VEER BAHADUR SINGH PURVANCHAL UNIVERSITY, JAUNPUR

ASSIGNMENT- FUNDAMENTAL
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW II
DUTIES
SUBMITTED TO- DR. ABHISHEK SIR

SUMIT SINGH
4TH SEMESTER B.A.LL.B(H)
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of

gratitude to my Constitutional Law Professor
“Dr. Abhishek Pandey” Sir for their able
guidance and support in completing my
assignment, who gave me the golden
opportunity to do this wonderful assignment.
I would also like to thanks my parents and
friends who helped me a lot in finalizing this
project within the limited time frame.

-SUMIT SINGH
IV SEMESTER B.A.LL.B
 CONTENT

1. INTRODUCTION
2. SOURCES OF FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
3. IMPORTANCE OF FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
4. SWARAN SINGH COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
5. FEATURES OF FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
6. CRITICISM OF FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
7. SIGNIFICANCE OF FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
8. VERMA COMMITTEE OBSERVATION
 FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES

INTRODUCTION:
Rights and Duties are like two sides of a same coin, absolutely inseparable.
Whenever and wherever we have any rights, we must have corresponding
duties. Whether it be the whom the society or the country in every sphere of
life we have right and duties that go in hand in hand. We have rights in the
same measure as we have duties.
The fundamental Duties are novel feature of the Indian constitution in recent
times. Fundamental Duties of citizens serve a useful purpose. In particular, no
democratic polity can ever succeed where the citizens are not willing to be
active participant in the process of governance by assuming responsibilities
and discharging citizenships duties and coming forward to give their best to the
country. Some of the fundamental duties enshrined in article 51A have been
incorporated in separate laws.
The fundamental duties were added by the 42 nd Amendment of the
constitution in 1976. This new Part IV-A consist of only one article that is
Art.51-A. This article specifies a code of eleven fundamental duties for citizens.
51-A. Fundamental Duties- it shall be duty of every citizens of India-
(a) to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions,
National Flag and National Anthem;
(b) to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our 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; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of
women;
(f) to value and preserve the rich heritage of our 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 the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of enquiry and
reform;
(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.
1
[(k) who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to
his child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six to fourteen
years.]

Sources of Fundamental Duties:

Though the rights and duties of the citizens are correlative and inseparable,
the original constitution contained only the fundamental rights and not the
fundamental duties. In other words, the framers of the constitution did not
feel 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 Policy. 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 constitution of major
democratic countries like USA, Canada, France, Germany, Australia and so on
specifically contain a list of duties of their citizens. The socialist countries on
the contrary, gave equal importance to the fundamental rights and duties of
citizens.
IMPORTANCE-
Fundamental Duties are an inalienable part of fundamental rights. The
importance of these are given in the tale below:
1. They remind Indian Citizens of their duty towards their society, fellow,
citizens and nation.
2. They warn citizens against anti nationals and anti-social activities.
3. They inspire citizens and promote a sense of discipline and commitment
among them.
4. They are enforceable by law.
5. They help the courts in examining and determining the constitutional
validity of law.

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 citizen should become conscious
that in 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 of the citizens. The ruling Congress
party declared the non-inclusion of fundamental duties of the citizens. The
ruling Congress party declared the non-inclusion of fundamental duties of
citizens. The ruling Congress party declared the non-inclusion of fundamental
duties in the constitutional 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 42 nd 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 non-compliance with or refusal to
observe any of the duties.
2. No law imposing such penalty or punishment shall be called in any court
on the ground of infringement of any of Fundamental Rights or on the
grounds of repugnancy to any other provision of the constitution.
3. Duty to pay taxes should also be a fundamental duty of the citizens.

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 Anthem is a civic duty.
2. They refer to such values which have been a part of the Indian Tradition,
Mythology religion and practices. In other word they essentially contain
just a codification of tasks integral to the Indian way of life.
3. Unlike some of the fundamental Rights which extends to all persons
whether citizens or foreigner, the fundamental duties are confined to
citizens only and do not extends 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:
• Some of them are difficult to be understood by common people.
• Criticized for being moral precepts, pious platitudes, vague and
repetitive.
• No need to be implemented as they all are performed by the people
even if not included.
• Their inclusions in Part-IV -A after fundamental rights has reduced their
value and significance.
• Some of the important points which were recommended by Swaran
Singh Committee were not included, such as-
1.Parliament should impose penalty or punishment in case of non-
compliance of duties.
2.If punishment is imposed according to above clause, it cannot be
called in question in any court or any ground.
3.Duties to pay taxes to be incorporated as fundamental duty.

• Other important duties like family planning, voting etc should be

included.

Thus, finally it can be said that the government efforts cannot be

successful unless citizens of the country generally participate in the
decisions making process of the government. Even the unstated duties
like voting should be effectively discharged by the citizens. Public
spirited people and politicians should come forward to take interest in
local community problems. These duties are a constant reminder to us
of the national goals as well as the basic norms of political order. They
may inspire us to inculcate in ourselves a sense of social responsibility.
VERMA COMMITTEE OBSERVATION:
The Verma Committee on Fundamental Duties of the Citizens (1999) identified
the existence of legal provisions for the implementations of some of the
Fundamental Duties. They are mentioned below:
• The prevention of insults to National Honour Act (1971) prevents
disrespect to the constitution of India, the National Flag and the National
Anthem.
• The various criminal laws in force provide for punishment for
encouraging enmity between different sections of people on grounds of
language, race, place of birth, religion and so on.
• The protection of Civil Rights Act (1955) provides for punishment for
offences related to caste and religion. This act was known as the
Untouchability Act till 1976.
• The Indian Penal Code (IPC) declares the imputations and assertions
prejudicial to national integration as punishable offences.
• The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 provides for the
declaration of communal organisation as an unlawful association.
• The wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972 prohibits trade in rare and
endangered species
• The Forest (Conervation) Act of 1980 checks indiscriminate
deforestation and diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes.