Significance and Criticism of Fundamental Duties
Q. Which of the following is/are true regarding Fundamental Duties?
1) Their inclusion in the Constitution is unnecessary as per some critics.
2) The Parliament can provide for appropriate penalty or punishment for failure to fulfill any of the Fundamental Duties.- Published on 21 Feb 17a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 and 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
ANSWER: Both 1 and 2
Significance of Fundamental Duties -
1. Remind the citizens to be conscious of duties while enjoying their rights.
2. Serve as a warning against the anti-national and antisocial activities.
3. Serve as a source of inspiration for the citizens and promote a sense of discipline and commitment.
4. They create a feeling that the citizens are active participants in the realization of national goals.
5. They help the courts in examining and determining the constitutional validity of a law.
6. 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.
7. They are enforceable by law. The Parliament can provide for appropriate penalty or punishment for failure to fulfill any of them.
8. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, justified the inclusion of fundamental duties in the Constitution by saying that their inclusion helps to strengthen democracy.
9. The opposition in the Parliament strongly opposed the inclusion of fundamental duties by the Congress government.
10. The new Janata Government headed by Morarji Desai in the post-emergency period did not abolish the Fundamental Duties.
11. This proves the necessity of including the Fundamental Duties in the Constitution.
12. This is proven by adding one more Fundamental Duty in 2002 by the 86thAmendment Act.
Criticism of Fundamental Duties -
1. The list of duties is not exhaustive. It does not cover other important duties like casting vote, paying taxes, family planning, etc. (duty to pay taxes was recommended by the Swaran Singh Committee)
2. Some of the duties are vague, ambiguous and difficult to understand by the common man.
3. Since they are non-justiciable they have been described by the critics as a code of moral guidelines. (Swaran Singh Committee had suggested for penalty or punishment for the non-performance of Fundamental Duties)
4. Their inclusion in the Constitution is unnecessary as per critics as these included duties would be performed by the people even if they were not in the Constitution.
5. Adding fundamental duties as an appendage to Part IV has reduced their significance.
6. They should be after Part III, on par with Fundamental Rights.
