Chapter 9 : Fundamental Duties

Introduction

Article 51(A) of the Indian Constitution describes 11 fundamental duties, 10 of which were added by virtue of the 42nd Constitution Amendment Act in 1976 on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee, and Later on, by virtue of 86th Constitution the Amendment in the year 2002, 11th duty was added. The idea of Fundamental Duties has been borrowed from the Constitution of the erstwhile USSR and aims to impose “moral obligations” on all citizens in order to promote a spirit of patriotism and to uphold the unity of India. The fundamental duties serve as a reminder to citizens that while enjoying their rights, they have also to be quite conscious of duties they owe to their country, their society and to their fellow-citizens.However, like the Directive Principles, the duties are also non-justiciable in nature.

“The true source of rights is duty. If we all discharge our duties, right will not be far to seek. If leaving duties unperformed we run after rights, they will escape us like a will-o’-the-wisp. The more we pursue them, the farther they fly”- MAHATMA GANDHI

Origin and Evolution

Enumerated in Part IV(A) and consist of single Art. 51 A with 11 sub-articles.
Originally, Constitution incorporated the duties of the State (DPSPs) only and not for citizens.
For the first time, need and necessity of duties was felt during the internal emergency (1975–1977).
Added by 42nd CAA 1976, on recommendations of Swaran Singh committee (Committee recommended only Eight Duties, amendment added ten duties).
In addition, one more duty added by 86th CAA 2002 – 51A(k) = Total 11 duties.
Duties are non-enforceable, non-justiciable in nature, parliament can implement them with legislative enactments.
Idea of Fundamental Duties inspired from USSR constitution (Now Russia).
Duties are applicable only to citizens of India and do not extend to foreigners.
Japanese Constitution is the only democratic constitution in the world with a list of duties of citizens.
Interestingly, socialist countries accords equal importance to the fundamental rights and duties of their citizens.
Duties are much inclusive and comprehensive in spirit – Cover women, environment, tolerance, education, unity and integrity of India, Nobel ideals of national movement among others.

Paying taxes (Recommended by Swaran Singh) and voting in elections are not included in Fundamental Duties.

Notion of Duty Under Indian Constitution

Since ancient times, “Dharma” as sense of duty has been integrated into Indian way of life.
Inclusion of part IVA is constitutional endorsement of Indian way of life – tolerance, mutual respect, pluralism, dignity of women, inter alia.
Rights and Duties are two sides of same coin – Integral, inseparable and correlative.
Performance and observance of Duties would fulfil the promises of Part III and IV.
Duties serves as warning and reminder against anti-social activities.
Duties signifies and envisages citizen’s active role in process of nation building rather than mute spectator.

Facts for Prelims:

The idea of this section was borrowed from USSR constitution
Enumerated in Part IV(A) and consist of single Art. 51
Fundamental duties like DPSP are non-justiciable
Added by 42nd CAA 1976, on recommendations of Swaran Singh committee (Committee recommended only Eight Duties, amendment added ten duties)
In addition, one more duty added by 86th CAA 2002 – 51A(k) = Total 11 duties.
Japanese constitution is one of the other democratic nations which have a provision dealing with the duties of its citizens.
FD apply only to citizens and DO NOT EXTEND TO FOREIGNERS

Fundamental Duties

Fundamental Duties are regarded as the moral responsibility of all people to encourage patriotism and protect India’s unity.
Article 51A of Part IV A of the Indian Constitution addresses the Fundamental Duties.
The required Fundamental Duties represent some of the noblest values proclaimed by our great saints, philosophers, social reformers, and political leaders.
At the time of its inception in 1950, India’s original constitution included no mention of citizen duties.
Citizens’ Fundamental Duties were introduced to the Constitution by the 42nd Amendment in 1976, after the suggestions of the Swaran Singh Committee, which had been formed by the government earlier that year.
The Fundamental Duties assist to manage citizens’ behaviour and achieve excellence in all aspects of citizens’ lives.
There are two types of fundamental duties: Moral and civic duty
- Moral Duty: Upholding the great goals of the freedom fight
- Civic duty: Respect for the Constitution, the National Flag, and the National Anthem
The Fundamental Duties of the Indian Constitution are modelled after the Constitution of the former Soviet Union.
Notably, none of the Constitutions of major democratic countries such as the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, and others include a list of citizens’ obligations.

The original Indian Constitution, which entered into force on January 26, 1950, did not mention of citizen duties & obligations. It was expected that the Indian citizens of free India would perform their duties willingly. However, things didn’t go as planned. Therefore, ten Fundamental Duties were added in Part IV-A of the Constitution under Article 51-A by virtue of the 42nd Constitution Amendment Act in 1976 on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee. The fundamental duties are intended to serve as a constant reminder to every Indian citizen and enforce certain basic norms of democratic behavior due to the correlation between rights and duties.

The idea of incorporating Fundamental Duties into the Indian constitution was inspired by the Russian Constitution (erstwhile Soviet Union).
Originally, ten duties were added, and one more duty was added in 2002 by the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act.
Article 51-A of the Constitution contains a list of all eleven duties (the sole Article in Part-IV-A).

List of 11 Fundamental Duties of India

S.No	11 Fundamental Duties
1.	Abide by the Indian Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem
2.	Cherish and follow the noble ideals that inspired the national struggle for freedom
3.	Uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India
4.	Defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so
5.	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
6.	Value and preserve the rich heritage of the country’s composite culture
7.	Protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures
8.	Develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform
9.	Safeguard public property and to abjure violence
10.	Strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement
11.	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

Importance of Fundamental Duties In India

Fundamental Duties are important for ethical, social, and economic reasons. If a citizen performs his or her responsibilities, he or she has moral claims to his or her rights. Duties can help to sustain the environment and economic development. The importance of fundamental duties is as follows:

They help in promoting the spirit of discipline and patriotism among the citizens. Additionally, they assist in achieving societal objectives by encouraging active citizen participation as opposed to the spectator.
They help in reminding citizens of their fundamental obligations, despite the fact that they are entitled to all fundamental rights.
They assist citizens in understanding that their rights and responsibilities are interconnected.
They assist citizens in remembering their responsibilities in order to build a great nation.
They inspire people, foster patriotic feelings, and instill a sense of commitment and discipline in them.
They warn citizens against anti-social and anti-national activities by those who take pleasure in breaking the law, destroying public property, burning the Indian flag, or otherwise interfering with public peace.
They assist the courts in examining and determining the constitutional validity of legislation in matters of public interest.

Scope of Fundamental duties

Fundamental duties are obligatory in nature
However, the constitution has no provision for direct enforcement of these responsibilities.
There is also no consequence to prohibit their infringement. However, the following facts demonstrate the importance of fundamental duties:
- A person should equally respect his or her fundamental rights and obligations because, in any situation, if the court learns that a person who wants his or her rights to be enforced is careless about his or her duties, the court will not be lenient in his or her case.
- Any confusing legislation can be read using fundamental duties.
- If the legislation gives effect to any of the fundamental obligations, the court may find it reasonable. In this manner, the court can prevent such legislation from being deemed unconstitutional.

Features of Fundamental Duties Of India

The fundamental duties are derived primarily from Indian tradition, mythology, religions, and practices. Essentially, these were the duties that codified tasks essential to the Indian way of life. The following are some notable features of the Fundamental Duties:

Fundamental duties can be classified into two: Civic Duty & Moral Duty

Civic Duty: respecting the Constitution, the National Flag, and the National Anthem.
Moral Duty: cherishing noble ideals of the freedom struggle.

Fundamental Duties apply only to Indian citizens; they do not apply to foreigners, in contrast to fundamental rights, which apply to both citizens and foreigners.
Fundamental Duties, like Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP), are non-justiciable. It means that the failure of citizens to perform their fundamental duties is not punishable.
They are in the nature of a code of conduct, and there is no legal sanction for them because they are nonjusticiable.
However, they are subject to legal enforcement; parliament has the authority to pass laws punishing any violation of the Fundamental Duties.
In February 2022, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Centre and states in a writ petition seeking the enforcement of citizens’ fundamental duties as enshrined in the Indian Constitution.

Significance Of Fundamental Duties

The significance of fundamental duties is that they define the moral obligations of all citizens to contribute to the promotion of patriotism and the preservation of India’s unity.
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 their fellow citizens.
Serve as a warning against anti national and antisocial activities.
Serve as a source of inspiration for the citizens and promote a sense of discipline and commitment among them.
Help the courts in examining and determining the constitutional validity of a law.
They are enforceable by law. Hence, the Parliament can provide for the imposition of appropriate penalties or punishment for failure to fulfill any of them.

Criticism Against Fundamental Duties In India

Here are some of the criticism against Fundamental Duties:

These duties are made non-justiciable in nature.
Important duties such as taxation and family planning are not covered.
Some of the fundamental duties are vague, making it difficult for the common citizen to understand what is meant by “rich heritage,” “humanism,” “excellence,” and “composite culture” in all spheres of individual and group activities.
Some critics argue that these are fundamental duties that people will carry out even if they are not mentioned in the Constitution.
However, there has been a demand from time to time to revise the current list of fundamental duties, simplify their language, and make them more realistic and meaningful, as well as add some urgently needed more realistic duties. They should be made as justiciable as possible.

Swaran Singh Committee (1976) Recommendations

It 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 and suggested the incorporation of eight Fundamental Duties in the Constitution.
The Central Government accepted these recommendations and enacted the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act in 1976, which added a new part, namely, Part IVA to the Constitution.
The 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.
Interestingly, certain recommendations of the Committee were not accepted and hence, not incorporated in the Constitution which includes:
- 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.
- 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 the ground of repugnancy to any other provision of the Constitution.
- Duty to pay taxes should also be a Fundamental Duty of the citizens.

Swaran Singh Committee 1976 Report

The 42nd Constitutional Amendment was enacted in response to the Swaran Singh Committee Report, which was established by the Congress President in 1976 to recommend constitutional amendments. Swaran Singh presided over the Committee. The Committee had suggested adding a new chapter to the Indian Constitution describing the citizen’s fundamental duties. In accordance with the committee’s recommendations, the government amended the constitution through the 42nd amendment, which took effect on January 3rd, 1977. The Swaran Singh Committee recommended eight items to be included in the constitution as citizen duties. The text of their report is as follows:

To respect and abide by the constitution and the laws.
To uphold the sovereignty of the nation and to function in such a way as to sustain and strengthen its unity and integrity.
To respect the democratic institutions enshrined in the constitution, and not to do anything which may impair their dignity or authority.
To defend the country and to render national service including military service when called upon to do so.
To abjure communalism in any form.
To render assistance and cooperation to the State in the implementation of Directive Principles of State Policy, and to promote the common good of the people so as to subserve the interests of social and economic justice.
To abjure violence; to protect and safeguard public property and not to do anything which may cause damage or destruction to such property.
To pay taxes according to the law.

However, the then-Congress government led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did not accept all of the Swaran Singh Committee’s suggestions or recommendations. These include

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.
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.
Duty to pay taxes should also be a Fundamental Duty of the citizens.

86th amendment 2002

The 86th Constitutional Amendment (2002) added Article 21A to the Indian Constitution, which states that “the State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children aged six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may by law determine.”
Article 51A was also amended, and after clause (j), the following clause (k) was added: “who is a parent or guardian to provide educational opportunities to his child or, as the case may be, ward between the ages of six and fourteen years.”
It made the provision of educational opportunities for children a fundamental obligation of parents.

Verma Committee to Review Fundamental Duties

In order to determine whether there are any legal provisions for the implementation of some of the Fundamental Duties, the Verma Committee on Fundamental Duties of the Citizens was established in 1999. The Committee identified the existence of the following legal provisions, which are listed below:

Prevention of insults to National Honour Act (1971)
Protection of Civil Right Act (1955)
Representation of People Act (1951)
Wildlife Protection Act (1972)
Forest Conservation Act (1980)
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967

The Verma Committee also made the following recommendations to teach and educate people about the importance of Fundamental Duties:

They will raise the status of citizens in public life, and thus every individual should follow and promote these duties.
Public officials should avoid selfishness or nepotism. Their topmost priority should be to serve the public interest rather than personal interests.
Integrity should be the guiding principle in the management of the public office.
It is a fundamental duty of public officeholders to be answerable for their decisions and actions.
In terms of all the decisions and actions they took, they should be as transparent as possible.
While in office, public officials should maintain their honesty.
Leadership is critical in the sense that holders of public office should promote and set an example of these principles through their leadership skills.

Supreme Court (1992) ruled:

In determining the constitutional validity of any law, if law in question seeks to give effect to FDs, it may consider such law to be ‘reasonable’ in relation to Art. 14 or Art. 19 and thus saving such law from unconstitutionality.
State can make laws to prevent violation of duties.
Duties cannot be imposed by writs.

Relationship between the Fundamental rights, Directive principles and Fundamental duties

Fundamental Rights are the rights provided to Indian people by the Constitution for their protection and wellbeing, among other things.
They are also known as citizens’ basic human rights. The Directive Principles are the principles provided by the Constitution for the government to create legislation.
These are not court-enforceable provisions like the Fundamental Rights. These principles serve as essential parameters for the State’s governance while the State is developing and adopting legislation.
The Fundamental Duties are the moral responsibilities of all people that contribute to the promotion of patriotism and Indian unity.
They, like Directive Principles, are not enforceable by the courts because they involve persons and the nation.
When legislation conflicts with the Fundamental Rights, the Directive Principles have been invoked to defend the Constitutional legality of the legislation. Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles have also been utilised in conjunction to create the foundation of legislation for the welfare of citizens.
The Supreme Court has utilised the Fundamental Duties to defend the constitutional legality of statutes that seek to advance the objectives outlined in Part IV of the Constitution, namely the Fundamental Duties.
These Duties are considered mandatory for all citizens, subject to the State enforcing them by a legal law.
The Supreme Court has also directed the State to make the regulations effective and enable citizens to discharge their jobs correctly.

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS	FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
Sourced from – USA constitution	Sourced from – USSR constitution
Part III – Art 12 – 35	Part IV A – Art 51 A
Justiciable and enforceable in nature	Neither Justiciable nor enforceable in nature
Applicable (Barring Art.15, 16, 19, 29, 30 – only applicable to Indian citizens) to foreigners as well.	Application is limited to Indians only. Not applicable to foreigners.
Embedded in original text of Indian constitution	Not mentioned in original constitution. Included by 42nd CAA 1976 and 86th CAA 2002.
Self-enforceable (Except Art. 17)	Not Self-enforceable
Responsibility is on the state to protect the rights of citizenry	Responsibility is on the individual to observe duties during enjoying rights.
Fundamental Rights are complementary to Duties.	Duties are complementary to Fundamental Rights.

Conclusion:

Fundamental duties are the moral obligations of all citizens to help promote a spirit of patriotism and to uphold the unity of India. The significance of Fundamental Duties is not diminished by the fact that there is no punishment prescribed for not following them. Fundamental Duties constitute the conscience of our Constitution; they should be treated as constitutional values that must be propagated by all citizens.

ByULF TEAM

By ULF TEAM

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