Mapping the Expanding Horizons of the Right to Life and Personal Liberty Under Article 21 of the Constitution of India

Abstract

The right to life and the freedom to pursue one’s own interests is included in the founding documents
of a great number of countries, including the United States, Switzerland, and India, amongst others.
This right is not independent of any other fundamental liberties; rather, it incorporates a broad variety
of those freedoms. In the past, these safeguards were restricted to regions that were already protected,
and their scope was severely constrained. In addition to advances in social conditions, indicators of
human development include rising rates of literacy and the accumulation of wealth. As a consequence
of globalisation, the ideas of “life” and “liberty” have taken on a more all-encompassing sense, and
the rights that come under the aegis of this notion have expanded to include a far more comprehensive
set of protections. The revolution in the fundamental concept calls for a re-evaluation of the growth,
meaning, and depth of the right to life and personal liberty, as well as the role of the "court and
justification for such a liberal interpretation." This is in addition to examining the function of the court
and justification for such a liberal interpretation. Over the course of history, the application of Article
21 has been significantly expanded, mostly as a result of judicial activism that was guided by the idea
that legal reality should be taken into account. As a consequence of this finding, the extent of Article 21
and the growing significance of judicial activism are the primary foci of this investigation.