Source: Calcutta High Court

Why in News?

Recently, the Calcutta High Court in the matter of Mahuya Chakraborty v. The State of West Bengal & Ors., has held that the right of a person to live with dignity guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, 1950(COI) cannot be deprived merely because he was convicted.

What was the Background of Mahuya Chakraborty v. The State of West Bengal & Ors.?

• In this case, the petitioner before the Calcutta High Court has challenged the decision of the State Sentence Review Board, West Bengal (SSRB) in rejecting the application of the petitioner, the wife of a convict who was handed a life sentence.
• The petitioner’s husband is already in custody for more than two decades.
• The contention of the petitioner was that the SSRB was not properly constituted and that the grounds cited for such rejection by the SSRB are not in consonance with the consistent view taken by the Supreme Court and this Court as well as the other High Courts.
• The High Court directed the respondent authorities to ensure that a properly constituted SSRB reconsiders the petitioner’s request for premature release of her husband.

What were the Court’s Observations?

• Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharya observed that the right of the petitioner under Article 21 of the COI to live a life of dignity cannot be deprived merely because the petitioner was convicted.
• It was further held that the life behind bars has already been undergone by the petitioner for a considerable period. There cannot be any double punishment for the petitioner by refusing the petitioner an opportunity to reintegrate in mainstream society even if the petitioner is otherwise eligible.

What is Article 21 of the COI?

About:

• Article 21 deals with the protection of life and personal liberty. It states that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.
  • The right to life is not merely confined to animal existence or survival but also includes the right to live with human dignity and all those aspects of life which go to make a man’s life meaningful, complete and worth living.
• Article 21 secures two rights:
  • Right to life
  • Right to personal liberty
• This article is characterized as the procedural Magna Carta protective of life and liberty.
• This fundamental right is available to every person, citizens and foreigners alike.
• The Supreme Court of India has described this right as the Heart of Fundamental Rights.
• This right has been provided against the State only.

Rights under Article 21:

• The rights that Article 21 covers are as follows:
  • Right to privacy
  • Right to go abroad
  • Right to shelter
  • Right against solitary confinement
  • Right to social justice and economic empowerment
  • Right against handcuffing
  • Right against custodial death
  • Right against delayed execution
  • Doctors’ assistance
  • Right against public hanging
  • Protection of cultural heritage
  • Right to pollution-free water and air
  • Right of every child to a full development
  • Right to health and medical aid
  • Right to education
  • Protection of under-trials

Case Laws:

• In Francis Coralie Mullin v. The Administrator (1981), Justice P. Bhagwati had said that Article 21 of the COI embodies a constitutional value of supreme importance in a democratic society.
• In Kharak Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh (1963), the Supreme Court held that by the term life, something more is meant than mere animal existence. The inhibition against its deprivation extends to all those limbs and faculties by which life is enjoyed. The provision equally prohibits the mutilation of the body by amputation of an armored leg or the pulling out of an eye, or the destruction of any other organ of the body through which the soul communicates with the outer world.