Article 21: right to life and personal liberty
The fundamental right that courts have stretched to cover privacy, dignity, a clean environment, health and more.
What the paper can ask
- Part III (Articles 12 to 35) holds the fundamental rights; the right to property was removed from it by the 44th Amendment in 1978.
- A 1978 judgment required procedures under Article 21 to be just, fair and reasonable.
- A nine-judge bench in August 2017 held unanimously that privacy is part of Article 21.
- Article 21A (2002) guarantees free and compulsory education for children aged 6 to 14.
- Ambedkar called Article 32, the right to move the Supreme Court, 'the very soul of the Constitution'.
Latest
On 15 October 2026 the Supreme Court (Justices Pardiwala and Chandran) held that the right to access and use the internet is a fundamental right flowing from Article 21 read with the free speech clause, and that children enjoy it too.
Why exams ask
New rights read into Article 21 and the cases behind them are asked every year; the pairing with 21A is a standard trap.
The full story
Article 21 says no person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. It sits in Part III (Fundamental Rights) and protects everyone, not only citizens. Since a 1978 judgment the procedure must be fair, just and reasonable, and the Supreme Court has read in unlisted rights: livelihood, dignity, health, a clean environment and, in 2017, privacy.
In the news
Test yourself
1.In which case did the Supreme Court hold that the 'procedure established by law' under Article 21 must be fair, just and reasonable?
Correct. Maneka Gandhi (1978), on the impounding of a passport, overruled the narrow A. K. Gopalan view and read Articles 14, 19 and 21 together, demanding a fair and reasonable procedure.
Not quite. Maneka Gandhi (1978), on the impounding of a passport, overruled the narrow A. K. Gopalan view and read Articles 14, 19 and 21 together, demanding a fair and reasonable procedure. It goes into your error book.
2.In which case did a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court unanimously hold that the right to privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21?
Correct. Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India, decided on 24 August 2017 by nine judges, overruled M. P. Sharma and Kharak Singh and recognised privacy as intrinsic to Article 21.
Not quite. Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India, decided on 24 August 2017 by nine judges, overruled M. P. Sharma and Kharak Singh and recognised privacy as intrinsic to Article 21. It goes into your error book.
3.The expression 'procedure established by law' in Article 21 was drawn from the constitution of
Correct. The phrase comes from Article 31 of the Japanese Constitution of 1946; the Assembly deliberately rejected the American 'due process of law', though Maneka Gandhi later read fairness into it.
Not quite. The phrase comes from Article 31 of the Japanese Constitution of 1946; the Assembly deliberately rejected the American 'due process of law', though Maneka Gandhi later read fairness into it. It goes into your error book.