B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 8 Human Rights Law and Practice 2020 Nov Question Paper with Solutions

For full marks, cover: the meaning of human rights (the idea and section 2(1)(d) of the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993); the development in India in phases: (1) ancient India, duties of the ruler under dharma (Kautilya, Ashoka); (2) medieval India (justice as legitimacy, Akbar, the Bhakti and Sufi movements); (3) social reform in the nineteenth century (1829, 1856); (4) the demand for a bill of rights (1895, 1925, 1928, 1931; none in the Government of India Act 1935); (5) the Constituent Assembly and the Constitution (Parts III and IV; Hansa Mehta); (6) the courts after 1950 (Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla, the Forty-fourth Amendment, Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, public interest litigation, Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan, Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India); (7) treaties and statutes (Covenants 1979, CRC 1992, CEDAW 1993; the 1993 Act and later laws); a table of milestones; an assessment.

2. Ashoka's edicts of the third century BCE are the strongest evidence. Rock Edict XII asks respect for all faiths, and Rock Edict XIII records his remorse after the Kalinga war.

But the subject had no right he could enforce in a court, and the varna order made duties and punishments depend on birth.

Phase 2: medieval India

1. Rulers claimed legitimacy through justice to the subject, with courts that heard complaints against officials.
2. Akbar abolished the jizya, the tax on non-Muslims, in 1564 and followed a policy of peace with all faiths. Aurangzeb reimposed it in 1679, so the record is mixed.
3. The Bhakti and Sufi movements attacked caste from below. Kabir, Ravidas and Guru Nanak taught the equal worth of all people, and the Sikh langar fed all castes together.

Phase 5: the Constituent Assembly and the Constitution

The Constituent Assembly met from December 1946. Its Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights was chaired by Sardar Patel. At the same time India took part in drafting the Universal Declaration. Its delegate Hansa Mehta secured the words "all human beings" in Article 1. The Declaration was adopted on 10 December 1948 and the Constitution on 26 November 1949.

The Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950. It placed civil and political rights in Part III as enforceable Fundamental Rights. Article 32 gave the right to move the Supreme Court to enforce them. It placed economic and social rights in Part IV as Directive Principles, which Article 37 makes unenforceable but fundamental in governance. The split follows the Karachi Resolution.

Phase 6: the courts after 1950

1. Protecting the core. In Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, AIR 1973 SC 1461, the Court held that Parliament may amend the Constitution but cannot destroy its basic structure. Sikri C.J. said the Universal Declaration "shows how India understood the nature of Human Rights".

6. Using treaties. In Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan, AIR 1997 SC 3011, there was no law on sexual harassment at work. The Court read CEDAW into Articles 14, 15, 19(1)(g) and 21 and laid down binding guidelines.
7. Closing the Emergency chapter. In Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India, (2017) 10 SCC 1, nine Judges recognised privacy as a fundamental right and overruled ADM Jabalpur.

Phase 7: treaties and statutes

1. Treaties. India acceded to both Covenants on 10 April 1979, acceded to the CRC on 11 December 1992 and ratified CEDAW on 9 July 1993.
2. The Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 created the National and State Human Rights Commissions and Human Rights Courts. It was amended in 2006 and 2019.
3. Other laws protect particular groups:

• the Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955, against untouchability;
• the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989;
• the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005;

Assessment

India's human rights law grew from Indian demands and then joined international law. Its strengths are a strong Part III, an active Supreme Court and a statutory Commission. Its weaknesses are delay in the courts, preventive detention under Article 22, and Commissions that can only recommend.

Conclusion. Human rights are the inherent rights of every person, defined in India by section 2(1)(d) of the 1993 Act. In India they developed from the ruler's duty under dharma and the reformers' struggles to the bills of rights of 1895 to 1931. They became Parts III and IV of the Constitution. The courts expanded them in Maneka Gandhi and Vishaka, failed them in ADM Jabalpur, and repaired that failure in Puttaswamy. Treaties and the 1993 Act completed the structure.