Legal Rights

In modern systems of jurisprudence and law, a right is the legal or moral entitlement to do or refrain from doing something or to obtain or refrain from obtaining an action, thing or recognition in civil society. Compare with duty, referring to behaviour that is expected or required of the citizen, and with privilege, referring to something that can be conferred and revoked.

The specific enumeration of rights accorded to citizens has historically differed greatly from one century to the next, and from one regime to the next, but nowadays is normally addressed by the constitutions of the respective nations. Generally speaking a right corresponds with a complementary obligation that others have on the same object or realm; for instance if someone has a right on a thing, simultaneously another party or parties have an obligation to do something (or to abstain from doing something) in order to respect that right or to give concrete execution to that right.

In India, legal rights of citizens transcends from six rights enshrined in the Constitution of India. These rights, described in Articles 14 to 35, are:

Right to Equality
Right to Freedom
Right against Exploitation
Right to Freedom of Religion
Cultural and Educational Rights
Right to Constitutional Remedies

The Constitution of India is very zealous of safeguarding legal rights of Indian citizens. Unfortunately, rights of citizens are violated day in and day out because a wide section of the citizens do not have awareness about their rights. SEVAK is engaged into spreading awareness about legal rights of people. The organisation has a clear advantage in doing so as the chairman of the organisation is a legal professional.

SEVAK is spreading awareness about legal rights of people through two programmes. The first is free legal aid and literacy programme with support from the District Legal Literacy Programme (DLLP) authorities. The second is protection of consumer rights under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

The organisation is providing free legal services too on a limited scale to the needy people. It has also filed a few PILs (Public Interest Litigations) to seek relief on issues of importance to people.