NAME – BRIJENSINGH THAKUR

ROLL NO. – 09
SEMESTER – 2ND
SPECIALIZATION – CONSTITUTIONAL
LAW
SUBJECT - INDIAN CONSTITUTION –
NEW CHALLENGES – II
TOPIC – ABOLITION OF
UNTOUCHABILITY
 WHAT IS UNTOUCHABILITY?
 A type of social organization in which a person’s
occupation and position in life is determined by the
circumstances of his/her birth. Untouchability is the
practice of exclude a group by segregating some castes
from the mainstream by social custom or legal mandate.
 The excluded group could be one that did not accept
the norms of the excluding group and historically
included foreigners, nomadic tribes, law-breakers and
criminals and those suffering from a contagious disease.
A member of the excluded group is known as an
Untouchable or the people facing the social issue of
untouchability were the Untouchable.
 The term is commonly associated with
treatment of the Dalit communities, who are
considered "polluting“.
 A Dalit is actually born below the caste system,
which includes the four primary castes of
Brahmins (priests), Kshatriya (warriors and
princes), Vaishya (farmers and artisans) and
Shudra (tenant farmers or servants).
 ARTICLE 17. ABOLITION OF
UNTOUCHABILITY
 Article 17 of the Constitution of India deals with the
provision relating to Abolition of Untouchability.
 It falls under Part III of the Constitution of India
were every citizens are guaranteed with the
fundamental rights.
 Article 17 deals with Abolition of Untouchability
and it states “ ‘Untouchability’ is abolished and its
practice in any form is forbidden. The enforcement
of any disability arising out of ‘Untouchability’ shall
be an offence punishable in accordance with law.”
 This article enacts two declarations:
i. Firstly, it announces that ‘untouchability’ is
abolished and its practice in any form is
forbidden, and
ii. Secondly, it declares that the enforcement of
any disability arising out of ‘untouchability’
shall be an offence punishable in accordance
with law.
 Most part of this article is been covered under
Art.15.
 Thus on the grounds of untouchability no
person can be denied access to shops, public
restaurants, hotels and places of public
entertainment or the use of wells, tanks,
bathing ghats, roads and places of public
resort, maintained wholly or partly out of State
funds.
 These are the major instances of the form in
which untouchability is practised in this
country. All these practices are now forbidden
by the Constitution.
 For the effective enforcement of the declaration
contained in this article, the Constitution
contemplates penal laws specifying various
acts which are to be prohibited and penalised
and under Article 35 the parliament alone can
make laws prescribing punishments for the
acts forbidden under Article 17.
 In 1955 Parliament, enacted Untouchability
(Offences) Act, and it prescribed punishments for
various practices which are forbidden. However
it was found that the punishments are inadequate
and in 1965, a committee on Untouchability,
Economic and Educational Development of the
Scheduled Castes was set upped.
 On the recommendations made by this
committee, a bill was passed in 1976 and
renamed as ‘Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955’.
 Significant changes were made, and offences are
now punishable up to three months.
 In State of Karnataka v. Appa Bala Ingale (AIR
1993 SC 1126), this was the first case which
came before Supreme Court under this act.
 In this case Harijan community was threatned
with use of gun to show about their social
disability. Supreme Court in this case convicted
the respondents.
 CONCLUSION
 Though the Preamble of Constitution states
that India is a Secularistic state, Article 17 of
the Constitution abolishes ‘Untouchability’ and
also forbids it and is punishable under law.
 Thus social angularity of this evil of
Untouchability is tried to be abolished by the
Constitution by providing a express provision
under it.
THANK YOU…