Constitution of India Day 5

 

Heartiest Congratulations to all for completing Part-I of the Constitution of India on Day 4. Ideally we should have been reading Part - II (CITIZENSHIP : Articles 5 to 11) of the Constitution today. But, before that we shall discuss Article 20 which is contained in Part - III (FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS : Articles 12 to 35) of the Constitution. 

This article is so important along with Article 21 that even if a national emergency is proclaimed under Article 352, the enforcement of these two is not suspended through Article 359. We shall see both these articles (352 & 359) in Part - XVIII (EMERGENCY PROVISIONS : Article 352 to 360) of the Constitution.

Article 20 : Protection in respect of conviction for offences.

This article ensures our fundamental rights in the following ways:

1. A person can only be convicted for an act of the violation of a law in force at the time of commission of that act charged as an offence. This means that a person shall not be convicted if her/his act was not an offence at the time of commission of that act. For an example, consumption of alcohol is an offence today in Bihar since April 1, 2016. But, a person can not be convicted even if it is proved that s/he consumed alcohol on January 01, 2016 in Bihar.

2. A person shall not be penalised greater than the penalty, which might have been  inflicted, under the law in force at the time of commission of the act charged as an offence.For an example, if the maximum punishment as per the law for an offence is just six months, no court can sentence a person for more than six months.

3. No person shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once.

4. A person can not be compelled to be a witness against himself in any offence.

The above explanation of Article 20 has been derived out of its 3 clauses. Point no 1 & 2 given above is contained in ‘clause 1’ of Article 20.

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PS : The above texts are ‘not the exact texts’ copied from the Constitution of India.They have been modified in simple language for the ease of understanding. Due consideration has been given to ensure that ‘the spirit and the meaning’, as contained in the Constitution, remains the same. Please refer to the Constitution of India for the original texts. Please feel free to point out any discrepancy that comes across you. We shall be happy to modify the same.