Article 21 (Life and Personal Liberty)
Definition
No person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law; expanded by Maneka Gandhi 1978 to require a fair, just and reasonable procedure.
- Instrument
- Constitution of India
- Provision
- Article 21
- Guarantee
- Life and personal liberty
- Landmark case
- Maneka Gandhi v Union of India (1978)
- Effect of Maneka Gandhi
- Requires fair, just and reasonable procedure
Common questions
How did Maneka Gandhi change the reading of Article 21?+
Before 1978, procedure established by law was read literally, meaning any enacted procedure sufficed. Maneka Gandhi held the procedure itself must be fair, just and reasonable, effectively linking Article 21 to due process even though that phrase is not in the text.
Why is Article 21 so frequently cited across forensic and investigative practice?+
Because it protects personal liberty broadly, it has been used as the basis to test the constitutionality of detention, interrogation methods, privacy intrusions, and bodily sample collection, making it a recurring reference point across very different forensic contexts.
Related terms
- Article 13
- Declares that laws inconsistent with or in derogation of fundamental rights are void to the extent of inconsistency; the textual basis for...
- Article 14 (Equality Before Law)
- Guarantees equality before the law and equal protection of the laws to all persons within Indian territory; bans arbitrary State action.
- Article 15
- Prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
- Article 16
- Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment.
- Article 17
- Abolishes untouchability; enforced through the Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955 and the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989.
- Article 19
- Six freedoms for citizens: speech and expression, peaceful assembly, association, movement, residence, and profession or trade, subject to reasonable restrictions.
- Article 20(3) (Self-Incrimination)
- No person accused of an offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself; the textual basis for the bar on...
- Article 22
- Protection against arrest and detention: grounds of arrest, right to counsel, production before a magistrate within 24 hours; preventive-detention safeguards in clauses...
- Due Process (Indian Gloss)
- Post-Maneka Gandhi reading of Article 21 that the procedure depriving liberty must be fair, just and reasonable, not merely a procedure prescribed...
- Fundamental Right
- A justiciable right guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution, enforceable by writ in the Supreme Court (Article 32) and the High...
- Judicial Review
- Power of the Supreme Court and High Courts to test legislation and executive action against the Constitution, drawn from Articles 13, 32,...