Fundamental Duties

• The original constitution contained only the fundamental
  rights and not the fundamental duties.
• The framers of the Constitution did not feel it necessary to incorporate the fundamental duties of
  the citizens in the Constitution. However, they incorporated the duties of the
  State in the Constitution in the form of Directive Principles of State Polity.
• Later in 1976, the fundamental duties of citizens were added in the
  Constitution. In 2002, one more Fundamental Duty was added.
• The Fundamental Duties in the Indian Constitution are inspired by the
  Constitution of erstwhile USSR.

Notably, none of the Constitutions of major
democratic countries like USA, Canada, France, Germany, Australia and so
on specifically contain a list of duties of citizens. Japanese Constitution is,
perhaps, the only democratic Constitution in world which contains a list of
duties of citizens.

• The socialist countries, on the contrary, gave equal
  importance to the fundamental rights and duties of their citizens. Hence, the
  Constitution of erstwhile USSR declared that the citizen’s exercise of their
  rights and freedoms was inseparable from the performance of their duties and
  obligations.

SWARAN SINGH COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS

In 1976, the Congress Party set up the Sardar Swaran Singh Committee to make recommendations about fundamental duties, the need and necessity of which was felt during the operation of the internal emergency (1975–1977).
The committee recommended the inclusion of a separate chapter on fundamental duties in the Constitution. It stressed that the citizens should
become conscious that in addition to the enjoyment of rights, they also have certain duties to perform as well. The Congress Government at Centre
accepted these recommendations and enacted the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act in 1976. This amendment added a new part, namely, Part IVA to the Constitution. This new part consists of only one Article, that is, Article 51A which for the first time specified a code of ten fundamental
duties of the citizens. The ruling Congress party declared the non-inclusion of fundamental duties in the Constitution as a historical mistake and claimed that what the framers of the Constitution failed to do was being done now. Though the Swaran Singh Committee suggested the incorporation of eight Fundamental Duties in the Constitution, the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act (1976) included ten Fundamental Duties.
Interestingly, certain recommendations of the Committee were not accepted by the Congress Party and hence, not incorporated in the
Constitution.

These include:
1. The Parliament may provide for the imposition of such penalty or
punishment as may be considered appropriate for any non-compliance
with or refusal to observe any of the duties.
2. No law imposing such penalty or punishment shall be called in question
in any court on the ground of infringement of any of Fundamental Rights
or on the ground of repugnancy to any other provision of the Constitution.
3. Duty to pay taxes should also be a Fundamental Duty of the citizens.

LIST OF FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES

According to Article 51 A, it shall be the duty of every citizen of India:

(a) to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the
National Flag and the National Anthem;

(b) to cherish and follow the noble ideals that inspired the national struggle
for freedom;

(c) to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;

(d) to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so;

(e) to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all
the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or
sectional diversities and to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of
women;

(f) to value and preserve the rich heritage of the country’s composite culture;

(g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes,
rivers and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures;

(h) to develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry andreform;

(i) to safeguard public property and to abjure violence;

(j) to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective
activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour
and achievement; and

(k) to provide opportunities for education to his child or ward between the
age of six and fourteen years. This duty was added by the 86th
Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002.

FEATURES OF THE FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES

Following points can be noted with regard to the characteristics of the Fundamental Duties:

1. Some of them are moral duties while others are civic duties. For instance,
cherishing noble ideals of freedom struggle is a moral precept and
respecting the Constitution, National Flag and National Anthem is a civic
duty.

2. They refer to such values which have been a part of the Indian tradition,
mythology, religions and practices. In other words, they essentially
contain just a codification of tasks integral to the Indian way of life.

3. Unlike some of the Fundamental Rights which extend to all persons
whether citizens or foreigners1, the Fundamental Duties are confined to
citizens only and do not extend to foreigners.

4. Like the Directive Principles, the fundamental duties are also non-justiciable.

The Constitution does not provide for their direct enforcement by the courts. Moreover, there is not legal sanction against their violation.
However, the Parliament is free to enforce them by suitable legislation.

CRITICISM OF FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES

The Fundamental Duties mentioned in Part IVA of the Constitution have
been criticised on the following grounds:
1. The list of duties is not exhaustive as it does not cover other important
duties like casting vote, paying taxes, family planning and so on. In fact,
duty to pay taxes was recommended by the Swaran Singh Committee.
2. Some of the duties are vague, ambiguous and difficult to be understood by
the common man. For example, different interpretations can be given to
the phrases like ‘noble ideals’, ‘composite culture’, ‘scientific temper’
and so on2.
3. They have been described by the critics as a code of moral precepts due to
their non-justiciable character. Interestingly, the Swaran Singh
Committee had suggested for penalty or punishment for the non-
performance of Fundamental Duties.
4. Their inclusion in the Constitution was described by the critics as
superfluous. This is because the duties included in the Constitution as
fundamental would be performed by the people even though they were
not incorporated in the Constitution3.
5. The critics said that the inclusion of fundamental duties as an appendage
to Part IV of the Constitution has reduced their value and significance.
They should have been added after Part III so as to keep them on par with
Fundamental Rights.

SIGNIFICANCE OF FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES

In spite of criticisms and opposition, the fundamental duties are considered
significant from the following viewpoints:

1. They serve as a reminder to the citizens that while enjoying their rights,
they should also be conscious of duties they owe to their country, their
society and to their fellow citizens.

2. They serve as a warning against the anti-national and antisocial activities like burning the national flag, destroying public property and so on.

3. They serve as a source of inspiration for the citizens and promote a sense
of discipline and commitment among them. They create a feeling that the
citizens are not mere spectators but active participants in the realisation of
national goals.

4. They help the courts in examining and determining the constitutional
validity of a law. In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled that in determining
the constitutionality of any law, if a court finds that the law in question
seeks to give effect to a fundamental duty, it may consider such law to be
‘reasonable’ in relation to Article 14 (equality before law) or Article 19
(six freedoms) and thus save such law from unconstitutionality.

5. They are enforceable by law. Hence, the Parliament can provide for the
imposition of appropriate penalty or punishment for failure to fulfil any of
them.

H R Gokhale, the then Law Minister, gave the following reason for
incorporating the fundamental duties in the Constitution after twenty-six
years of its inauguration: ‘In post-independent India, particularly on the eve
of emergency in June 1975, a section of the people showed no anxiety to
fulfil their fundamental obligations of respecting the established legal order
….. the provisions of chapter on fundamental duties would have a sobering
effect on these restless spirits who have had a host of anti-national subversive
and unconstitutional agitations in the past’.

Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, justified the inclusion of
fundamental duties in the Constitution and argued that their inclusion would
help to strengthen democracy. She said, ‘the moral value of fundamental
duties would be not to smoother rights but to establish a democratic balance
by making the people conscious of their duties equally as they are conscious
of their rights’.

The Opposition in the Parliament strongly opposed the inclusion of
fundamental duties in the Constitution by the Congress government.
However, the new Janata Government headed by Morarji Desai in the post-
emergency period did not annull the Fundamental Duties. Notably, the new
government sought to undo many changes introduced in the Constitution by
the 42nd Amendment Act (1976) through the 43rd Amendment Act (1977)
and the 44th Amendment Act (1978). This shows that there was an eventual consensus on the necessity and desirability of including the Fundamental
Duties in the Constitution. This is more clear with the addition of one more
Fundamental Duty in 2002 by the 86th Amendment Act.

VERMA COMMITTEE OBSERVATIONS

The Verma Committee on Fundamental Duties of the Citizens (1999)
identified the existence of legal provisions for the implementation of some of
the Fundamental Duties. They are mentioned below:

1. The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act (1971) prevents
disrespect to the Constitution of India, the National Flag and the National
Anthem.

2. The various criminal laws in force provide for punishments for
encouraging enmity between different sections of people on grounds of
language, race, place of birth, religion and so on.

3. The Protection of Civil Rights Act4 (1955) provides for punishments for
offences related to caste and religion.

4. The Indian Penal Code (IPC) declares the imputations and assertions
prejudicial to national integration as punishable offences.

5. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 provides for the
declaration of a communal organisation as an unlawful association.

6. The Representation of People Act (1951) provides for the disqualification
of members of the Parliament or a state legislature for indulging in
corrupt practice, that is, soliciting votes on the ground of religion or
promoting enmity between different sections of people on grounds of
caste, race, language, religion and so on.

7. The Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972 prohibits trade in rare and
endangered species.

8. The Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 checks indiscriminate
deforestation and diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes.