Judicial Activism and Fundamental Rights in India

Today, constitutional law can no longer be thought of in isolation from international developments. International law and international human rights law are being viewed as a treasury from which principles can be adopted and made part of national law by judicial decisions. International law has been described as making up for the deficiencies in the Indian legal system. A host of the judicial decisions have been indicating the need for India to discharge its international obligations, in particular relating to enforcement of human rights seriously in order for it to be able to hold its head high on the international stage. It is a well-established principle that the judiciary is obliged to forge new tools and methods in safeguarding the rights of the citizens and can draw on international law as a key instrument in interpreting domestic law. The methodology utilised in the present research work is fundamentally intended to be comprehensive. The primary source of information consequently has been mainly the legislations of India. The research work is predicated on the studies of primary as well as secondary sources of information. The primary sources are taken in the form of legislations; secondary sources are available and have been utilised in the form of peregrine judgements, journals, periodicals, magazines and articles.