State need to compensate if failed to carry out statutory obligations

the State is bound to protect the life and liberty of every human being, from the following judgments: i) In Pt. Parmanand Katara vs. Union of India, A.I.R. 1989 SC 2039, this Court was confronted with the question as to whether a doctor has the professional obligation to instantaneously extend his services to a person brought for medical treatment, without any delay on the pretext of compliance with procedural criminal law. This court declared that the obligation of a doctor to extend his services with due expertise, for protecting life was paramount and absolute and any laws of procedure which would interfere with the discharge of this obligation, would be antithetical to Article 21 of the Constitution. It was further observed that where there is delay 102 on the part of medical professionals to administer treatment in emergencies, state action can intervene. ii) In National Human Rights Commission vs. State of Arunachal Pradesh, (1996) 1 SCC 742, this Court considered a writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, pertaining to the threats held out by the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union, to force Chakmas out of the State of Arunachal Pradesh. It was the case of the Petitioner therein that a large number of Chakmas from erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) were displaced by the Kaptai Hydel Power Project in 1964. They had taken shelter in Assam and Tripura. Most of them were settled in these States and became Indian citizens in due course of time. Since a large number of refugees had taken shelter in Assam, the State Government had expressed its inability to rehabilitate all of them and requested assistance in this regard from certain other States. As a result of such consultations between the North Eastern States, some population of Chakmas began residing in Arunachal Pradesh. It was also stated that many of such persons had made representations for the grant of citizenship under Section 5(1)(a) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, however, no decision was communicated in this regard. In the interim, relations between citizens residing in Arunachal Pradesh and the Chakmas deteriorated and the latter were being subjected to repressive measures with a view to forcibly expel them from the State. In that background, a writ 103 petition came to be filed, alleging, inter-alia, unwillingness on the part of the State to contain the hostile situation. In that background, this Court issued a writ of mandamus, inter-alia, directing the State of Arunachal Pradesh to ensure that the life and liberty of every Chakma residing in the State is protected, and any attempt by organised groups to evict or drive them out of the State is repelled, if necessary, by requisitioning the service of paramilitary or police force. It was also directed that the application made by Chakmas for the grant of citizenship under Section 5(1)(a) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 be considered, and pending such consideration, no Chakma shall be evicted from the State. It is to be noted that in the said case, this Court cited the Fundamental Rights of persons under Article 21 in directing the State to protect the rights of Chakmas from threats by private actors. The said directions were issued in the backdrop of the State’s inaction to mobilise the available machinery to contain the hostile situation and such inaction had or could have had the effect of depriving Chakmas of their right to life and personal liberties. It was in that context that this Court declared that the State is bound to protect the life and liberty of every human being, be he a citizen or otherwise. iii) In Gaurav Kumar Bansal vs. Union of India, (2015) 2 SCC 130, this Court, in directing the respondents therein to provide ex gratia 104 monetary compensation to the families of the deceased who have succumbed to the pandemic of Covid-19, in view of Section 12 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, relied on Article 21 of the Constitution. iv) Similarly, in Swaraj Abhiyan vs. Union of India, (2016) 7 SCC 498, this Court relied on Article 21 of the Constitution, in issuing a writ of mandamus to the Union of India, to effectively implement the National Food Security, 2013 in certain parts of the country which had been affected due to drought. The aforesaid cases illustrate that this Court has observed that the State is bound to protect the life and liberty of every human being, in the following contexts: a) Where inaction on the part of the State, to contain a hostile situation between private actors, could have had the effect of depriving persons of their right to life and liberty; b) Where the State had failed to carry out its obligations under a statute or a policy or scheme, and such failure could have had the effect of depriving persons of their right to life and liberty. c) It is therefore clear that the acknowledgement of this Court of the duty of the State under Article 21, only pertains to a negative duty not to deprive a person of his right to life and personal liberty, except in accordance with law. This Court has not recognised an affirmative duty on the part of the State under Article 21 of the 105 Constitution to protect the rights of a citizen, against a threat to the liberty of a citizen by the acts or omissions of another citizen or private agency. Of course, there exist a plethora of statutes which cast an obligation on the State and its machinery to contain hostile situations between private actors; to repel any action by private actors which would undermine the life and liberty of other persons etc. This Court has, on several occasions, issued writs of mandamus directing State authorities to carry out such statutory obligations. In directing so, this Court may have referred to the right to life and personal liberties under Article 21. However, such reference to Article 21 is not to be construed as an acknowledgement by the Court of an affirmative duty on the part of the State under Article 21 of the Constitution to protect the rights of a citizen, against a threat to the liberty of a citizen by the acts or omissions of another citizen or private agency. Given that Article 21 only imposes a negative duty, a violation of the same would occur only when the State undertakes an obligation by enacting a statute or a scheme, but does not fulfil it. Thus, the violation will only occur when a scheme has been initiated but is not being appropriately implemented, as was noted in the aforecited cases.