Human Dignity Research Paper

Moral, ethical, legal and political discussions use the concept of ‘ human dignity’ to express the idea that a being has an innate right to be valued, respected and to receive ethical treatment. In the modern context, dignity can function as an extension of the Enlightenment- era concepts of inherent, inalienable rights. The English word “ dignity “ attested from the early 13th century, comes from the Latin term ‘ dignitas’ which means ‘worthiness’ and from the French term ‘dignite’ .In ordinary modern usage it denotes ‘respect’ and ‘status’. The term ‘human dignity’ is however, rarely defines out right in the legal discussions. The International Proclamation have thus for left dignity undefined and many legal commentators cite it as a ‘reason’

As a matter of constitutional practice and the basis of legal / judicial decisions, in the decades since the end of world war-II , human dignity has emerged as the organizing idea of the ground breaking paradigm in the public law. In jurisdiction around the world including India, human dignity is invoked as a right or value that imposes an overarching obligation on all public authorities , as the underlying basis of the constitutional rights, as an interpretive principal for determine the protections that particular constitutional rights afford, as a constraint on the kind of constitutional amendments that may be lawfully enacted, and as a standard against which limitations of constitutional rights must be justified. From the point of legal practice, the significance of human dignity cannot be overstated and together these conditions create, refine and sustained legal order in which human dignity of each person forms a justiciable constraint on the exercise of all public

Furthermore, in Part III of the constitution of India, 1950, the provision of fundamental rights protects the dignity of the individuals at large. The constitutional Courts also have emphasized dignity as a fundamental right in many cases, and have developed the decisional jurisprudence regarding human dignity. The Article 21 of the Indian Constitution is the heart and soul of our constitution. It provides for the protection of and advancement of human dignity and its scope is being widened in an ever expanding horizon, by various judicial pronouncements. The major landmark decision which led to the widening concept of Article 21 is the case of Maneka Ghandi Vs Union of India, 1 SCC 248(1978), wherein a broad interpretation was adopted. In this case a number of progressive propositions were made to make Article 21 more meaningful and Article 21 was given an expanded meaning to road the ambit of the Fundamental Rights rather than attenuate their meaning and content by a process of judicial construction. Judge Iyer remarked, “The spirit of man is at the root of article 21