Abolition of Untouchability — Article 17 — KSLU Constitutional Law Notes

Abolition of Untouchability — Article 17

Most Fundamental Rights protect you against the State. Article 17 is different — it reaches into society itself and outlaws a practice between private individuals. That is how seriously the framers took the abolition of untouchability: they did not merely disapprove of it, they made its practice a crime.

A right that binds everyone

Article 17 abolishes “untouchability” and forbids its practice in any form. The enforcement of any disability arising out of untouchability is a punishable offence. Three points make it examinable:

1. It abolishes, not merely regulates. Untouchability is wiped out as a matter of law from the moment the Constitution came into force.

2. It binds private persons, not just the State. This is a rare horizontal Fundamental Right — you can invoke it against another individual, not only the government.

3. It is backed by penal law. Parliament enacted the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 (originally the Untouchability (Offences) Act) and later the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 to punish the practice.

The Constitution does not define “untouchability”; it refers to the historical social practice of treating certain depressed classes as “untouchable”, not to its literal or dictionary sense.

Article 17, Constitution of India: “‘Untouchability’ is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden. The enforcement of any disability arising out of ‘Untouchability’ shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law.”

In Simple Terms: untouchability is banned outright — in every form — and practising it is a crime, whether done by the State or by a private person.

flowchart TD
    A17["Article 17 — Untouchability abolished"]
    A17 --> F1["Practice in ANY form forbidden"]
    A17 --> F2["Binds private persons too (horizontal)"]
    A17 --> F3["An offence punishable by law"]
    F3 --> L1["Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955"]
    F3 --> L2["SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989"]

Case Laws

• State of Karnataka v Appa Balu Ingale (1993) — Art 17 aims to end the historic injustice of untouchability; it operates against private conduct.

• Devarajiah v B. Padmanna (1958) — “untouchability” refers to the social practice, not its literal dictionary meaning.

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