1. People tend to forget their duty but remember their right- Indira Gandhi.

2. Article 19 ke peeche sab bhag rahe ki protest karna humara right hai but article 51a jo
fundamental duty deta hai usko follow nhi krna hai kya? Agr nhi to ye right exercise krne ka bhi
koi haq nhi aapko.

3. Article 51A Fundamental Duty of Citizen to protect and safeguard public property and to abjure
violence. Fundamental Duties though not enforceable, but always taken into account while
interpreting any fundamental rights. And this statement was said by SC in the case of Javed v.
State of Haryana

4. Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984: It punishes anyone “who commits
mischief by doing any act in respect of any public property” with a jail term of up to five
years and a fine or both. Provisions of this law can be coupled with those under the
Indian Penal Code.

5. In 2007, the Supreme Court took note of instances of mass violence and resultant damage to
public property across the country. It formed two committees under former judge KT Thomas
and jurist Fali S Nariman to recommend legal changes that could help handle such situations.

Thomas Committee’s recommendations: It recommended reversing the burden of proof against

protesters. Further it is said that the police must arrange the videography of protestor and make them
public.

6. In 2009, in the case of In Re: Destruction of Public & Private Properties v State of AP and Ors,
based on the recommendations of the two committees, the Supreme Court in 2009 issued the
following guidelines:

It said in the absence of state legislation to cover such violence, the High Court may take cognisance of
incidents of mass damage to public property on its own and set up a machinery to investigate and award
compensation.