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Timestamp: 2019-04-23 00:11:55+00:00

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The spirit of the Constitution of India reflects on its positive approach towards the enforcement of fundamental rights. Article 13 of the Constitution makes all laws made by the State, which are in violation of the Part III of the Constitution, void. Article 32(1) and 226 empower the Supreme Court and High Court respectively to enforce these Rights. Article 32 (3) also empowers the Supreme Court to delegate the power to enforce the fundamental rights to other Courts.
Courts can exercise this power by using the tools that have been given to them by Art 32(2) and 226. Art 32 (2) grants the Supreme Court the “power to issue directions or orders or writs, including writs in the nature of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari, whichever may be appropriate, for the enforcement of any of the rights conferred by this (III) Part”.
Article 226 provides a parallel right to the High Courts. However, a major difference between the power endowed by Article 32 and Article 226 is that while Article 32 can be invoked only in case of a breach of Fundamental Rights, Article 226 can be invoked for “any other purpose also”  .
However, despite this positive approach, the Fundamental Rights are not absolutely enforceable. Article 32(4) allows the suspension of these rights in exceptional circumstances.
The purpose of this Project is to determine the restraints that the Constitution can put on the remedies that a court can provide in cases of breach of Fundamental Rights. These remedies include the use of prerogative writs.
All cases dealing with matters of Constitutional Law come under the purview of Constitutional adjudication. However, for the purpose of this project, the scope of Constitutional adjudication has been restricted to only those cases which deal with the Breach of Fundamental Rights that have been guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution of India.
As the project deals with the study of the restraints that the constitution can put on the remedies that a court can provide in case of constitutional adjudication, the doctrinal form of research was most appropriate. Primary sources of information as well as secondary sources, such as articles and websites, have been accessed at the NUJS library and all sources of information have been appropriately cited in footnotes. The project is an original work of the researcher and no part of it is a product of plagiarism.
Article 32 can also not be invoked simply to adjudge the validity of any legislation or an administrative action except when it adversely affects the exercise of Fundamental Rights by the Petitioners. However, a writ can be denied to a person where the disputed law has not come into force.
The court also applies the principle of Res Judicata while entertaining petitions under Article 32 of the Constitution. This is done in lieu of Public interest to avoid a multiple application of petitions for the same act. However, this affects the relationship between Art 32 and 226 in the following way. It is not required of any person to first approach the High Court and then the Supreme Court. This is because, if petitioners were first made to approach the High Court under Art 226 in case of a violation of Fundamental Rights, they cannot further file another petition under Art 32 as the principle of Res Judicata applies. The only way in which their case can be entertained in the Supreme Court is by appealing to the High Courts’ decision. But that again is not done through Art 32. This will render Art 32 useless. Also, it will make the procedure costlier and more cumbersome for the Petitioner. Therefore, the High Court under Art 226 and the Supreme Court under Art 32 enjoy concurrent jurisdiction in the matter of enforcement of Fundamental Rights.
However, certain criterion needs to be fulfilled to satisfy a court that the alternative remedy is equal and efficacious.
The alternative remedy should be equally convenient, beneficial and effective. It should secure necessary relief and should not be onerous or burdensome.
In S. K. Sinha v Patna University  , the petition under Article 32 was denied on the ground that there existed an equal and efficacious remedy under the University Act.
Another argument that can be raised against the idea of alternative remedy is that Article 32 is in itself a Fundamental Right guaranteed by the Constitution and it cannot be denied or restricted merely on the grounds that there exists an alternate remedy.
The restraint extended by the principle of Res Judicata also comes into play. Basically, if a compulsion is applied on the Petitioners to exhaust all alternative remedies before approaching Supreme Court under Art 32, then the petitioner can’t later invoke Section 32 anyway as it will be barred by the principle of Res Judicata. Therefore, this becomes a never-ending loop which will ultimately lead to the redundancy of Article 32.
Having said that, it is important to view the idea of ‘alternative remedies’ in practical light also. The Supreme Court has a significantly large backlog of cases. In light of that, it is advisable that the cases be filtered at the level of State Judiciary. Also, in most situations the State Judiciary is in a better position to address the issues of infringement of Fundamental Rights than the Supreme Court. Filing a case in the High Court is also less expensive in terms of overall costs.
While the Constitution promotes the spirit of positivity towards the enforcement of Fundamental Rights and the Judiciary tries to keep up the ideology of the Constitution makers, it is unreasonable to expect absolute rights without reasonable restrictions. The Constitution and conventions together have put certain restraints on the tools which are at the disposal of the Judiciary for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights. Some of these restrictions are technical in nature, such as the limitation as to delay in filing of a petition or that the Supreme Court will not answer to questions other than that relating to infringement of Fundamental Rights. Other restrictions are purely circumstantial, such as the existence of an alternative, equal and efficacious remedy. At the end of it, what is important is that the Constitutional remedies should not be misused and should not go against Public interest in general.
To conclude, yes – the Constitution does put certain restrictions on the remedies that a Court can provide in cases of Constitutional adjudication. And yes, these restrictions are important so that the remedies – prerogative writs, et cetera – are not misused.
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