VoxJuris
Home › Acts › Constitution › Part III › Article 23

Constitution of India · Part III: Fundamental Rights · Right against Exploitation

Article 23: Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour

In plain words

Trafficking in human beings, begar (forced unpaid labour) and other similar forms of forced labour are prohibited, and breaking this is an offence punishable by law. The State can still impose compulsory service for public purposes, without discrimination only on grounds of religion, race, caste or class.

A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.

Official text

(1) Traffic in human beings and begar and other similar forms of forced labour are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law.

(2) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from imposing compulsory service for public purposes, and in imposing such service the State shall not make any discrimination on grounds only of religion, race, caste or class or any of them.

Source: India Code (Legislative Department), the official text of the Constitution of India. As amended up to the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023. Text as on 10 September 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.

Supreme Court judgments citing the article 23