SUBMISSION OF CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

Relationship between article 14, article 19 and article 21

Submitted by
Rachit Jaiswal

Division -A
B.B.A.LL.B. -: (2019-24)
P.R.N. -: 19010224030

of

Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA

Symbiosis International (Deemed University), PUNE

On

31 October, 2020

Under the guidance of

Mr. Satya Prakash
Mr. Ahmed Ali
Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA
 CERTIFICATE

The project entitled “Relationship between article 14, article 19

and article 21” Submitted to the Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA for
law of contract as part of internal assessment is based on my original
work carried out under the guidance of Mr. Satya Prakash and Mr.
Ahmed Ali.

The research work has not been submitted elsewhere for award of any
degree. The material borrowed from other sources and incorporated in
the thesis has been duly acknowledged. I understand that I myself
could be held responsible and accountable for plagiarism, if any,
detected later on.

Signature of the candidate

Date: 31/10/2020
INTRODUCTION
We all know the underlying fact that our Constitution is the longest written
Constitution of any sovereign country in the world. A nation is governed by
its Constitution. It is the Supreme Law of our Country. Constitution declares
India a sovereign, socialistic, secular, democratic, republic, assuring its
citizens of justice, equality and liberty, and endeavors to promote fraternity
among them1. While looking at the fundamental rights enumerated in the
Constitution, it will be well clear that the framers of the Constitution had
done it in such a way that it acts a pillar to the national security and
integrity of the country. The fundamental rights, embodied in part III of
the Constitution provide civil rights to all the citizens of India and prevent
them from the encroachment of society and also ensure their protection.
There are seven rights which are enumerated as fundamental rights which
include:

 Right to equality
 Right to freedom
 Right against exploitation
 Right to freedom of religion, education and cultural rights
 Right to property
 Right to constitutional remedies

Later on, Right to property was removed from the part III by the
44th Amendment 2in 1978. Such fundamental rights are to be enforced for
each and every citizen living in India irrespective of race, caste, religion,
gender or place of birth. They are enforceable by courts, subject to specific

1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_India accessed on 27 October 2020
2
https://www.india.gov.in/my-government/constitution-india/amendments/constitution-
india-forty-fourth-amendment-act-1978 accessed on 29 October 2020
restrictions. Now looking into the topic in detail, Article 14, 19 and 21 are
popularly known as the ‘golden triangle’ of the Indian Constitution.

The Golden Triangle

 Article 14 – Equality before the law, the state shall not deny any
person equality before the law or equal protection of law within the
territorial limits of India or prohibition on the grounds of race,
caste, religion, sex or place of birth3.
 Article 19 – Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of
speech and expression. All citizen shall have the right
o To freedom of speech and expression
o To assemble peacefully and without arms
o To form associations or unions
o To move freely throughout the territory of India
o To reside and settle in any part of the territory of India,
and
o To practice any profession or to carry on any occupation,
trade or business4
 Article 21 – Protection of life and personal liberty, no person shall
be deprived of his personal liberty except according to the
procedures established by law5.

Now it is clear why these provisions under the Constitution regarded as the
‘golden triangle’. These rights are regarded as the basic principles for the
smooth running of life for the citizens of our country. The golden triangle
provides full protection to individuals from any encroachment upon their

3
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/367586/ accessed on 30 October 2020
4
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1218090/ accessed on 30 October 2020
5
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1199182/ accessed on 30 October 2020
rights from the society and others as well. Article 14, it provides for equality
before law and equal protection of the law. It means that no person is
deprived of his equality among other citizens of our country. The provision
also gains importance because the enactment of such a provision leads to
the abolishing of certain inhuman customary practices of our country. The
provisions of this article also envisage certain legal rights like protection of
law which purely means that the law should be the same for every person
with some necessary exceptions.

Article 19 provides certain absolute rights such as freedom of speech and

expression, freedom of movement, freedom of forming associations and
unions, etc. This Article brings about important changes in the society as it
provides various rights to the people so that there is harmony among the
people of our country. Even though this Article covers a vast area of
operation, it does not provide a person the freedom to do anything and
everything as per his whims and fancies. Various other provisions of the
Article provide restrictions to various issues affecting public tranquillity and
security. Such restrictions include:

1. Security of the State

2. Friendly relation with foreign states
3. Public order
4. Decency and morality
5. Contempt of court
6. Defamation
7. Incitement of offenses
8. Sovereignty and integrity of India6.

On the other hand Article, 21 provides for protection of life and personal
liberty. This provision of the Constitution is one of the most implemented

6
http://www.gktoday.in/article-19-of-constitution-of-india-and-freedom-of-speech/
accessed on 30 October 2020
as well as widely interpreted areas in the field of law enforcement. The
Article covers the most sensitive area, i.e. protection and securing the life
and liberty of a person. Perhaps this may be the most violated provision of
our Constitution as well. Various courts in our country have interpreted the
constitutional validity of Article 21 in a common man’s life. Important
among them is the case of Maneka Gandhi v. The Union of India7 wherein
the court looked into matters not only affecting Article 21 but also Articles
14 and 19 as well. The court stated that the act on the part of the
respondents was violating Article 14 in the sense that the act leads to
arbitrariness on the part of the respondent which violated the right to
equality of the petitioner. Article 21 was being violated in the sense that
petitioner was restrained from going abroad. The judgment was one of the
landmarks among the cases relating to the violation of certain fundamental
rights mainly, Articles 14, 19 and 21.

Article 21 is applicable even during the time of election wherein people have
the sole right of electing the best person as their representative. No person
has a right to compel anyone to elect the person other than his/her wish.
Even though voting is not a fundamental right but a ‘statutory right’, the
court, in the judgment of the case PUCL v. Union of India8, distinguishes
“right to vote” and the “freedom of voting as the species of the freedom of
expression” under Article 19 of the Constitution. There are various other
major judgments in cases regarding enforcement of fundamental rights.
For example, the case of Kesavananda Bharathi v. Union of India9, which is
considered as a landmark among cases regarding the enforceability of
constitutional rights in favour of the citizens. The judgment in the said case
makes it clear that even the Central or State Government has certain
limitations in encroaching into a person’s rights, mainly fundamental rights.

7
Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, 1978 AIR 597, 1978 SCR (2) 621
8
People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) v. Union of India, (1997) 1 SCC 301.
9
Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalvaru and Ors (1973) 4 SCC 225: AIR 1973 SC 1461
What is the relationship of Article 14, 19, and 21
with reservations?

Reservations, as we know, are the special privileges given to people of

specific Caste and Religion for their Socio-Economic development. It is
specifically, as proposed by our Law makers is for compensating that
section of Society which experienced discrimination and was kept away
from mainstream from ages.

ARTICLE 14 deals with EQUALITY BEFORE LAW. Equality among Unequal,

who have already been denied the same respect and status, amounts to
Inequality only. So, we cannot call “Dalits” as equals until and unless they
are brought upscale to hierarchy by special provisions called
Reservations.

ARTICLE 19 talks about 6 type of Freedoms including that of Speech and

Expression. In this Article, particularly 19(1)(g) gives the right to practice
any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business. The
Lower Castes were not allowed to carry on with the profession/Occupation
they liked because of Ascribed status they were born within. So, in
Independent India they have been provided with special provisions to
carry out any kind of business/Occupation they like. Start Up India, Stand
Up India program.

ARTICLE 21 is very important for any Human living in any corner of the
world. It says that “No person shall be deprived of his life and personal
liberty except according to the procedure established by Law.” The Right
to Life and Personal Liberty to deprived section of the society is must for
their growth and development. The section of people which was neglected
in all spheres of development are now being compensated by the
provision of Reservations to raise their economic status, raise the
standard of living and thus coming out of vicious circle of forced poverty.
Landmark Judgements

One of the historic cases in India was the case of Maneka Gandhi v Union
of India10. It was observed by the supreme court of India that Article 21 is
not to be read in isolation; all violations and procedural requirements
under Article 21 are to be tested for Article 14 and Article 19 also. The
Supreme Court in the above case had adopted the widest possible
interpretation of the right to life and personal liberty, guaranteed under
Article 21 of the Constitution.

"The expression 'personal liberty' in Article 21 is of the widest amplitude

and it covers a variety of rights which go to constitute the personal liberty
of man and some of them have raised to the status of distinct
fundamental rights and given additional protection under Article 19."

Also, with respect to the relationship between Article 19 and Article 21,
the Court held that Article 21 is controlled by Article 19, i.e. it must
satisfy the requirement of Article 19. The Court observed: "The law must
therefore now be settled that Article 21 does not exclude Article 19 and
that even if there is a law prescribing a procedure for depriving a person
of personal liberty, and there is consequently no infringement of the
fundamental right conferred by Article 21 such a law in so far as it
abridges or takes away any fundamental right under Article 19 would
have to meet the challenges of that Article."

Thus a law "depriving a person of personal liberty' has not only to stand
the test of Article 21. but it must stand the test of Article 19 and Article
14 of the Constitution as well.

10
Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, 1978 AIR 597, 1978 SCR (2) 621
The scope of articles 14, 19 and 21 were first challenged in cases such as
Bacchan Singh V/S State of Punjab11, Kanhaiyalal V/s UOI 12and in the
recent major cases like the Sabarimala verdict, Article 21 of the
Constitution has been in question quite a few times when deciding historic
the Aruna Shanbaug case, the surrogacy bill, and such endless scenarios.

Article 21 of the Constitution has been in question quite a few times when
deciding historic cases. For e.g., when the question of mercy killing or
euthanasia arises, it's hard to choose one's right to live with dignity or
one's right to life. Then there's the question relating to religious rights
such as a woman's right to enter places of prayer or issues such as triple
talaq, etc.

ANALYSIS

The article 14 of the constitution talks about equality before the law, it's a
negative concept which states that people in similar situations should be
treated alike, in both privileges & liabilities imposed whereas, the concept
of 'equal protection of the laws' requires the State to give special treatment
to persons in different situations in order to establish equality among all it
is positive in character. Therefore, the necessary corollary to this would be
that equals would be treated equally, whilst unequal would have to be
treated unequally, Article 19 extends from freedom of peaceful association
to freedom of speech and expression, there to practice of trade and
profession to the residence, occupation, etc. The article 21 talks about right
to life and personal liberty, Life in Article 21 does not connote mere animal
existence, It has a much wider meaning which includes right to live with
human dignity, right to livelihood, right to health, etc. it is only logical and
fair for the state to impose certain rights and regulations when it comes to

11
Bacchan Singh V/S State of Punjab AIR 1980 SC 898
12
Kanhaiyalal V/s UOI (1997) 6 SCC 573
human life. This applies to everyone who challenges this article and it's
scope:

CONCLUSION

Thanks to the drafters of the Constitution for framing it in such a way that
it neither makes any mandatory provisions regarding various rights for the
citizens nor makes any citizen free from certain fundamental duties that
must be followed by every citizen of the country. It has also looked deeply
into the socio-economic scenario of India so that no rights or duties will be
omitted. Apart from certain fundamental rights, the Constitution also
provides certain other rights and duties towards the citizen which are
enclosed in Part IV of the Constitution known as ‘Directive Principles of
State policy.’ Such provisions are framed under the notion that rights of
each and every individual change accordingly and such rights cannot be
considered as fundamental but have to be enforced. One of the merits of
the of our Constitution is that it neither restricts a person from enforcing
his fundamental rights, nor it provides full freedom to a person in such a
manner that he exploits or violates such rights himself or against the
society. Perhaps this feature of our Constitution makes it different from any
of the other major Constitutions of the world.

These articles were named the ‘Golden Triangle of the Indian Constitution’
where Golden was symbolic of being ‘important’ for the freedom of the
citizens of India and Triangle symbolized that these provisions are to be
read together and collectively interpreted. Many cases have been fought in
the past regarding the fundamental rights, and it took one historic
judgment to observe that these articles cannot be read in isolation. Since
that judgment, every case concerning Article 21 alone is tested along with
the provisions of Articles 14 and 19.
BIBLIOGAPHY

 https://blog.ipleaders.in/golden-triangle-indian-constitution/

 http://docs.manupatra.in/newsline/articles/Upload/04244C3D-

E95A-4B0B-882F-6E6202ED3E73.3-b__constitution.pdf

 https://www.quora.com/What-are-Articles-14-19-and-21-in-the-

Indian-constitution

 http://www.sochahaii.com/socha-hai-golden-triangle-of-indian-

constitution/
Relationship between Article 14, 19 and 21
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