Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties

If the Fundamental Rights are what the state must not do, the Directive Principles of State Policy are what the state should do. They are a set of goals for government, aiming at a welfare state. They are placed in Part IV (Articles 36–51) of the Constitution and borrowed from the Irish Constitution. Part IV-A then adds the Fundamental Duties of every citizen.

• They are non-justiciable (Article 37): no one can go to court to enforce them. But they are fundamental to the governance of the country. It is the duty of the state to apply them when making laws.
• They aim to build social and economic democracy, backing up the political democracy that the Fundamental Rights secure.
• They act like an instrument of instructions to every government. They are also a yardstick by which people can judge its performance.
• They carry an international echo. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) is reflected in several parts of the Constitution: the Preamble, the Fundamental Rights, the Directive Principles and the Fundamental Duties. The Directive Principles embody its economic and social rights, just as the Fundamental Rights embody its civil and political rights.

The Directive Principles fall into three broad groups.

Socialist principles aim at a welfare state:

• Article 38: secure a just social order and reduce inequalities.
• Article 39: adequate livelihood, fair distribution of resources, no concentration of wealth, and equal pay for equal work.
• Article 39A: free legal aid.
• Article 41: the right to work, to education and to public assistance.
• Article 42: just and humane conditions of work, and maternity relief.
• Article 43: a living wage for workers.
• Article 43A: worker participation in the management of industries.
• Article 47: better nutrition, a higher standard of living and public health.

Gandhian principles carry forward Gandhi's vision of the village:

• Article 40: organise village panchayats.
• Article 43: promote cottage industries.
• Article 43B: promote cooperative societies.
• Article 46: the welfare of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and weaker sections. Note one curious gap: the Constitution uses the term backward classes in several places, but it nowhere defines the term.
• Article 47: prohibition of intoxicating drinks and drugs.
• Article 48: ban cow slaughter and improve cattle breeds.

Liberal–intellectual principles reflect a modern, liberal outlook:

• Article 44: a Uniform Civil Code for all citizens.
• Article 45: early childhood care and education.
• Article 48A: protect the environment, forests and wildlife.
• Article 50: separate the judiciary from the executive.
• Article 51: promote international peace and security.

(A Uniform Civil Code means one common family law for all citizens, regardless of religion. Goa is the only state where it is in force.)

The two have clashed in court, and the balance was settled step by step. The whole story turns on one device: Article 31C. It is a shield Parliament built to stop courts from striking down laws that carry out the Directives.

• Champakam Dorairajan (1951): the first clash. The Court ruled that where a Directive conflicts with a Fundamental Right, the Fundamental Right wins, because Directives are not enforceable. To work around this, Parliament began amending the rights themselves. The First Amendment (1951) added Article 15(4), which allows special provisions for backward classes.
• Golak Nath (1967): the Court went further and held that Fundamental Rights cannot be amended at all. Parliament hit back in 1971 with two amendments:
  • the 24th Amendment affirmed Parliament's power to amend any part of the Constitution.
  • the 25th Amendment inserted Article 31C. It provided that a law made to carry out Article 39(b) or (c) could not be struck down for breaching Article 14 (equality before the law) or Article 19 (the six freedoms). Article 39(b) is about sharing the community's material resources for the common good. Article 39(c) is about stopping wealth from piling up in a few hands.
• Kesavananda Bharati (1973): the landmark ruling. The Court allowed amendments but held that Parliament cannot damage the Constitution's basic structure. It kept the first half of Article 31C. It struck down the part that had barred courts from reviewing such laws.
• 42nd Amendment (1976): widened Article 31C to shield laws implementing any Directive in Part IV, not just Article 39(b) and (c).
• Minerva Mills (1980): the Court struck that widening down and put Article 31C back to its 1971 form. So today only laws implementing Article 39(b) and (c) are given precedence over Articles 14 and 19. The Court also held that the balance between the Fundamental Rights (Part III) and the Directives (Part IV) is itself part of the basic structure.

Several DPSP have since been added by amendment:

• 42nd Amendment (1976): inserted Articles 39A (free legal aid), 43A (worker participation in management) and 48A (protect environment and wildlife).
• 86th Amendment (2002): reshaped Article 45 (early childhood care) and made elementary education a Fundamental Right under Article 21A (right to education).
• 97th Amendment (2011): added Article 43B (promote cooperative societies).

The Fundamental Duties sit in Article 51A (Part IV-A). They were added by the 42nd Amendment (1976), on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee, and were inspired by the erstwhile USSR's constitution. They remind citizens that rights come with responsibilities.

• Originally there were ten. The 86th Amendment (2002) added the eleventh: a duty on every parent or guardian to provide education to their child aged 6–14.
• They apply to citizens only, not to foreigners. They are non-justiciable: no court can compel a citizen to perform them.
• The Constitution itself provides no legislative process or mechanism to enforce the duties. Parliament is free to pass ordinary laws that punish particular violations, but the Constitution does not require or set up any such enforcement.
• The duties are moral obligations, not legal duties. They are not correlative to legal duties: breaching a duty, by itself, attracts no legal penalty.

The eleven duties ask every citizen to:

• abide by the Constitution and respect the National Flag and Anthem
• cherish the ideals of the freedom struggle
• uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India
• defend the country and render national service when called
• promote harmony and renounce practices degrading to women
• value and preserve the composite culture
• protect the natural environment
• develop a scientific temper and spirit of inquiry
• safeguard public property and abjure violence
• strive towards excellence in all spheres
• (parents/guardians) provide education to children aged 6–14.