Who enjoys the Rights guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution?

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Article 19 rights are restricted to citizens alone. These rights are not available to anyone who is not a citizen of India¹ or who cannot be a citizen of India.² In other words, these rights are not available to a foreign national or someone who has given up their citizenship of India or whose Indian citizenship has been terminated.

Registered companies and societies are not considered citizens under Article 19. However, if a state action limits the rights of a company and as a result, the rights of the shareholders of that company are infringed, the shareholders enjoy the rights under Article 19 as citizens of India. So, the fundamental rights of citizens are not lost when they form a company or society.³

Hans Muller v. Superintendent. Presidency Jail, Calcutta, AIR 1955 SC 367 [↩]
Dharam Dutt v. Union of India, (2004) 1 SCC 712 [↩]
Bennett Coleman and Co. v. Union of India, (1972) 2 SCC 788 [↩]

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