Health and Access to Justice

Abstract

Outlining the Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties of the citizens, the Constitution highlights the necessity of the integration of the social and economic rights with the political freedom. In this sense, the Indian Constitution eminently indicates the Indian state being a welfare state. It is this philosophy which is reflected in the Indian Constitution in terms of its different schedules and the contents of these schedules. Even though health, as a sector, does not appear in many places of the Indian Constitution, there are indirect and tacit references to health of the people and the role the state has to play in the development of health of the people. In the following paragraphs, an attempt is made to analyze the various aspects of the Indian Constitution so far as the health sector is concerned.The term “access to justice” cannot be given any precise meaning. Its meaning is intricately intertwined with the meaning of the term “justice”. On its turn, the definition of justice depends on the context it is being used. For every society the term has a different significance. For some it may be fairness whereas others might term it as advantage of the stronger. The notion of justice evokes the cognition of the rule of law, of the resolution of conflicts, of institutions that make law and of those who enforce it; it expresses fairness and the implicit recognition of the principle of equality.