Questions Answers

● The doctrine of “essentiality” was invented by a

seven-judge Bench of the Supreme Court in the ‘Shirur
Mutt’ case in 1954.
● It is a doctrine evolved by the court to protect only
1. Explain the “Doctrine of such religious practices that were essential and
Essentiality”? integral to the religion.
● The court held that the term “religion” will cover all
rituals and practices “integral” to a religion, and took
upon itself the responsibility of determining the
essential and non-essential practices of a religion.

Yes. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation)

Amendment Act, 2016 has made child labor a cognizable
2. Is child labor a cognizable
offense, punishable by imprisonment for a term of not less
offense?
than six months and up to two years, or by a fine of not less
than Rs 20,000 and up to 50,000 or both.

● Yes. It is legal. Children can act in movies and TV

3. Is it legal to let children act in
movies as a profession?
serials or be involved in sports activities and be paid for
it. However, it is important that a child’s education
is not affected.
● As per the Child Labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016, children can
work as an artist in the audio-visual entertainment
industry, including advertisements, films, television
serials, or any such other entertainment or sports
activities except the circus.

Secularism is a doctrine that states that religion is kept

separate from the social, political, economical, and cultural
spheres of life. It refers to a state where political power and
religion are kept apart and the state does not adopt,
propagate, or identify itself with any religion. In a
secular state, the citizens should have equal freedom to
profess, practice, and propagate a religion of their choice and
4. What is secularism? What are the
an assurance that they shall not be discriminated against on
provisions related to secularism in
the ground only because of their personal belief in a particular
the Indian constitution?
religion or denomination.

The Constitution of India stands for a Secular State.

Hence, it does not uphold any particular religion as the official
religion of the Indian State. The following provisions of the
Constitution reveal the secular character of the Indian State:
1. The term ‘secular’ was added to the Preamble of the
 Indian Constitution by the 42nd Constitutional
Amendment Act of 1976.
2. The Preamble secures to all citizens of our country
liberty of belief, faith, and worship.
3. The State shall not deny to any person equality before
the law or equal protection of the laws (Article 14).
4. The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on
the ground of religion (Article 15).
5. Equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters of
public employment (Article 16).
6. All persons are equally entitled to freedom of
conscience and the right to freely profess, practice, and
propagate any religion (Article 25).
7. Every religious denomination or any of its sections shall
have the right to manage its religious affairs (Article
26).
8. No person shall be compelled to pay any taxes for the
promotion of a particular religion (Article 27).
9. No religious instruction shall be provided in any
educational institution wholly maintained out of State
funds. (Article 28).
10.Any section of the citizens residing in the territory of
India or any part thereof having a distinct language,
script, or culture of its own shall have the right to
conserve the same. (Article 29).
11.All minorities shall have the right to establish and
administer educational institutions of their choice
(Article 30).
12.The State shall endeavor to secure for the citizens a
uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.
(Article 44).

● The SC in the SR Bommai Case (1994) held that

secularism was a basic feature of the Constitution.
● The Preamble embodies the Republic’s founding values,
and whether or not it can be amended, it has provided
5. Does the basic structure include
a reference point to interpret the Constitution.
secularism?
The Articles of the Constitution, as well as the spirit of
the Preamble both, underscore the spirit of socialism and
secularism.

● Conscience can be defined as a person's moral sense

of right and wrong. It can be viewed as a guide to
6. What do you understand about
one's behavior.
“Freedom of conscience”?
● Freedom of conscience refers to the right to follow
one's own beliefs in matters of religion and morality.
 ● Freedom of conscience implies the freedom to
entertain any belief that one wishes.
● It takes within its fold - to believe or not to believe in
religion; to have faith in old beliefs; to change one’s
beliefs; to convert to some other belief or other religion.
● The Constitution of India has guaranteed freedom of
conscience which includes freedom to convert to some
other religion.

Western-Secularism Indian-Secularism

In the West, the State is Secularism in India means

separate from the that the state is neutral to all
functioning of all religious religious groups but not
institutions and groups. necessarily separated.

The state believes in total In India, the concept is not

non-interference in religion. restricted to the question of
The state is allowed to curtail how religious groups are to
the rights of the citizens if be treated. Instead, the

7. How Indian secularism is different the religion is causing essence of secularism lies in
from that of the western concept of hindrance in the functioning forging a positive
secularism?
of the state. relationship between the
state and religion.

The Western concept of In India, all expressions of

Secularism does not believe religion are manifested
in an open display of religion equally with support from
except for places of worship. the state.

The state treats all religions The state gives financial aid
with equal indifference. It to religious institutions and
does not aid any religious taxes them as well.
institutions through financial
means or tax them.
 A single uniform code of law Although the law is the same
is used to dispense justice for all citizens, certain
regardless of religious personal laws with regards to
background. marriage and property rights
are different for every
community. But they are all
given equal consideration
under the Indian Penal Code.

● Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment

Act, 2016 passed in parliament, prohibits “the
engagement of children in any commercial enterprise is
illegal and of adolescents in hazardous occupations and
processes[wherein adolescents refers to those under 18
years, children to those under 14 years].
● The Act imposes a fine on anyone who employs or
permits adolescents to work. However, it excludes a
section of toiling children in the unorganized sectors
including agriculture as well as household work.
Critical analysis:
● This act has slashed the list of hazardous occupations
for children from 83 to include just mining,
explosives, and occupations mentioned in the
Factory Act. This means it allows work in many
8. Discuss the Child Labour hazardous employments e.g. chemical mixing units,
(Prohibition and Regulation) Act, cotton farms, battery recycling units, and brick kilns,
Amendment 2016. etc.
● According to Section 4 of the Act Ones listed as
hazardous cannot be removed by Parliament but by
government authorities at their discretion.
● The Act allows child labor in “family or family
enterprises” or allows the child to be “an artist in
an audio-visual entertainment industry”. Since
most of India’s child labor is caste-based work, with
poor families trapped in intergenerational debt
bondage, this refers to most of the country’s child
laborers.
● The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation)
Amendment Act supplements Article 24 of the
Constitution which prohibits employment of children
below the age of 14 in factories, mines, and other
hazardous employment; Article 21A and Article 45 (to

9. What does the term Hindus refer
to in article 25(2)?
10. What is the difference between
the practice and propagation of a
religion?
11. What was the minority judgment
of the Sabarimala case?
provide free and compulsory education to all children
between the ages of 6 and 14).
● The term Hindus gives reference to persons professing
the Sikh, Jaina, or Buddhist religion, including
Hindus other than these religions.
● Practicing one’s religion means to believe in and
regularly perform the activities associated with that
religion, such as attending religious services, reading
scriptures, participating in rituals, or following the
religion's rules about clothing, eating, or prayer.
● Whereas, propagation refers to spreading and
promoting one's religion.
In her dissenting judgment, Justice Indu Malhotra said that
the petitioners, the Indian Young Lawyers Association,
were not directly affected by this and were not devotees.
Therefore, the court was being made to decide on the entry of
women into the temple “at the behest of persons who do
not subscribe to this faith”.
“Permitting PILs in religious matters would open the
floodgates to interlopers to question religious beliefs and
practices, even if the petitioner is not a believer of a particular
religion or a worshiper of a particular shrine. The perils are
even graver for religious minorities if such petitions are
entertained.”