GK Test - 26

The correct answer is the Right to freedom of speech and expression.

• Article 19 of the Indian Constitution includes the Right to freedom of speech and expression.

Key Points

• Article 19 deals with the six Fundamental Rights. They are:
  • Right to freedom of speech and expression.
  • Right to assemble peacefully and without arms.
  • Right to form association or unions or co-operatives.
  • Right to move freely throughout the territory of India.
  • Right to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India.
  • Right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.
• Fundamental Rights:
  • The Fundamental Rights have been described in Articles 12-35, Part III of the Indian Constitution.
  • The Right to Property (Article 31) was deleted from the list of Fundamental Rights.
    • By the 44th Amendment Act, 1978, it is made a normal constitutional right under Act 300A in Part XII of the Constitution

Additional Information

• Right to Constitutional Remedies is enumerated in Articles 32-35.
• Right against exploitation is enumerated in Articles 23 and 24.
• The right to freedom of Religion is enumerated in Articles 25-28.
• Fundamental Rights that are available to citizens only and not to foreigners: Article 15,16, 19, 29 and 30.

Key Points

The table below is correctly matched:

Additional Information

• Fundamental Rights
  • Article 12 – Definition of a state
  •  Article 13 – Right to make law
  • Article 13A – Judicial Review
• Article (14-18) – Right to Equality
  • Article 14 – Equality before the law.
  • Article 15 – Prohibition of Discrimination on the basis of religion, race, sex, and place of birth. 
  • Article 16 – Equality of opportunity in relation to public employment.
  • Article 17 – Abolish Untouchability.
  • Article 18 – Elimination of titles.
• Article (19-22) – Right to Freedom
  • Article 19 – Protection of certain rights in relation to the freedom of speech, expression, assembly, association, movement, residence, profession.
  • Article 20 – Protection in respect of conviction for offences.
  • Article 21 – The Safety of Life and Personal Liberty.
  • Article 21A – Right to Education.
  • Article 22 – In some cases security against detention.
• Article (23-24) – Rights against exploitation
  • Article 23 – Prevention of Trafficking of humans and forced labour.
  • Article 24 – Prevention of employment of children in factories, etc.
• Article (25-28) – Right to freedom of religion
  • Article 25 – freedom of condolences and promotion of free professional, practice, and secularism.
  • Article 26 – Freedom of managing trustworthy matters.
  • Article 27 – Freedom to pay taxes for the promotion of any particular religion.
  • Article 28 – Freedom in the form of independent instruction in independent education.
• Articles (29-30) – Culture and Education Rights
  • Article 29 – Protection of Minority Interests
  • Article 30 – Right to Minorities and to establish and administer the educational Institutions.
  • Article 31 – The overall acquisition of the property (Now it is not a fundamental right)
• Article (32) – Right to Constitutional Remedies

Key Points

• It is one of the fundamental rights listed in the Constitution that each citizen is entitled to.
• It entitles the citizens of India to move the Supreme Court or High Courts for the enforcement of these rights.
• In the Constituent Assembly debate, Dr. B.R Ambedkar said that Article 32 is the heart and soul of the Constitution.
• Article 32 falls under Part III of the Constitution which includes the fundamental rights of individuals.

Additional Information

• Article 32 of the UCMJ requires any service member accused of violating any Punitive Article of the UCMJ to undergo a preliminary hearing.
• An article 32 hearing is required before a defendant can be referred to a general court-martial, in order to determine whether there is enough evidence to merit a general court-martial.
• An Article 32 hearing is a proceeding under the united States Uniform Code of Military justice, similar to that of a preliminary hearing in civilian law.
• The Right against Exploitation is enshrined in Articles 23 and 24 of the Indian Constitution.

Key Points

• Article 17 of the Constitution of India abolishes the concept of ‘untouchability’ and prohibits its practice in any shape or form.
• In fact, the enforcement of any disability arising out of untouchability shall be an offense punishable in accordance with the law.
• In fact, this is one of the few fundamental rights which is available to individuals.
• To make the untouchability law further strong, parliament passed an Untouchability (offenses) Act in 1955.
• However, this act was further amended and also renamed in the year 1976 as the Protection of the Civil Rights Act, of 1955.

Additional Information

Key Points

• On the 26th of August 2009, the Indian Parliament passed a historic act known as the ‘Right to Education Act’ or RTE Act but the RTE Act was implemented in India with effect from 1st April 2010.
• It is an act that aims to provide free and compulsory education to all children between the age of 6 to 14 years in India under Article 21A of the Indian Constitution.

Additional Information

Features of the RTE Act - 2009 under Article 21A: 

• Prohibition of private tuition by teachers to equalize educational opportunities to all.
• Reservation of  25% seats for children belonging to economically weaker sections in private schools.
• 45 hours including preparation hours as the minimum number of working hours per week for the teacher.
• Not to deploy teachers in non-academic work except elections, population census, and disaster relief duties.
• Establishment of primary and upper primary schools within the distance of 1km and 3kms respectively from child's house.

The correct answer is option 4 i.e., Article 51 A

• The 42nd Amendment Act 1976 added a new part in the Constitution i.e. Part IVA and incorporated the fundamental duties by inserting a new Article 51A below Article 51.
• The objective of the Fundamental Duties is to place before the country a code of conduct, which the citizens are expected to follow.
• The fundamental duties were taken from the erstwhile USSR.

The Fundamental Duties are:

Key Points

Gandhian Principles:

These principles are based on Gandhian ideology.

They require the State:

1. To organise village panchayats and endow them with necessary powers and authority to enable them to function as units of self-government (Article 40).
2. To promote cottage industries on an individual or co-operation basis in rural areas (Article 43).
3. To promote voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and professional management of co-operative societies(Article 43B).
4. To promote the educational and economic interests of SCs, STs, and other weaker sections of the society and to protect them from social injustice and exploitation (Article 46).
5. To prohibit the consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs which are injurious to health (Article 47).
6. To prohibit the slaughter of cows, calves and other milch and draught cattle and to improve their breeds (Article 48).

Important Point

Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP)

• Articles 36-51 under Part-IV of the Indian Constitution deal with Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP).
• They are borrowed from the Constitution of Ireland, which had copied it from the Spanish Constitution.
• This article will solely discuss the Directive Principles of State Policy, its importance in the Indian Constitution, and the history of its conflict with Fundamental Rights.
• This topic is important for UPSC Mains GS-II and also for political science optional papers and aspirants can also download the DPSP notes.

Key Points

• Fundamental rights can be suspended during a state of emergency declared by the President of India on the recommendation of the Union Cabinet (Article 352).
• The People of India gave themselves a constitution that included Article 359 on the suspension of the enforcement of the rights conferred by Part III during times of emergency.
• The Forty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as the Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978, was enacted by the Janata Party which had won the 1977 general elections campaigning on a promise to "restore the Constitution to the condition it was in before the Emergency".
• The Amendment aimed to undo several changes that had been made to the Constitution by the 42nd Amendment (The Mini Constitution) which had been enacted by the Indira Gandhi-led Indian National Congress during the Emergency.

Additional Information

Concept of Fundamental Rights

• The Indian Constitution bestows fundamental rights on every Indian citizen, which are enshrined in Part III (Articles 12 to 35) of the Indian Constitution.
• Fundamental rights are essential in nature because they are the foundation for an individual to develop into an independent, intellectual, responsible, moral and spiritually developed citizen.
• Originally, the Constitution established seven Fundamental Rights, namely,
• Right to equality (Articles 14–18)
• Right to freedom (Articles 19–22)
• Right against exploitation (Articles 23–24)
• Right to freedom of religion (Articles 25–28)
• Cultural and educational rights (Articles 29–30)
• Right to constitutional remedies (Article 32)
• The right to property, however, was removed from the list of Fundamental Rights by the 44th Amendment Act of 1978.
• Article 300-A of Part XII of the Constitution establishes it as a legal right.
• As a result, there are currently only six Fundamental Rights.

Key Points

• Directive Principles resembles the ‘Instrument of Instructions’ enumerated in the Government of India Act of 1935.
• In the words of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, 'the Directive Principles are like the instrument of instructions, which were issued to the Governor-General and to the Governors of the colonies of India by the British Government under the Government of India Act of 1935.'
• It constitutes a very comprehensive economic, social and political programme for a modern democratic State which aimed at realising the high ideals of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity as outlined in the Preamble to the Constitution. They embody the concept of a ‘welfare state’ that was absent during the colonial era.

Additional Information

• Classification of Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP)
• The Constitution of India does not formally classify the Directive Principles of State Policy but for better understanding and on the basis of content and direction- they can be classified into three categories. These are as follows:
  • Socialistic Principles
  • Gandhian Principles
  • Liberal-Intellectual Principles

Key Points

Article 45:-

• Provision for free and compulsory education for children the State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years.

DPSP (Directive Principle of State Policy)

• The Directive Principles of State Policy are described in Part IV of the Constitution (from Articles 36 to 51)
• It is inspired by the Constitution of Ireland
• It is not enforceable by the court, it does not have statutory force
• But still, the elements laid down in this part are fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the State to implement these elements in making laws.

Mistake Points

Article 21-A:

• The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine.
• It is a fundamental right.
• This provision was not included in the Constitution of India, 1950.

Additional Information

• Article 68:- Time of holding the election to fill a vacancy in the office of Vice President and the term of office of the person elected to fill a casual vacancy
• Article 98:- Secretariat of Parliament
• Article 290:- Adjustment in respect of certain expenses and pensions