Landmark Cases
1). Francis Coralie Mullin v. Administrator, Union Territory of Delhi, (1981) 1 SCC 608 –
- Right to life enshrined in Article 21 “cannot be restricted to mere animal existence” and “means something much more than just physical survival”
- Article 21 implicitly contains in it “the right to protection against torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”
2). Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India, (1984) 3 SCC 161 – Right to life enshrined in Article 21 truly means the right to live with dignity.
3). K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, (2017) 10 SCC 1 – Dignity forms a part of the basic structure of the Constitution.
- The “references” to dignity are “found in the guarantee against arbitrariness (Article 14), the lamps of freedom (Article 19) and in the right to life and personal liberty (Article 21).” Thus, dignity is the “core” which “unites the fundamental rights because the fundamental rights seek to achieve for each individual the dignity of existence”.
4). Jeeja Ghosh v. Union of India, (2016) 7 SCC 761 – Human dignity is a constitutional value and a constitutional goal.
5). M. Nagaraj v. Union of India, (2006) 8 SCC 212 – “To Live is to Live with dignity”
6).National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India, (2014) 5 SCC 438- There is a growing recognition that the true measure of development of a nation is not economic growth; it is human dignity.
7). X2 v. State (NCT of Delhi), (2023) 9 SCC 433- the right to dignity “encapsulates the right of every individual to be treated as a self-governing entity having intrinsic value”.
8). Sukanya Shantha v. Union of India & Ors. 2024 INSC 753- The right to live with dignity extends even to the incarcerated. Not providing dignity to prisoners is a relic of the colonizers and pre-colonial mechanisms, where oppressive systems were designed to dehumanize and degrade those under the control of the State.
9). Kishore Singh Ravinder Dev v. State of Rajasthan (1981) 1 SCC 503- Physical torture on the undertrial prisoner is a violation of Article
10). X v. State of Maharashtra (2019) 7 SCC 1 -“Right to dignity of an accused does not dry out with the Judges’ ink, rather, it subsists well beyond the prison gates and operates until his last breath”.