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Home / IAS Preparation / Maneka Gandhi Case

Maneka Gandhi Case-(Petitioners) v. Union of India

Last Updated on Nov 28, 2023
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Maneka Gandhi vs. Union of India is a landmark case that supports Article 21 of the Constitution’s right to personal liberty. The complainant’s passport was seized by authorities under the Passport Act, which launched this lawsuit. A seven-judge Supreme Court bench unanimously upheld the illegal passport seizure. The UPSC syllabus includes these important Supreme Court decisions. Examine the Supreme Court’s decision in the Maneka Gandhi case. 

The important judgment in Maneka Gandhi vs. Union of India, which serves as a bastion of Article 21’s Right to Personal Liberty, began when the officials confiscated the petitioner’s passport under the Passport Act. This arbitrary passport seizure finally resulted in a unanimous judgment by a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court, which included M.H. Beg (CJI), V.R. Krishna Iyer, Y.V. Chandrachud, N.L. Untwalia, P.N. Bhagwati, P.S. Kailasam, and S. Murtaza Fazal Ali.

Maneka Gandhi's Case is one of the most important topics for the UPSC IAS exam. It covers a significant part of the Polity subject in the Mains General Studies Paper-II syllabus and General Studies Paper-1 of the UPSC Prelims Syllabus.

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Facts in Brief

Maneka Gandhi’s passport was granted on June 1, 1976, under the Passport Act 1967. On July 2, 1977, the Regional Passport Office in New Delhi requested that she surrender her passport. The petitioner also provided no rationale for the External Affairs Ministry’s arbitrary and unilateral action, citing public interest.

The petitioner filed a writ petition with the Supreme Court, claiming that the State’s impoundment of her passport clearly violated her right to personal liberty as granted by Article 21. In Satwant Singh Sawhney v. Ramarathnam, the Supreme Court found that the freedom to travel abroad is clearly within the scope of Article 21, albeit the degree to which the Passport Act diminished this specific right was unclear.

Issues Concerning Court

  • Are the requirements of Articles 21, 14, and 19 related to one another or mutually exclusive?
  • Should the law-enforced method, which in this case, was the Passport Act of 1967, be tested for reasonableness?
  • Is it true that Article 21 includes the right to go outside the country?
  • Is it fair to pass legislation that revokes the right to life?
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Background of Maneka Gandhi Case

Maneka Gandhi's passport was confiscated on 2 July 1977 for public interest. The Government of India refused to explain the impounding, citing the general public's interests. Gandhi filed a writ petition under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution, arguing that the order violated Articles 14, 19, and 21. In response, the Union stated in their written submissions that her passport was impounded due to her potential involvement in legal proceedings before a 'Commission of Inquiry.'

Petitioners Arguments
  • The 'Right to Travel Abroad' is a derivative of the 'Right to Personal Liberty,' ensuring that no individual can be denied this right without following the proper legal procedure. 
    • However, the Passports Act of 1967 does not provide any provisions for seizing, revoking, or impounding passports, making such actions arbitrary and unreasonable.
  • Furthermore, the Central Government violated Article 21 of the Indian Constitution by failing to offer the applicant a chance to present their case. It is essential to clarify the true meaning of Article 21, including its nature and protective measures.
  • Any judicial proceedings must adhere to the principles of natural justice, ensuring fairness and avoiding arbitrary actions.
  • The interpretation of Fundamental Rights should align with the intentions of the Constituent Assembly and uphold the essence of our constitution. In this case, Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Indian Constitution should be read together.
  • An important aspect of justice and fairness is "Audi Alteram Partem," which signifies that the applicant was not allowed to be heard.

Respondents Contentions
  • According to the Attorney General of India, the ‘Right to Travel Abroad’ was never protected by any terms of Article 19(1). Consequently, establishing the rationality of the Central Government’s behavior has no bearing on Article 19.
  • The respondent contended that the term “law,” as employed in Article 21, cannot be defined given natural justice’s basic standards, reiterating the premise outlined in A.K. Gopalan. Furthermore, the ideas of natural justice are hazy and imprecise. As a result, such ambiguous and imprecise sections in the Constitution should be avoided.

Maneka Gandhi Case Judgement by Court
  • The court changed the way we see the Constitution by stating that Article 21 cannot allow arbitrary or irrational processes, even though it mentions "process established by law."
  • The writers of the Constitution always intended the process to be fair, reasonable, and fair to everyone.
  • The court overruled the Gopalan case and said that Articles 19, 14, and 21 are connected, and any law must meet the standards set by these articles.
  • The court decided that "personal liberty" should be understood broadly and liberally, not a narrow and strict one.
  • Article 21 includes the right to travel internationally, as seen in the Satwant Singh case. The court stated that Sections 10(3)(c) and 10(5) are administrative orders that can be challenged for being unreasonable, contemptuous, denying natural justice, and going beyond their authority.

Conclusion

The most important component of the ruling was the interconnection it established between the stipulations of Articles 19, 14, and 21. By binding these phrases together, the supreme court made them indivisible and created a single entity. To be legitimate, any process must fulfill all the conditions outlined in these three paragraphs. Consequently, this decision greatly expanded the extent of human liberty while preserving the basic and fundamental right to life.

This judgment preserved the integrity of parliamentary law by refusing to nullify Sections 10(3)(c) and 10(4) of the 1967 Act, in addition to protecting people from the Executive’s uncontrolled actions (5).

The Supreme Court’s decision paved the way for the right to clean water, clean air, liberation from excessive noise, basic education, fair trial, speedy trial, right to ability to earn a living, legal assistance, right to food, right to sterile environment, right to medical care. Other important rights are to be included in Article 21.

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FAQs- Maneka Gandhi Case

The Supreme Court of India's historic decision, Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, greatly broadened the meaning of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

The decision had a significant impact on Indian constitutional law, and has been referred to as the "moment when the Supreme Court of India rejected three decades of formalist interpretation and officially opened a new path where Courts would expand, rather than limit or contract, individuals' rights against the State."
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