/2018
7
Scribd.com 28/03/2018
CONCLUSION

When our constitution maker framed the constitution. They gathered the most relevant laws from
many countries, and implanted in our constitution. They formed those laws for the diverse
population of India. The rights which are widely popular in our country are fundamental rights.

These rights are for the welfare of the people and it is very rigid to modify. One of the important
fundamental right is freedom to form association in India.

Association can basically be defined as a group of people united for a common goal or interest.

Freedom of association is the right to join or leave groups of a person's own choosing, and for
the group to take collective action to pursue the interests of members. It is both an individual
right and a collective right, guaranteed by all modern and democratic legal systems. The right of
association pre-supposes organizations. It is a body of permanent relationship between its
members in matters of common concern. It thus includes the right to form companies, societies,
partnership, trade union and political parties.

The exercise of freedom of association by workers, students, and others in society has always
been at the heart of the struggle for democracy around the world, and it remains at the heart of
society once democracy has been achieved. Without freedom of association, other freedoms lose
their substance. It is impossible to defend individual rights if citizens are unable to organize
around common needs and interests. The general freedom to associate with groups according to
the choice of the individual, and for the groups to take action to promote their interests, has been
a necessary feature of every democratic society which has been very much protected by the
provisions of Art.19(1)(c) of the Constitution.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS -

 The Constitution of India ( P M Bakshi)

 Bare Act- The Constitution of India
 Constitutional law of India ( J N Pandey)

INTERNET –

 Shareyouressays.com
 grkarelawlibrary.yolasite.com
 shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in
 Preserveaticles.com
 Law-briefs.in