The constitution of India promised various rights and equality on various grounds to the citizen of India and set some guidelines for them to follow. Though extracted from various countries, the architects of the constitution framed the constitution suitable for Indian society.
Any defects in the constitution are replaced by amending the constitution, the elephant size constitution cannot be checked frequently with the changing society. Here are some drawbacks of the constitution of India.
Personal Liberty:
Article 21 of the constitution of India states that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedures established by law. The Immoral Traffic (prevention) Act is assigned the work to stop immoral trafficking and prostitution in India. However, not every woman is involuntarily forced and through deception. Most woman willingly enters into an agreement with traffickers and live their life. This classified women into respectable and non-respectable inthe society.
This act denies an individual their right over their bodies. Evidence shows that many women choose to remain in sex work despite after rehabilitation by government or non-governmental organisations. It is time Judiciary need to recognise sex work as work and give them the right to earn, live with dignity and remain free from violence, exploitation, stigma and discrimination.
According to WHO, India has the highest suicide rate in the Southeast Asia region. There are various reasons for a person to take his life. Section 309 of the IPC states that any person who attempts to commit suicide and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend toone year or with fine, or with both.
As Article 21 guarantees right to life, the Bombay High court in its judgement in Maruti Shripati Dubal vs State of Maharashtra declared section 309 unconstitutional and said “For example, the freedom of speech and expression includes freedom not to speak and to remain silent. The freedom of association and movement likewise includes the freedom not to join any association or to move anywhere….. If this is so, logically it must follow that right to live…. will include also aright not to live or not to be forced to live.”
Gender Inequality:
Article 14 of the Indian constitution provides for equality before the law or equal protection of the laws within the territory of India. Well, this is not the case for LGBTQ community. It is the universal human right to marry someone who likes each other. At present there are 29 countries which recognised same sex marriage and India shoulder vamp itself with changing trends. Article 15 secures citizen from every sort of discrimination by the state, on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth or any of them. But the queer community is still facing discrimination on the grounds of employment,health and personal relationship.
When the questions related to same sex marriage came before the Highcourt of Delhi and Union Government, the Solicitor General adjourned the matter because of its less urgency on the context of second wave of COVID-19 cases. India to become a developed nation, have to look after these situations and resolve them without disturbing the civil structure of the country. The elephant sized constitution cannot be amended once but has to amend when time calls upon and the situation is convincing.
