A critical analysis of right to life and personal liberty under article 21 of indian constitution

Abstract

Right to life and personal liberty is the most cherished and pivotal fundamental human rights around which other rights of the individual revolve and, therefore, the study assumes great significance. The study of right to life is indeed a study of the Supreme Court as a guardian of fundamental human rights. Article 21 is the celebrity provision of the Indian Constitution and occupies a unique place as a fundamental right. It guarantees right to life and personal liberty to citizens and aliens and is enforceable against the State. The new interpretation of Article 21 in Maneka Gandhi s case has ushered a new era of expansion of the horizons of right to life and personal liberty. The wide dimension given to this right now covers various aspects which the founding fathers of the Constitution might or might not have visualized. newlineThe above stated revolution in the basic concept makes it imperative that the concept of right to life and personal liberty should be examined a new with reference to development, meaning, width and depth, along with judicial interpretation, justification for such liberal newlineInterpretation, and relation of Article 21 with the provisions of Article 32 and Directive Principles of the State Policy and International Human Rights Instruments. Further, the protection of this right is burning topics of the day. Hence an attempt has been made in this essay to examine the modern day standards adopted for protecting the right to life and personal liberty.