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Human rights, the mother of all rights, says Justice Pathak
Tribune News Service

Shimla, September 5
Mr R.S. Pathak, former Chief Justice of India, today said human rights were of vital importance due to their universal and fundamental nature and the fact that all other rights flowed from them. The status of human rights in a society was also an index of its progress.

Delivering the Tenth Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Memorial Lecture at the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, here on “Human rights, philosophy and Constitution of India”, he said human rights were placed at a level higher than ordinary rights as they were eternal and not passed on through tradition or history. More importantly, they were “inalienable” and “unvarying” with time. They represented the immutable human values.

Tracing the origin and development of human rights from ancient Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle, he demonstrated how natural law ruled through the works of European jurists and under the influence of political events matured into the modern philosophy of human rights. In this regard, he mentioned the contribution made by John Locke, Rousseau, Tom Paine and the institute of international law.

He analysed the factors responsible for the development of present human rights and elaborated on the new generation of rights, which was taking birth because of the need of the human community. In this regard he mentioned the increasing stress being laid on environmental concerns which was basically a manifestation of the right to life.

He also described how the human rights philosophy had influenced the enactment of the chapter of fundamental rights and its relationship with the directive principles of state policy. He said the Indian Constitution under Articles 14, 19 and 21 dealt with the doctrine of equality, individual freedom and fundamental right to life and personal liberty of citizens.

On the enforcement of fundamental rights, he emphasised the significance of Article 32 of the Constitution under which one could approach the apex court directly. He said of late public interest litigation had also been successfully used as a tool for have-nots for seeking socio-economic justice. However, he cautioned against the use of public interest litigation for purposes not connected with the adjudication of fundamental rights and matters which were essentially political.

The lecture was presided over by Dr G.C. Pande, Chairman of the governing body of the institute. He said one could seek judicial intervention for enforcement of rights only if one had the power to do so. He said litigation was becoming an increasingly expensive affair.

Dr Bhuvan Chandel, Director of the institute, proposed the vote of thanks.