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Law (from Old English "lagu," [4]) is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions .[5] Laws can shape or reflect politics , economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primarysocial mediator of relations between people.

A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state , city , orcounty .[1] Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy.

The government comprises three branches: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. Theexecutive branch headed by the President , who is the Head of State and exercises his or her power

directly or through officers subordinate to him [1] . The Legislative branch or the Parliament consists of the lower house, the Lok Sabha , and the upper house, the Rajya Sabha , as well as the president. TheJudicial branch has the Supreme Court at its apex, 21 High Courts , and numerous civil, criminal andfamily courts at the district level.

Judicial bodies

Supreme Court in India

The Supreme Court is the highest judicial body in India. The Supreme Courtcame into power on 28th January 1950; just two days after the Constitution of India came to effect. In the initial stages, it had its office in a part of theParliament House. The Supreme Court is endowed with many duties andresponsibilities. The biggest responsibility is that it is the highest court of appealand is also the protector of the Constitution in the country.

The Chief Justice of India and 25 other judges make up the S upreme Court of India. The appointments are done directly by the President of India. There are

certain criteria that have to be fulfilled by the advocates to become a judge of the Supreme Court. Being a citizen of India is one of the most important criteri a.Apart from this, the person has to have an experience of minimum five years asa judge in the High Court or any other two courts one after another. He shouldalso be a prominent jurist as per the President of the country, so that he cantake up responsibilities well. The Chief Justice is also consulted at the time of appointment of the judges in the Supreme Court.

The Judges of the Supreme Court are free to exercise their power as and whenrequired. The process of removal of the Supreme Court judges is quite aninteresting but lengthy process. An order from the President is mandatory incase of removal of the judges. A two -thirds majority has to be obtained from

both the houses for the removal of the judges.The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is divided into o riginal jurisdiction,advisory jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction . Original jurisdiction is requiredwhen there is a dispute between the Government and the states of India or anyone state of India. The Supreme Court can also enforce funda mental Rightsaccording to the Article 32 of the Constitution of India.

The appellate jurisdiction is mentioned in Articles 132(1), 133(1) or 134 of the

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Constitution. The decision of the High Court can be questioned in the SupremeCourt of the country. One can appeal to the Supreme Court, if he or she is notsatisfied with the decision of the High Court. The Supreme Court has theprovision of accepting or rejecting the case at its own discretion. There are alsoprovisions of pardoning criminals and cancel ing their lifetime imprisonment ordeath sentence by the Supreme Court.

Apart from the original and appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, there isan advisory jurisdiction that needs special mention. There are many cases thatare directly referred by the President of India and the Supreme Court has to lookinto those matters. This provision is mentioned in Article 143 of the IndianConstitution.

The Supreme Court in India acts as an independent body and is free from anyouter control. The contempt of law court in India is a punishable offence and theSupreme Court takes care of this immaculately.

High Courts in India

There are High Courts in almost all the states of India and the Union Territories.The High Courts work under the Supreme Court in the country. These courts arevested with lot of power. They decide on both civil as well as criminal cases.Most of the cases that are handled by the High Courts of the country are passedon from the district or lower courts.

The judges of the High Courts are appointed by the President of India, inconsultation with the Chief justice of India and the Governor of the state. TheChief Justice heads each of the High Courts in India. The numbers of judges varyfrom one court to other depending on the area that the High Court covers andthe number of cases that it handles. There are also High Courts that serve more

than one Indian state or Union Territory. Each of these courts have original andappellate jurisdiction under them. Summons can also be issued by t he HighCourt. Revenue matters are dealt by original jurisdiction, while an eminent juryhandles original criminal cases.

Established in the year 1862, the Calcutta High Court is the oldest court in India.Apart from this, there are 18 total High Courts in the country, some of which areBombay High Court, Delhi High Court, Chattisgarh High Court, Gujarat HighCourt, Jharkhand High Court, Madras High Court, Patna High Court and SikkimHigh Court.

D istrict Courts in India

The District Courts in India take care of judicial matters at the district level.Headed by a judge, these courts are administratively and judicially controlled bythe High Courts of the respective states, to which the district belongs. There aremany secondary courts also at this level, which work under the District Courts.There is a court of the Civil Judge as well as a court of the Chief JudicialMagistrate. While the former takes care of the civil cases, the latter looks intocriminal cases and offences.

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The Chief Judicial Magistrate is endowed with the responsibility of decidingcritical cases. He or she has the power of punishing the accused byimprisonment for a maximum of 7 years. The independence of the judici ary evenat the district level needs a special mention. There is a strong bar in each districtcourt that ensures proper decisions are made in the cases that come to thesecourts. The major problem that is faced by the district courts in India is that

numerous cases get piled up day after day and as a result there is inordinatedelay in the decisions of the court.

T ribunals

There are also various tribunals that have been set up in India that look intovarious matters of grave concern. The tribunals that ne ed a special mention areas follows:

y Income Tax Appellate Tribunaly Central Administrative Tribunaly Intellectual Property Appellate Tribunal, Chennaiy

Railways Claims Tribunaly Appellate Tribunal for Electricityy Debts Recovery Tribunal I, Chennaiy Debts Recovery Tribunal II, Chennaiy Central Excise Service Tax Appellate Tribunaly Debt Recovery Tribunal, Coimbatore

A q uasi-judicial body is an individual or organization which has powers resembling those of a courtof law or judge and is able to remedy a situation or impose legal penalties on a person ororganization.

Powers

Such bodies usually have powers of adjudication in such matters as:

breach of discipline

conduct rules

trust in the matters of money or otherwise.

Their powers are usually limited to a particular area of expertise, such as financial markets ,

employment law , public standards, immigration, or regulation.

Jurisprudence

Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legaltheorists (including legal philosophers and social theorists of law), hope to obtain a deeper

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understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions.Modern jurisprudence began in the 18th century and was focused on the first principles of thenatural law , civil law, and the law of nations .[1] General Jurisprudence can be broken intocategories both by the types of questions scholars seek to address and by the theories of

jurisprudence or schools of thought regarding how those questions are best to be answered.Contemporary philosophy of law, which deals with general jurisprudence, addresses

problems in two rough groups: [2]

y 1.) Problems internal to law and legal systems as suchy 2.) Problems of law as a particular social institution as it relates to the larger political and

social situation in which it exists.

A nswers to these questions come from four primary schools of thought in general jurisprudence: [2]

y Natural law Natural law theory asserts that there are laws that are immanent in nature, towhich enacted laws should correspond as closely as possible. This view is frequentlysummarised by the maxim an unjust law is not a true law , lex iniusta non est lex , in which

'unjust' is defined as contrary to natural law. Natural law is closely associated with moralityand, in historically influential versions, with the intentions of God.

Aristotle is often said to be the father of natural law. Aristotle's theory of justice is bound upin his idea of the golden mean . Indeed his treatment of what he calls "political justice"derives from his discussion of the just as a moral virtue derived as the mean betweenopposing vices, just like every other virtue he describes

Sharia ( ) refers to the body of Islamic law . The term means "way" or "path"; it is thelegal framework within which public and most private aspects of life are regulated for thoseliving in a legal system based on Islamic principles of jurisprudence. Fiqh is the term forIslamic jurisprudence, made up of the rulings of Islamic jurists

y Legal Positivism , by contrast to natural law, holds that there i s no necessary connectionbetween law and morality and that the force of law comes from some basic social factsalthough positivists differ on what those facts are.

y Legal Realism is a third theory of jurisprudence which argues that the real world practice of law is what determines what law is; the law has the force that it does because of whatlegislators, judges, and executives do with it. Similar approaches have been developed inmany different ways in Sociology of law .

y Critical Legal Studies is a younger theory of jurisprudence that has developed since the1970s which is primarily a negative thesis that t he law is largely contradictory and can bebest analyzed as an expression of the policy goals of the dominant social group.

The three major legal systems of the world today consist of civil law , common law and religious law .However, each country (see State law ) often develops variations on each system or incorporatesmany other features into the system

Civil law (or civilian law ) is a legal system inspired by Roman law , the primary feature of which isthat laws are written into a collection, codified , and not (as in common law ) determined by judges .[1] Conceptually, it is the group of legal ideas and systems ultimately derived from the Code of Justinian

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The principle of civil law is to provide all citizens with an accessible and written collection of the lawswhich apply to them and which judges must follow. It is the most prevalent and oldest surviving legalsystem in the world [c itation needed ]. Colonial expansion spread the civil law system and European civil lawhas been adopted in much of Latin America as well as in parts of Asia and Africa .

Germany, French Europe china brazil turkey

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals (alsocalled case law ), rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action . A "common lawsystem" is a legal system that gives great precedential weight to common law, [1] on the principle thatit is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different occasions. [2] The body of precedent is called"common law" and it binds future decisions. In cases where the parties disagree on what the law is,an idealized common law court looks to past precedential decisions of relevant courts. If a similardispute has been resolved in the past, the court is bound to follow the reasoning used in the priordecision

Singapore, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, UK

Federal courts and 49 states use legal system originally based on English common law but whichdiverged greatly in 19th century with substantial indigenous innovations and borrowing of some civillaw practices such as codification;State law in the U.S. state of Louisiana is based upon French and Spanish civil law

Religious Law

I n some religions , law can be thought of as the ordering principle of reality ; knowledge asrevealed by a God defining and governing all human affairs. Law, in the religious sense, alsoincludes codes of ethics and morality which are upheld and required by the God. Examplesinclude customary Halakha (Jewish law) and Hindu law , and to an extent, Sharia (I slamic law) and Canon law (Christian law). [1]

Sharia and Canon law differ from other religious laws in that Canon law is the codes of lawof the Catholic , A nglican and Orthodox churches (like in a civil law tradition), while Sharialaw derives many of its laws from juristic precedent and reasoning by analogy (like in acommon law tradition).

Indian Contract Act 1872

Indian Contract Act 1872 is the main source of law regulating contracts in Indian law , assubsequently amended.

I t determines the circumstances in which promise made by the parties to a contract shall belegally binding on them. A ll of us enter into a number of contracts everyday knowingly or unknowingly. Each contract creates some r ight and duties upon the contracting parties. I ndiancontract deals with the enforcement of these rights and duties upon the parties.

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T he I ndian Contract A ct 1872 sections 1-75 came into force on 1 September 1872 . I t appliesto the whole of I ndia except the state of Jammu and Kashmir. I t is not a complete andexhaustive law on all types of contracts.

Definition

Section 2(h) of the A ct defines the term contract as "an agreement enforceable by law".

Section 2(e) defines agreement as "every promise and every set of promises, forming theconsideration for each other."

A gain Section 2(b) defines promise in these words: "when the person to whom the proposal ismade signifies his assent thereto, the proposal is said to be accepted. Proposal when accepted,

becomes a promise."

Essential Elements of a Valid Contract

A ccording to Section 10, " A ll agreements are contracts, if they are made by the free consentof the parties, competent to contract, for a lawful consideration with a lawful object, and nothereby expressly to be void."

Essential Elements of a Valid Contract are:-

1.Proper offer and proper acceptance.

2.Lawful Consideration: A n agreement to form a valid contract should be supported byconsideration. Consideration means something in return (quid pro quo). I t can be cash,kind, an act or abstinence. I t can be past, present or future. However, consideration should bereal and lawful.

3.Competent to Contract or Capacity ,section (11).

4.Free Consent, section (13 & 14): T o constitute a valid contract there must be free andgenuine consent of the parties to the contract. I t should not be obtained by misrepresentation,fraud, coercion, undue influence or mistake.

5. Lawful Object and A greement, section (23): T he object of the agreement must not beillegal or unlawful.

6. A greement not declared void or illegal, section (24-30): A greements which have beenexpressly declared void or illegal by law are not enforceable at law; hence does not constitutea valid contract.

7. I ntention T o Create Legal Relationships

8. Certainity, section (29), Possibility Of Performance

9. Legal Formalities

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Ty pes of Contracts

O n the b a sis of V al idity:

1. Valid contract : A n agreement which has all the essential elements of a contract is called avalid contract. A valid contract can be enforced by law.

2. Void contract[Section 2(j)] : A void contract is a contract which ceases to be enforceable bylaw. A contract when originally entered into may be valid and binding on the parties. I t maysubsequently become void.

3. Voidable contract [Section 2(i)] : An agreement which is enforceable by law at the option of one or more of the parties thereto, but not at the option of other or others, is a voidablecontract. If the essential element of free consent is missing in a contract, the law confers right on the aggrieved party either to reject the contract or to accept it. However, the contract continues to be good and enforceable unless it is repudiated by the aggrieved party.

4. Illegal contract :A

contract is illegal if it is forbidden by law; or is of such nature that, if permitted, would defeat the provisions of nay law or is fraudulent; or involves or impliesinjury to a person or property of another, or court regards it as immoral or opposed to public

policy. T hese agreements are punishable by law. T hese are void-ab-initio.

A ll illegal agreements are void agreements but all void agreements are not illegal.

5. Unenforceable contract : Where a contract is good in substance but because of sometechnical defect cannot be enforced by law is called unenforceable contract. T hese contractsare neither void nor voidable.

O n the b a sis of Form a tion:

1. Ex press contract : Where the terms of the contract are expressly agreed upon in words(written or spoken) at the time of formation, the contract is said to be express contract.

2. Implied contract : A n implied contract is one which is inferred from the acts or conduct of the parties or from the circumstances of the cases. Where a proposal or acceptance is madeotherwise than in words, promise is said to be implied.

3. Tacit contract .

4. Quasi contract : A quasi contract is created by law. T hus, quasi contracts are strictly notcontracts as there is no intention of parties to enter into a contract. I t is legal obligation whichis imposed on a party who is required to perform it. A quasi contract is based on the principlethat a person shall not be allowed to enrich himself at the expense of another.

O n the b a sis of Perform a nce:

1. Ex ecuted contract : A n executed contract is one in which both the parties have performedtheir respective obligation.

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2. Ex ecutory contract : A n executory contract is one where one or both the parties to thecontract have still to perform their obligations in future. T hus, a contract which is partially

performed or wholly unperformed is termed as executory contract.

3. Unilateral contract : A unilateral contract is one in which only one party has to perform hisobligation at the time of the formation of the contract, the other party having fulfilled his

obligation at the time o the contract or before the contract comes into existence.

4. Bilateral contract : A bilateral contract is one in which the obligation on both the parties tothe contract is outstanding at the time of the formation of the contract. Bilateral contracts arealso known as contracts with executory consideration.

Offer

Proposal is defined under section 2(a) of the I ndian contract A ct, 1872 as "when one personsignifies to another his willingness to do or to abstain from doing anything with a view toobtaining the assent of that other to such act or abstinence, he is said to make a

proposal/offer".T

hus, for a valid offer, the party making it must express his willingness to door not to do something. But mere expression of willingness does not constitute an offer. A noffer should be made to obtain the assent of the other. T he offer should be communicated tothe offeree and it should not contain a term the non compliance of which would amount toacceptance.

C la ssific a tion of O ffer

1. General Offer : Which is made to public in general.

2. Special Offer : Which is made to a definite person.

3. Cross Offer : Exchange of identical offer in ignorance of each other.

4. Counter Offer : Modification and Variation of Original offer.

5. Standing, Open or Continuing Offer : Which is open for a specific period of time.

T he offer must be distinguished from an invitation to offer.

Invitation to offer

A n invitation to offer is only a circulation of an offer, it is an attempt to induce offers and precedes a definite offer. A cceptance of an invitation to an offer does not result contract andonly an offer emerges in the process of negotiation. A statement made by a person who doesnot intend to bound by it but, intends to further act, is an invitation to offer.

Acceptance

A ccording to Section 2(b), "When the person to whom the proposal is made signifies hisassent thereto, the proposal is said to be accepted."

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Rules:

1. A cceptance must be absolute and unqualified.

2. Communicated to offeror.

3. A cceptance must be in the mode prescribed.

4. A cceptance must be given within a reasonable time before the offer lapses.

5. A cceptance by the way of conduct.

6. Mere silence is no acceptance.

Lawful Consideration

A ccording to Section 2(d), Consideration is defined as: "When at the desire of the promisor,

the promisee has done or abstained from doing, or does or abstains from doing, or promisesto do or abstain something, such an act or abstinence or promise is called consideration for the promise."

I n short, Consideration means quid pro quo i.e. something in return.

A n agreement must be supported by a lawful consideration on both sides.

T he consideration or object of an agreement is lawful, unless and until it is- 1.forbidden bylaw, or 2.is of such nature that ,if permitted ,it would defeat the provisions of any law ,or 3.isfraudulant ,or involves or implies injury to the person or property of another ,or 4.the courtregards it as immoral ,or opposed to public policy. 5.consideration may take in any form-

money,goods,services,a promise to marry, a promise to forbear etc.

Competent T o Contract

Section 11 of T he I ndian Contract A ct specifies that every person is competent to contract provided:

1. He should not be a minor i.e an individual who has not attained the age of majority i.e. 18years.

2. He should be of sound mind while making a contract. A person with unsound mind cannotmake a contract.

3. He is not a person who has been personally disqualified by law.

Free Consent

A ccording to Section 13, " two or more persons are said to be consented when they agreeapon the same thing in the same sense ( Consensus-ad-idem ).

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A consent is said to be free when it not caused by coercion or undue influence or fraud or misrepresentation or mistake.

E lements Viti a ting free C onsent

1. Coersion (Section 15): "Coercion" is the committing, or threatening to commit, any act

forbidden by the I ndian Penal Code, or the unlawful detaining, or threatening to detain, any property, to the prejudice of any person whatever, with the intention of causing any person toenter into an agreement.

2. Undue influence (Section 16): "Where a person who is in a position to dominate the will of another enters into a contract with him and the transaction appears on the face of it, or on theevidence, to be unconscionable, the burden of proving that such contract was not induced byundue influence shall lie upon the person in the position to dominate the will of the other."

3. Fraud (Section 17): "Fraud" means and includes any of the following acts committed by a party to a contract, or with his connivance, or by his agent, with intent to deceive another party thereto of his agent, or to induce him to enter into the contract.

4. Misrepresentation (Section 18).

5. Mistake of fact (Section 20).

[edit ] Revocation of Offer

A proposal may be revoked at any time before the communication of its acceptance iscomplete as against the proposer, but not afterwards. A n acceptance may be revoked at anytime before the communication of the acceptance is complete as against the acceptor, but notafterwards.

A proposal is revoked -

(1) by the communication of notice of revocation by the proposer to the other party;

(2) by the lapse of the time prescribed in such proposal for its acceptance, or, if no time is so prescribed, by the lapse of a reasonable time, without communication of the acceptance;

(3) by the failure of the acceptor to fulfill a condition precedent to acceptance; or

(4) by the death or insanity of the proposer, if the fact of the death or insanity comes to theknowledge of the acceptor before acceptance.

[edit ] Agenc y

I n law, the relationship that exists when one person or party (the principal) engages another (the agent) to act for him, e.g. to do his work, to sell his goods, to manage his business. T helaw of agency thus governs the legal relationship in which the agent deals with a third partyon behalf of the principal. T he competent agent is legally capable of acting for this principalvis--vis the third party. Hence, the process of concluding a contract through an agent

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involves a twofold relationship. On the one hand, the law of agency is concerned with theexternal business relations of an economic unit and with the powers of the variousrepresentatives to affect the legal position of the principal. On the other hand, it rules theinternal relationship between principal and agent as well, thereby imposing certain duties onthe representative (diligence, accounting, good faith, etc.).

Under section 201 to 210 an agency may come to an end in a variety of ways:

(i) By the principal revoking the agency However, principal cannot revoke an agencycoupled with interest to the prejudice of such interest. Such Agency is coupled with interest.An agency is coupled with interest when the agent himself has an interest in the subject-matter of the agency, e.g., where the goods are consigned by an upcountry constituent to acommission agent for sale, with poor to recoup himself from the sale proceeds, theadvances made by him to the principal against the security of the goods; in such a case, theprincipal cannot revoke the agent s authority till the goods are actually sold, nor is theagency terminated by death or insanity. (Illustrations to section 201)

(ii) By the agent renouncing the business of agency;

(iii) By the business of agency being completed;

(iv) By the principal being adjudicated insolvent (Section 201 of The Indian Contract Act.1872)

T he principal also cannot revoke the agents authority after it has been partly exercised, so asto bind the principal (Section 204), though he can always do so, before such authority has

been so exercised (Sec 203).

Further, as per section 205, if the agency is for a fixed period, the principal cannot terminatethe agency before the time expired, except for sufficient cause. I f he does, he is liable tocompensate the agent for the loss caused to him thereby. T he same rules apply where theagent, renounces an agency for a fixed period. Notice in this connection that want of skillcontinuous disobedience of lawful orders, and rude or insulting behavior has been held to besufficient cause for dismissal of an agent. Further, reasonable notice has to be given by one

party to the other; otherwise, damage resulting from want of such notice, will have to be paid(Section 206). A s per section 207, the revocation or renunciation of an agency may be madeexpressly or impliedly by conduct. T he termination does not take effect as regards the agent,till it becomes known to him and as regards third party, till the termination is known to them(Section 208).

When an agents authority is terminated, it operates as a termination of subagent also.(Section 210). [1]

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Right to equalit y

Right to equality is an important right provided for in A rticles 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 of theconstitution. I t is the principal foundation of all other rights and liberties, and guarantees thefollowing:

y Equality before law: Article 14 of the constitution guarantees that all citizens shall be equallyprotected by the laws of the country. It means that the State [5] cannot discriminate against acitizen on the basis of caste, creed, colour, sex, religion or place of birth. [13] According to theE lec tri c ity Ac t of 26 January 2003 the Parliament has the power to create special courts [14] for the speedy trial of offences committed by persons holding high offices. Creation of special courts is not a violation of this right.

y Social equality and equal access to public areas: Article 15 of the constitution states that noperson shall be discriminated on the basis of caste, colour, language etc. Every person shallhave equal access to public places like public parks, museums, wells, bathing ghats andtemples etc. However, the State may make any special provision for women and children.Special provisions may be made for the advancements of any socially or educationallybackward class or scheduled castes or scheduled tribes .[15]

y Equality in matters of public employment: Article 16 of the constitution lays down that theState cannot discriminate against anyone in the matters of employment. All citizens canapply for government jobs. There are some exceptions. The Parliament may enact a lawstating that certain jobs can only be filled by applicants who are domiciled in the area. Thismay be meant for posts that require knowledge of the locality and language of the area. TheState may also reserve posts for members of backward classes, scheduled castes orscheduled tribes which are not adequately represented in the services under the State tobring up the weaker sections of the society. Also, there a law may be passed which requiresthat the holder of an office of any religious institution shall also be a person professing thatparticular religion. [16] According to the C itizenship (Amendment) Bill , 2003, this right shall notbe conferred to Overseas citizens of India .[9]

y Abolition of untouchability: Article 17 of the constitution abolishes the practice of untouchability . Practice of untouchability is an offense and anyone doing so is punishable bylaw. [17] The U ntou c hability Offen c es Ac t of 1955 (renamed to Prote c tion of C ivil Rights A c t in1976) provided penalties for preventing a person from entering a place of worship or fromtaking water from a tank or well.

y Abolition of Titles: Article 18 of the constitution prohibits the State from conferring anytitles. Citizens of India cannot accept titles from a foreign State. [18] The British governmenthad created an aristocratic class known as Rai Bahadurs and Khan Bahadurs in India thesetitles were also abolished. However, Military and academic distinctions can be conferred onthe citizens of India. The awards of Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan cannot be used bythe recipient as a title and do not, accordingly, come within the constitutionalprohibition". [19] The Supreme Court, on 15 December 1995, upheld the validity of suchawards.

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Right to freedom

T he Constitution of I ndia contains the right to freedom, given in articles 19, 20, 21 and 22,with the view of guaranteeing individual rights that were considered vital by the framers of the constitution. T he right to freedom in A rticle 19 guarantees the following six freedoms: [20]

y Freedom of speech and expression , which enable an individual to participate in publicactivities. The phrase, " freedom of press " has n ot been used in Article 19, but freedom of expression includes freedom of press. Reasonable restrictions can be imposed in the interestof public order, security of State, decency or morality.

y Freedom to assemble peacefully without arms, on which the State can impose reasonablerestrictions in the interest of public order and the sovereignty and integrity of India.

y Freedom to form associations or unions on which the State can impose reasonablerestrictions on this freedom in the interest of public order, morality and the sovereignty andintegrity of India.

y Freedom to move freely throughout the territory of India though reasonable restrictions canbe imposed on this right in the interest of the general public, for example, restrictions maybe imposed on movement and travelling, so as to control epidemics .

y Freedom to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India which is also subject toreasonable restrictions by the State in the interest of the general public or for the protectionof the scheduled tribes because certain safeguards as are envisaged here seem to be

justified to protect indigenous and tribal peoples from exploitation and coercion. [21] Article370 restricts citizens from other Indian states and Kashmiri women who marry men fromother states from purchasing land or property in Jammu & Kashmir .[22]

y Freedom to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business onwhich the State may impose reasonable restrictions in the interest of the general public.Thus, there is no right to carry on a business which is dangerous or immoral. Also,professional or technical qualifications may be prescribed for practicing any profession orcarrying on any trade.

T he constitution also guarantees the right to life and personal liberty, which in turn citesspecific provisions in which these rights are applied and enforced:

y Protection with respect to conviction for offences is guaranteed in the right to life andpersonal liberty. According to Article 20, no one can be awarded punishment which is morethan what the law of the land prescribes at that time. This legal axiom is based on theprinciple that no criminal law can be made retrospective, that is, for an act to become anoffence, the essential condition is that it should have been an offence legally at the time of committing it. Moreover, no person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be awitness against himself. "Compulsion" in this article refers to what in law is called " Duress "(injury, beating or unlawful imprisonment to make a person do something that he does notwant to do). This article is known as a safeguard against self incrimination. The otherprinciple enshrined in this article is known as the principle of double jeopardy , that is, noperson can be convicted twice for the same offence, which has been derived from AngloSaxon law. This principle was first established in the Magna Carta .[23]

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y Protection of life and personal liberty is also stated under right to life and personal liberty.Article 21 declares that no citizen can be denied his life and liberty except by law. [24] Thismeans that a person's life and personal liberty can only be disputed if that person hascommitted a crime. However, the right to life does not include the right to die , and hence,suicide or an attempt thereof, is an offence. (Attempted suicide being interpreted as a crimehas seen many debates. The Supreme Court of India gave a landmark ruling in the year 1994.

The court repealed section 309 of the Indian penal code, under which people attemptingsuicide could face prosecution and prison terms of up to one year. [25] In the year 1996however another Supreme Court ruling nullified the earlier one. [26] ) "Personal liberty"includes all the freedoms which are not included in Article 19 (that is, the six freedoms). Theright to travel abroad is also covered under "personal liberty" in Article 21. [27]

y In 2002, through the 86th Amendment Act, Article 21(A) was incorporated. It made the rightto primary education part of the right to freedom, stating that the State would provide freeand compulsory education to children from six to fourteen years of age. [28] Six years after anamendment was made in the Indian Constitution, the union cabinet cleared the Right toEducation Bill in 2008. It is now soon to be tabled in Parliament for approval before it makesa fundamental right of every child to get free and compulsory education. [29]

y Rights of a person arrested under ordinary circumstances is laid down in the right to life andpersonal liberty. No one can be arrested without being told the grounds for his arrest. If arrested, the person has the right to defend himself by a lawyer of his choice. Also anarrested citizen has to be brought before the nearest magistrate within 24 hours. The rightsof a person arrested under ordinary circumstances are not available to an enemy alien. Theyare also not available to persons detained under the Preventive Detention A c t . Underpreventive detention , the government can imprison a person for a maximum of threemonths. It means that if the government feels that a person being at liberty can be a threatto the law and order or to the unity and integrity of the nation, it can detain or arrest thatperson to prevent him from doing this possible harm. After three months such a case isbrought before an advisory board for review. [30]

T he constitution also imposes restrictions on these rights. T he government restricts thesefreedoms in the interest of the independence, sovereignty and integrity of I ndia. I n the interestof morality and public order, the government can also impose restrictions. However, the rightto life and personal liberty cannot be suspended. T he six freedoms are also automaticallysuspended or have restrictions imposed on them during a state of emergency.

Right against exploitation

Child labour and Begar is prohibited under Right against exploitation.

T he right against exploitation, given in A rticles 23 and 24, provides for two provisions,namely the abolition of t rafficking in human beings and Begar (forced labor), [31] andabolition of employment of children below the age of 14 years in dangerous jobs likefactories and mines. Child labour is considered a gross violation of the spirit and provisionsof the constitution. [32] Begar , practised in the past by landlords, has been declared a crime andis punishable by law. T rafficking in humans for the purpose of slave trade or prostitution isalso prohibited by law. A n exception is made in employment without payment for compulsory services for public purposes. Compulsory military conscription is covered by this

provision. [31]

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Right to freedom of religion

Right to freedom of religion , covered in A rticles 25, 26, 27 and 28, provides religiousfreedom to all citizens of I ndia. T he objective of this right is to sustain the principle of secularism in I ndia. A ccording to the Constitution, all religions are equal before the State andno religion shall be given preference over the other. Citizens are free to preach, practice and

propagate any religion of their choice.

Religious communities can set up charitable institutions of their own. However, activities insuch institutions which are not religious are performed according to the laws laid down by thegovernment. Establishing a charitable institution can also be restricted in the interest of publicorder, morality and health. [33] No person shall be compelled to pay taxes for the promotion of a particular religion. [34] A State run institution cannot impart education that is pro-religion. [35] A lso, nothing in this article shall affect the operation of any existing law or prevent the Statefrom making any further law regulating or restricting any economic, financial, political or

other secular activity which may be associated with religious practice, or providing for socialwelfare and reform. [36]

[edit ] Cultural and educational rights

A s I ndia is a country of many languages , religions , and cultures , the Constitution providesspecial measures, in A rticles 29 and 30, to protect the rights of the minorities. A nycommunity which has a language and a script of its own has the right to conserve anddevelop it. No citizen can be discriminated against for admission in State or State aidedinstitutions. [37]

A ll minorities, religious or linguistic, can set up their own educational institutions in order to preserve and develop their own culture. I n granting aid to institutions, the State cannotdiscriminate against any institution on the basis of the fact that it is administered by aminority institution. [38] But the right to administer does not mean that the State can notinterfere in case of maladministration. I n a precedent-setting judgment in 1980, the SupremeCourt held that the State can certainly take regulatory measures to promote the efficiency andexcellence of educational standards. I t can also issue guidelines for ensuring the security of the services of the teachers or other employees of the institution. I n another landmark

judgement delivered on 31 October 2002, the Supreme Court ruled that in case of aidedminority institutions offering professional courses, admission could only be through acommon entrance test conducted by State or a university. Even an unaided minorityinstitution ought not to ignore the merit of the students for admission.

Right to constitutional remedies

Right to constitutional remedies empowers the citizens to move a court of law in case of anydenial of the fundamental rights. For instance, in case of imprisonment, the citizen can ask the court to see if it is according to the provisions of the law of the country. I f the court findsthat it is not, the person will have to be freed. T his procedure of asking the courts to preserveor safeguard the citizens' fundamental rights can be done in various ways. T he courts canissue various kinds of writs . T hese writs are habeas corpus , mandamus , prohibition , quo

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warranto and certiorari . When a national or state emergency is declared, this right issuspended by the central government. [39]

The Directive Principles of State Policy, embodied in Part IV of the Constitution, are directions givento the State to guide the establishment of an economic and social democracy, as proposed by thePreamble .[76] They set forth the humanitarian and socialist instructions that were the aim of socialrevolution envisaged in India by the Constituent Assembly. [77] The State is expected to keep theseprinciples in mind while framing laws and policies, even though they are non-justiciable in nature.The Directive Principles may be classified under the following categories: ideals that the State oughtto strive towards achieving; directions for the exercise of legislative and executive power; and rightsof the citizens which the State must aim towards securing. [76]