Part III of the Constitution is a foundational provision of the Indian Constitution, often called the Magna Carta of India, which enshrines the Fundamental Rights. This section, spanning Articles 12 to 35, was created by the framers, drawing inspiration from the US Bill of Rights, to ensure individual liberty, equality, and justice, and to protect citizens from arbitrary state action.
The mechanism begins with Article 12, which defines the term "State" to include the Union and State Governments, Parliament, State Legislatures, and all local or other authorities under the control of the Government of India. Article 13 then establishes the principle of judicial review by declaring that any law, whether pre-constitutional or post-constitutional, that is inconsistent with or abridges the Fundamental Rights shall be void.
The core of Part III is the guarantee of six categories of rights, such as the Right to Equality (Articles 14 to 18) and the Right to Freedom (Articles 19 to 22). The most crucial connection is through Article 32, the Right to Constitutional Remedies, which Dr. B.R. Ambedkar called the "heart and soul of the Constitution". Article 32 empowers an individual to directly approach the Supreme Court for the enforcement of these rights through writs like Habeas Corpus and Mandamus.
Part III is inextricably linked to the Basic Structure Doctrine, formally adopted in Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala in 1973, where the Supreme Court ruled that Parliament's power to amend the Constitution under Article 368 does not extend to altering its basic structure, which includes the Fundamental Rights.
Significant changes have occurred, notably the removal of the Right to Property, which was originally under Article 19(1)(f) and Article 31, by the Forty-fourth Amendment Act, 1978, making it a constitutional right under Article 300A instead. Conversely, the Eighty-sixth Amendment Act, 2002, inserted Article 21A, establishing the Right to Education as a Fundamental Right. More recently, the 103rd Amendment Act of 2019 added clauses to Articles 15 and 16 to provide for a 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections.