Question

How does the Supreme Court protect the Fundamental Rights of the individuals?

Answer 1

Hint: The Supreme Court has been constituted as the defender and guarantor of the fundamental rights of the citizens. Any aggrieved party can move the Supreme Court in the case of violation of its Fundamental Right.

Complete answer:
For the enforcement of the Fundamental Rights of an aggrieved citizen, the right to remedies is conferred under Article 32. Therefore, the right to get Fundamental Rights protected is in itself a fundamental right. This makes the Fundamental Rights real. The Supreme Court has made Article 32 a basic feature of the Constitution i.e. these rights cannot be taken away even by way of an amendment to the Constitution.
An aggrieved party, in case of violation of the Fundamental Rights, has the option of moving either the high court or the Supreme Court directly. However, the ruling of the Supreme Court states that wherever relief through the high court is available under Article 226, the aggrieved party should first move the high court.
The Supreme Court and the high court both can issue writs in case of the violation of fundamental rights of an aggrieved party. These writs include habeas corpus, certiorari, prohibition, quo-warranto, and mandamus. However, the writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court differs from that of the high court in three respects. The writ jurisdiction (power to issue writs) of the Supreme Court is narrower than that of the high court. Whereas the territorial jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is wider than that of the high court.

Note: These writs are borrowed from English law where they are known as ‘prerogative writs’. Also, the Supreme Court cannot refuse to exercise its writ jurisdiction and on the other hand, a high court can refuse to exercise its writ jurisdiction. Thus, the Supreme Court is constituted as the main defender and guarantor of the Fundamental Rights.