Declaration of Rights

(FOR INCORPORATION IN THE SWARAJ CONSTITUTION)

BY S. SRINIVASA IYENGAR.

1. (1) India shall have the same constitutional status in the community of Nations forming the British Commonwealth of Nations, as the Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, and the Irish Free State, with a Parliament having power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of India, and an Executive responsible to that Parliament, and shall be styled and known as the Commonwealth of India.

(2) Nothing herein 'Contained shall affect the right of India as a self -governing Dominion to remain now and always; the sole judge of the nature and extent of her co-operation with the other communities associated with her as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations, or the right of the people of India to claim the fullest national independence in case no settlement is agreed to by the British Government on the basis of this Constitution.

2. In the matter of defence, India shall have exactly the same constitutional position, the same powers, and the same rights and obligations as other self-governing Dominions.

Provided that nothing herein contained shall affect any treaty or arrangement in that behalf that may be come to, or, that may be recognised as subsisting, between the Parliament of India and the Government of the United Kingdom.

3. The powers of the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth with respect to Foreign Affairs shall be the same as those exercised by the other self-governing Dominions

4. (1) The powers of the Parliament and of the Governor-General in Council with respect to Indian States shall be the same as those exercised by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, or by the King in Council, or by the Governor-General in Council, or by the Governor-General, or by all the said authorities at the establishment of this Constitution.

(2) Subject as aforesaid, and subject to the power hereinafter conferred on the Parliament, nothing herein contained shall affect the provisions of the existing Treaties and Arrangements between His Majesty and any Indian States.

5. All powers of Government, and all authority, legislative, executive and judicial, are derived from the people, and the same shall be exercised in the Commonwealth of India through the organisations established by or under, and in accord with, this Constitution.

6. All laws made by the Parliament shall be binding on the Courts, Judges and people of every Province and of every part of the Commonwealth, notwithstanding anything in the laws of British India or any part of British India or in any Act of the United Kingdom extending to British India, and the laws of the Commonwealth shall be enforced in all Indian territorial waters.

7. The right of the citizens of the Commonwealth to form a well regulated militia for its defence is declared and guaranteed.

8. The national language of the Commonwealth is the Hindustani language, but the English language shall be equally recognised as an official language. Nothing in this section shall prevent provisions being made by Parliament for provinces, districts, or areas in which neither or either only is in common use.

9. Every person domiciled in the Commonwealth of India at the time of the coming into operation of this Constitution, who was born in India, or who has been so domiciled in the area of the jurisdiction of the commonwealth of India for not less than seven years, is a citizen of the Commonwealth of India and shall, within the limits of the Commonwealth, enjoy the privileges and be subject to the obligations of such citizenship, provided that any such person being a citizen of another State my elect not to accept the citizenship hereby conferred; and the conditions governing the future acquisition and termination of citizenship in the Commonwealth of India shall be determined by Act of Parliament.

10. No title of nobility or honour in respect of any services rendered in, or in relation to, the Commonwealth of India may be conferred on any citizen of the Commonwealth of India, except with the approval or upon the advice of the Executive Council of the Commonwealth; or, in the case of members of the Executive Council, except with the consent of the Legislative Assembly; nor shall any present, emolument, office, or title conferred by the British or any foreign Government be accepted by a citizen of the Commonwealth employed by the government of the Commonwealth or of a province or holding any office of profit, honour, or trust under them, except with the consent of the Legislative Assembly.

or

(1) Privileges or discrimination, due to birth or rank, and I heretofore recognized by law, are hereby abolished.

(2) Titles may be conferred only when they designate an office or profession; but academic degrees shall not be affected by this provision.

(3) Orders and honorary insignia shall not be conferred on the citizens of the Commonwealth.

(4) No citizen of the Commonwealth shall accept a title or order or other distinction or office or profit, emolument, or reward from either the British Government or a foreign government.

11. No person shall be deprived of his liberty nor shall his dwelling or property be entered, sequestered or confiscated, save In accordance with law and by a duly constituted Court of Law.

12. The right of free expression of opinion, as well as the right to assemble peaceably without arms, and to form associations or unions, is hereby guaranteed for purposes not opposed to public order or morality, or the law relating to defamation for the time being.

13. (1) Freedom of conscience and the free profession and practice of religion are, subject to public order and morality, hereby guaranteed to every person.

(2) The Commonwealth shall not allow any community, caste or sect in India to impose its religious views or obligations upon any other community, caste or sect.

(3) There shall be no State religion for the Commonwealth of India or for any province in the Commonwealth. No law may be made either directly or indirectly to endow any religion, or prohibit or restrict the free exercise thereof, or give any preference, or impose any disability on account of religious belief or religious status, or affect prejudicially the right of any child to attend a school receiving public money without attending the religious instruction at the school, or make any discrimination as respects State aid between schools under the management of different religious denominations, or divert from any religious denomination or any educational institution any of its property except for the purpose of roads, railways, lighting, water or drainage works or other works of public utility, and on payment of compensation.

(4) No Bill, Resolution, Motion or Amendment regarding inter-communal matters shall be moved, discussed or passed in any legislature" central or provincial, if a three-fourths majority of the members of any community affected thereby in that legislature oppose the introduction, discussion or passing of such Bill, Resolution, Motion or Amendment.

14. (2) All citizens of the Commonwealth of India shall be in all respects equal before the law and shall enjoy the same civil and political rights. And no distinction ofCourt or Judge shall be made between one class of persons and another with respect to similar civil or legal matters and offences.

(2) There shall be no disqualification or disability on the ground only of sex.

(3) All persons have an equal right to the use of roads, Courts of Justice and all other places of business or resort dedicated to the public, provided they do not disturb public order or disobey any lawful notice issued by a competent authority.

(4) All persons in the Commonwealth of India have the right to free elementary education, and such right shall be enforceable as soon as due arrangements shall have been made by the competent authority.

15 Differences of religion, creed, faith or language shall not prejudice any citizen of the Commonwealth of India in any way, within the limits laid down by the general laws, particularly in regard to public employments, offices of power or honour and the exercise of any trade or calling.

16. (1) All castes are hereby declared and guaranteed to be on a footing of perfect equality; no superiority or inferiority of any caste and no hierarchy of castes shall be recognised or given effect to by the State for any purpose.

(2) The State shall not treat or allow to be treated any community in India as an untouchable community but shall recognise it as having the same status as other communities.

17. A citizen of the Commonwealth, resident in any province, shall not be subject in any other province to any disability or discrimination which would not be equally applicable to him if he were a citizen of the Commonwealth resident in such other province.

18. All judges shall be independent in the exercise of their functions and subject only to the constitution and the law. A judge shall not be eligible to sit in a legislature and shall not hold any other office or position of emolument.

19. No person shall be tried on any criminal charge without a jury save in the cases of charges in respect of minor offences triable by law before a court of summary jurisdiction.

Nor shall any person be indefinitely detained in custody or interned in any place, except upon a charge, and without being brought to trial within a reasonable time before a duly constituted court of law.