Procedure Established By Law Vs Due Process Of Law
The term "procedure established by law" is used directly in the Indian constitution, as we've seen. Due Process of Law has a much broader meaning, but it is not mentioned explicitly in the Indian Constitution. The due process doctrine is followed in the United States of America, but it was purposefully left out by Indian constitutional framers. However, in the majority of recent Supreme Court decisions, the issue of due process has resurfaced. In the Maneka Gandhi case, the Supreme Court discovered Due Process of Law. Let's take a closer look at the differences.
What Is The Difference Between Procedure Established By Law Vs Due Process Of Law?
Procedure Established by Law
Following this doctrine, a person's life or personal liberty can be taken away from them according to legal procedures. So, if Parliament passes a law, a person's life or personal liberty can be taken away in accordance with the law's provisions and procedures. There is a major flaw in this doctrine. It makes no attempt to determine whether the laws passed by Parliament are fair, just, or arbitrary. "Law-enforced procedure" means that a law that has been duly enacted is valid, even if it violates principles of justice and equity. Strict adherence to legal procedures may increase the risk of individuals' lives and personal liberty being jeopardised as a result of unjust laws enacted by the law-making authorities. SC emphasised the importance of due process of law in order to avoid this situation.
Due Process of Law
The due process of law doctrine examines not only whether a law exists to deprive a person of his or her life and personal liberty, but also whether the law is fair, just, and not arbitrary. If the Supreme Court finds a law to be unjust, it will declare it null and void. Individual rights are treated more fairly under this doctrine.
Due process is the legal requirement that the state respect all of a person's legal rights, and that laws enacted by states must conform to the laws of the land, such as fairness, fundamental rights, and liberty. It also grants the judiciary access to any legislation's fundamental fairness, justice, and liberty.
Due Process of Law = Law-enforced procedure + The procedure must be fair, just, and not arbitrary.
The Supreme Court of India interpreted Article 21 faithfully to the intent of the Constitution's framers in the early decades. In India, however, an activist Supreme Court began incorporating the United States' constitutional doctrines of "procedural due process" and "substantive due process" in the 1970s. Though Article 21 expressly states that a person's life and personal liberty may be taken away if only a "procedure established by law" (i.e., a validly enacted law) is in place, the doctrine of procedural due process requires that this procedural law be "fair, just, and reasonable." The doctrine of substantive due process allows a court to question not only procedural laws, but also the legislative branch's substantive value choices.