The fundamental rights granted to Indian citizens by the Constitution are
Those rights that are considered essential for the realization of the highest good of the citizens
The Fundamental Rights are defined as basic human freedoms that every Indian citizen has the right to enjoy for a proper and harmonious development of personality. These rights universally apply to all citizens, irrespective of race, place of birth, religion, caste or gender. Aliens (persons who are not citizens) are also considered in matters like equality before law. They are enforceable by the courts, subject to certain restrictions. The Rights have their origins in many sources, including England's Bill of Rights, the United States Bill of Rights and France's Declaration of the Rights of Man
When India became independent and the Constitution was being prepared, there were no two opinions on the inclusion and protection of rights in the Constitution. The Constitution listed the rights that would be specially protected and called them ‘fundamental rights’. The word fundamental suggests that these rights are so important that the Constitution has separately listed them and made special provisions for their protection. The Constitution itself ensures that they are not violated by the government.
Fundamental Rights are different from other rights available to us. While ordinary legal rights are protected and enforced by ordinary law, Fundamental Rights are protected and guaranteed by the constitution of the country. A fundamental right may only be changed by amending the Constitution itself. Besides this, no organ of the government can act in a manner that violates them. Judiciary has the powers and responsibility to protect the fundamental rights from violations by actions of the government. Executive as well as legislative actions can be declared illegal by the judiciary if these violate the fundamental rights or restrict them in an unreasonable manner.
The fundamental rights help not only in protection but also the prevention of gross violations of human rights. They emphasise on the fundamental unity of India by guaranteeing to all citizens the access and use of the same facilities, irrespective of background. Some fundamental rights apply for persons of any nationality whereas others are available only to the citizens of India.
Fundamental rights primarily protect individuals from any arbitrary state actions, but some rights are enforceable against individuals. These provisions act as a check both on state action as well as the action of private individuals. However, these rights are not absolute or uncontrolled and are subject to reasonable restrictions as necessary for the protection of general welfare. They can also be selectively curtailed. The Supreme Court has ruled that all provisions of the Constitution, including fundamental rights can be amended. However, the Parliament cannot alter the basic structure of the constitution.
The Sapru Report of 1945 divided the fundamental rights into two parts as follows: Justifiable Rights Non-justifiable rights The Justifiable rights were those enforceable by a court of law. These enforceable rights were incorporated in the Part III of the Constitution. The non-justifiable rights were incorporated as a directive to the state to take all measures to provide those rights to individuals without any guarantee. They were incorporated in the part IV of the constitution and were called Directive Principles of State Policy.