Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties of India

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The Preamble of the Constitution of India – India declaring itself as a country.

The Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties' are sections of the Constitution of India that prescribe the fundamental obligations of the states to its citizens and the duties and the rights of the citizens to the State.[note 1] These sections are considered vital elements of the constitution, which was developed between 1949 by the Constituent Assembly of India.

The

Directive Principles of State Policy
are guidelines for the framing of laws by the government. These provisions, set out in Part IV of the Constitution, are not enforceable by the courts, but the principles on which they are based are fundamental guidelines for governance that the State is expected to apply in framing any policies and passing of laws.

The Fundamental Duties are defined as the moral obligations of all citizens to help promote a spirit of patriotism and to uphold the unity of India. These duties set out in Part IV–A of the Constitution, concern individuals and the nation. Like the Directive Principles, they are not enforceable by courts unless otherwise made enforceable by parliamentary law.

Part of a series on the
Constitution of India
Preamble
XX ∙ XXI
XXII
Tenth ∙ Eleventh ∙ Twelfth
Appendices
I ∙ II ∙ III ∙ IV ∙ V
106
Related topics

History

See also:
Indian Independence Movement, Constituent Assembly of India, Constitution of India, and India

The Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles had their origins in the Indian independence movement, which strove to achieve the limits of liberty and social welfare as the goals of an independent Indian state.[1] The development of constitutional rights in India was inspired by historical documents such as England's Bill of Rights, the United States Bill of Rights and France's Declaration of the Rights of Man.[2] The demand for civil liberties formed an important part of the Indian independence movement, with one of the objectives of the Indian National Congress (INC) being to end discrimination between the British rulers and their Indian subjects. This demand was explicitly mentioned in resolutions adopted by the INC between 1917 and 1919.[3] The demands articulated in these resolutions included granting to Indians the rights to equality before the law, free speech, trial by juries composed at least half of Indian members, political power, and equal terms for bearing arms as British citizens.[4]

The unsatisfactory

American Constitution and those adopted by post-war European countries, and several of them were adopted from the 1925 Bill. Several of these provisions were later replicated in various parts of the Indian Constitution, including the Fundamental Right itself to the defence of civil rights and economic freedom, with the stated objectives of putting an end to exploitation, providing social security and implementing land reforms. Other new rights proposed by the resolution were the prohibition of State titles, universal adult franchise, the abolition of capital punishment and freedom of movement.[7] Drafted by Jawaharlal Nehru, the resolution, which later formed the basis for some of the Directive Principles, placed the primary responsibility of carrying out social reform on the State, and marked the increasing influence of socialism and Gandhian philosophy on the independence movement.[8] The final phase of the Independence movement saw a reiteration of the socialist principles of the 1930s, along with an increased focus on minority rights – which had become an issue of major political concern by then – which were published in the Sapru Report in 1945. The report, apart from stressing on protecting the rights of minorities, also sought to prescribe a "The Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles had their origins in the Indian independence movement, which strove to achieve the values of liberty and social welfare as the goals of an independent Indian state. The development of constitutional rights in India was inspired by historical documents such as England's Bill of Rights, the United States Bill of Rights and France's Declaration of the Rights of Man. The demand for civil liberties formed an important part of the Indian independence movement, with one of the objectives of the Indian National Congress (INC) being to end discrimination between the British rulers and their Indian subjects. This demand was explicitly mentioned in resolutions adopted by the INC between 1917 and 1919. The demands articulated in these resolutions included granting to Indians the rights to equality before the law, free speech, trial by juries composed at least half of Indian members, political power, and equal terms for bearing arms as British citizens. standard of conduct for the legislatures, government and the courts".[9]

During the final stages of the

42nd Amendment in 1976.[17]

Fundamental Rights

Main article:
Fundamental Rights in India
Rights
Theoretical distinctions
Human rights
Rights by beneficiary
Other groups of rights

The Fundamental Rights, embodied in Part III of the Constitution, guarantee civil rights to all Indians and prevent the State from encroaching an individual's liberty while simultaneously placing upon it an obligation to protect the citizens' rights from encroachment by society.[18] Seven main fundamental rights were originally provided by the Constitution – the right to equality, right to freedom, right against exploitation, right to freedom of religion, cultural and educational rights, and right to constitutional remedies.[19] However, the right to property was removed from Part III of the Constitution by the 44th Amendment in 1978.[20][note 2] The purpose of the Fundamental Rights is to preserve individual liberty and democratic principles based on equality of all members of society.[21] Dr Ambedkar said that the responsibility of the legislature is not just to provide fundamental rights but also and rather, more importantly, to safeguard them.[22]

They act as limitations on the powers of the legislature and executive, under Article 13,

High Courts of the states have the power to declare such legislative or executive action as unconstitutional and void.[23] These rights are largely enforceable against the State, which as per the wide definition provided in Article 12, includes not only the legislative and executive wings of the federal and state governments, but also local administrative authorities and other agencies and institutions which discharge public functions or are of a governmental character.[24] However, there are certain rights – such as those in Articles 15, 17, 18, 23, 24 – that are also available against private individuals.[25] Further, certain Fundamental Rights – including those under Articles 14, 20, 21, 25 – apply to persons of any nationality upon Indian soil, while others – such as those under Articles 15, 16, 19, 30 – are applicable only to citizens of India.[26][27]

The Fundamental Rights are not absolute and are subject to reasonable restrictions as necessary for the protection of public interest.

basic structure of the Constitution.[28] The Fundamental Rights can be enhanced, removed or otherwise altered through a constitutional amendment, passed by a two-thirds majority of each House of Parliament.[29] The imposition of a state of emergency may lead to a temporary suspension any of the Fundamental Rights, excluding Articles 20 and 21, by order of the President.[30] The President may, by order, suspend the right to constitutional remedies as well, thereby barring citizens from approaching the Supreme Court for the enforcement of any of the Fundamental Rights, except Articles 20 and 21, during the period of the emergency.[31] Parliament may also restrict the application of the Fundamental Rights to members of the Indian Armed Forces and the police, in order to ensure proper discharge of their duties and the maintenance of discipline, by a law made under Article 33.[32]

Directive Principles of State Policy

Main article:
Directive Principles in India

The Directive Principles of State Policy, embodied in Part IV of the Constitution, are directions given to the state to guide the establishment of an economic and social democracy, as proposed by the

socialist instructions that were the aim of social revolution envisaged in India by the Constituent Assembly.[34] The state is expected to keep these principles in mind while framing laws and policies, even though they are non-justiciable in nature. The Directive Principles may be classified under the following categories: ideals that the state ought to strive towards achieving; directions for the exercise of legislative and executive power; and rights of the citizens which the State must aim towards securing.[33]

Despite being non-justiciable, the Directive Principles act as a check on the state; theorised as a yardstick in the hands of the electorate and the opposition to measure the performance of a government at the time of an election.

income inequality
and ensure individual dignity, as mandated.

Article 39 lays down certain principles of policy to be followed by the State, including providing an adequate means of livelihood for all citizens,

nationalisation of mineral resources as well as public utilities.[38] Further, several legislation pertaining to agrarian reform and land tenure have been enacted by the federal and state governments, in order to ensure equitable distribution of land resources.[39]

Articles 41–43 mandate the State to endeavour to secure to all citizens the

scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and protect them from discrimination and exploitation. Several enactments, including two Constitutional amendments, have been passed to give effect to this provision.[44]

Article 44 encourages the State to secure a

prohibiting slaughter of cattle.[50] Article 48A mandates the State to protect the environment and safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country, while Article 49 places an obligation upon the State to ensure the preservation of monuments and objects of national importance.[51] Article 50 requires the State to ensure the separation of judiciary from executive in public services, in order to ensure judicial independence, and federal legislation has been enacted to achieve this objective.[52][53] The State, according to Article 51, must also strive for the promotion of international peace and security, and Parliament has been empowered under Article 253 to make laws giving effect to international treaties.[54]

Fundamental Duties

Any act of disrespect towards the Indian National Flag is illegal.

The

state legislative members, etc., it amounts to contempt of the constitution which is punishable under Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971. Supreme court has ruled that these fundamental duties can also help the court to decide the constitutionality of a law passed by the legislature. There is reference to such duties in international instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 51A brings the Indian constitution into conformity with these treaties.[55]

The fundamental duties noted in the constitution are as follows:[57]

It shall be the duty of every citizen of India —

  1. To abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem;
  2. To cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom;
  3. To uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India;
  4. To defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so;
  5. To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic, and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women;
  6. To value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;
  7. To protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures;
  8. To develop the scientific temper, humanism, and the spirit of inquiry and reform;
  9. To safeguard public property and to abjure violence;
  10. To strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavor and achievement;
  11. Who is a parent or guardian, to provide opportunities for education to his child, or as the case may be, ward between the age of six to fourteen years.[58][a]

Criticism and analysis

Children are now unemployed in hazardous environments, but their employment in hazardous jobs, prevalently as domestic help, violates the spirit of the constitution in the eyes of many critics and human rights advocates. 16.5 million children are in employment.[59] India was ranked 88 out of 159 countries in 2005, according to the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians.[60] The year 1990–1991 was declared as the "Year of Social Justice" in the memory of B.R. Ambedkar.[61] The government provides free textbooks to students belonging to scheduled castes and tribes pursuing medicine and engineering courses. During 2002–2003, a sum of Rs. 4.77 crore (47.7 million) was released for this purpose.[62] In order to protect scheduled castes and tribes from discrimination, the government enacted the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, prescribing severe punishments for such actions.[63]

The

Consumer Protection Act of 1986 provides for the better protection of consumers. The Equal Remuneration Act of 1976 provides for equal pay for equal work for both men and women.[65] The Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (Universal Rural Employment Program) was launched in 2001 to attain the objective of providing gainful employment for the rural poor. The program was implemented through the Panchayati Raj institutions.[66]

A system of elected village councils, known as

states and territories of India.[67] One-third of the total of number of seats have been reserved for women in Panchayats at every level; and in the case of Bihar, half the seats have been reserved for women.[68][69] The judiciary has been separated from the executive "in all the states and territories except Jammu and Kashmir and Nagaland."[62] India supported the United Nations in peace-keeping activities, with the Indian Army having participated in 37 UN peace-keeping operations.[70]

The implementation of a

Shah Bano, a Muslim woman who had been divorced by her husband in 1978 was entitled to receive alimony from her former husband under Indian law applicable for all Indian women. This decision evoked outrage in the Muslim community, which sought the application of the Muslim personal law and in response the Parliament passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 overturning the Supreme Court's verdict.[71] This act provoked further outrage, as jurists, critics and politicians alleged that the fundamental right of equality for all citizens irrespective of religion or gender was being jettisoned to preserve the interests of distinct religious communities. The verdict and the legislation remain a source of heated debate, with many citing the issue as a prime example of the poor implementation of Fundamental Rights.[71]

Per Article 38 (1), prompt rendering of the justice by courts is part of animating judiciary.[72] Rendering prompt justice is the foremost purpose of the constitution as enshrined in the Preamble to the Constitution also. However the judiciary is failing in this respect by causing inordinate delay considering time of rendering justice in a case arbitrarily is its constitutional liberty.[73]

Most of the fundamental rights are violated in courtrooms in either criminal cases or civil cases. Before they get into the court with their matters everyone should be aware of these 5 writs which are 1. Habeas Corpus, 2. Mandamus, 3. Certiorari, 4. Prohibition, 5. Quo Warranto.

Relationship between the Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties

The Directive Principles have been used to uphold the Constitutional validity of legislations in case of a conflict with the Fundamental Rights. Article 31C, added by the 25th Amendment in 1971, provided that any law made to give effect to the Directive Principles in Article 39(b)–(c) would not be invalid on the grounds that they derogated from the Fundamental Rights conferred by Articles 14, 19 and 21. The application of this article was sought to be extended to all the Directive Principles by the 42nd Amendment in 1976, but the Supreme Court struck down the extension as void on the ground that it violated the basic structure of the Constitution.

social welfare.[75] The Supreme Court, after the judgment in the Kesavananda Bharati case, has adopted the view of the Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles being complementary to each other, each supplementing the other's role in aiming at the same goal of establishing a welfare state by means of social revolution.[76] Similarly, the Supreme Court has used the Fundamental Duties to uphold the Constitutional validity of statutes which seeks to promote the objects laid out in the Fundamental Duties.[77] These Duties have also been held to be obligatory for all citizens, subject to the State enforcing the same by means of a valid law.[56] The Supreme Court has also issued directions to the State in this regard, with a view towards making the provisions effective and enabling citizens to properly perform their duties.[77]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Fundamental Duty #11 was added after 86th constitution amendments in 2002.
  1. states
    , the administrative divisions, State (encompassing all the authorities in India) has been capitalized and the term state is in lowercase.
  2. ^ The right to property is still a Constitutionally recognised right, but is now contained outside the Part on Fundamental Rights, in Article 300A which states:

    No person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law.
  3. bye laws
    , notifications, or customs having the force of law.
  4. ^ His Holiness Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, AIR 1973 SC 1461. This was popularly known as the Fundamental Rights Case.

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Austin 1999, p. 50
  2. ^ Tayal, B.B. & Jacob, A. (2005), Indian History, World Developments and Civics, p. A-23
  3. ^ Austin 1999, pp. 52–53
  4. ^ Austin 1999, p. 53
  5. ^ Austin 1999, pp. 53–54
  6. ^ Austin 1999, p. 54
  7. ^ Austin 1999, p. 56
  8. ^ Austin 1999, pp. 56–57
  9. ^ Austin 1999, p. 57
  10. ^ Basu 1993, p. 15
  11. ^ Basu 1993, p. 19
  12. ^ Austin 1999, pp. 61–62
  13. ^ Austin 1999, pp. 62–63
  14. ^ Austin 1999, p. 59
  15. ^ Austin 1999, p. 73
  16. ^ Austin 1999, pp. 73–74
  17. ^ a b Basu 1993, p. 131
  18. ^ Austin 1999, pp. 50–51
  19. ^ Austin 1999, p. 51
  20. ^ Basu 1993, p. 79
  21. ^ Austin 1999, p. 114
  22. ^ "Constituent Assembly debate on Fundamental Rights". 6 June 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  23. ^ Basu 1993, pp. 78–79
  24. ^ a b Basu 2003, p. 35
  25. ^ Basu 1993, pp. 86–87
  26. ^ Tayal, B.B. & Jacob, A. (2005), Indian History, World Developments and Civics, p. A-25
  27. ^ Basu 1993, p. 85
  28. ^ Basu 2003, pp. 1647–1649
  29. ^ Basu 2003, p. 1645
  30. ^ Basu 2003, pp. 1615–1616
  31. ^ Basu 2003, pp. 1617–1618
  32. ^ Basu 1993, pp. 129–130
  33. ^ a b Basu 1993, p. 137
  34. ^ Austin 1999, p. 75
  35. ^ Basu 1993, pp. 140–142
  36. ^ Basu 1993, p. 140
  37. ^ Basu 2003, pp. 448–449
  38. ^ Basu 2003, pp. 449–450
  39. ^ Basu 1993, p. 143
  40. ^ Basu 2003, pp. 454–456
  41. ^ a b Basu 2003, p. 456
  42. ^ Basu 1993, p. 144
  43. ^ Basu 2003, p. 453
  44. ^ Basu 2003, pp. 457–458
  45. ^ Basu 2003, pp. 456–457
  46. ^ Basu 2003, p. 457
  47. ^ a b 86th Amendment Act, 2002 Archived 9 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine .
  48. ^ Basu 2003, p. 459
  49. ^ Basu 1993, pp. 144–145
  50. ^ Basu 2003, pp. 459–460
  51. ^ Basu 2003, p. 460
  52. ^ Basu 1993, p. 145
  53. ^ Basu 2003, p. 461
  54. ^ Basu 2003, pp. 461–462
  55. ^ a b Basu 2003, p. 465
  56. ^ a b Basu 1993, p. 131
  57. ^ "PART IV A Fundamental Duties, The Constitution of India" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  58. ^ "The Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002". India.gov.in.
  59. ^ "Child labour in India". India Together. Archived from the original on 12 July 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2006.
  60. ^ Index of perception of corruption, published by Transparency International.
  61. ^ "Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar". Dr. Ambedkar Foundation. Archived from the original on 5 May 2006. Retrieved 29 June 2006.
  62. ^ a b Tayal, B.B. & Jacob, A. (2005), Indian History, World Developments and Civics, p. A-45
  63. ^ "Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1995". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 29 June 2006.
  64. ^ "Minimum Wages Act, 1948". Helplinelaw.com. Retrieved 29 June 2006.
  65. ^ "Equal Remuneration Act, 1976". IndianLawInfo.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2006. Retrieved 29 June 2006.
  66. ^ "Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana, 2001" (PDF). Ministry of Rural Development, India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 July 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2006.
  67. ^ "Panchayati Raj in India". Poorest Areas Civil Society. Archived from the original on 30 July 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2006.
  68. ^ "73rd Amendment Act, 1992". Archived from the original on 5 May 2003. Retrieved 29 June 2006.
  69. ^ "Seat Reservation for Women in Local Panchayats" (PDF). p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2006.
  70. ^ "India and United Nations". Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations. Archived from the original on 4 May 2006. Retrieved 29 June 2006.
  71. ^ a b "Shah Bano legacy". p. 1. Archived from the original on 1 September 2006. Retrieved 11 September 2006.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  72. ^ "Rule of law index, 2016". Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  73. ^ Ranjan, Brajesh (25 August 2016). "What causes judicial delay? Judgements diluting time frames in Code of Civil Procedure worsen the problem of adjournments". The Times of India. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  74. ^ Basu 1993, p. 142
  75. ^ Austin 1999, pp. 114–115
  76. ^ Basu 2003, p. 444
  77. ^ a b Basu 2003, p. 466

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

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