Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles and the Basic Structure — Judicial Services

Weightage: The Constitution of India is part of the Civil Law paper in most judicial services exams (reported at roughly 15 to 25 marks of a 100-mark paper in the Madhya Pradesh pattern) and is asked in the Prelims of nearly every state. Learn each rule with its Article number and its leading case. Case years below are those commonly cited; confirm any you plan to quote.

1. How judicial exams ask this

A judicial exam answer has a fixed shape: the Article, the rule, the leading case and the application to the facts. A question that gives a short fact situation about a government order, an arrest or a restriction on speech expects you to name the Article first.

2. Article 12 and 13: who is bound, and what falls

Article 12 defines "the State": the Government and Parliament, the state governments and legislatures, and local and other authorities. The Supreme Court in Ajay Hasia v. Khalid Mujib (1981) laid down tests for when a body is an instrumentality of the State, such as deep and pervasive government control. Private persons are generally outside Part III, except where a right is enforceable against them, such as Article 17 and Article 23.

Article 13 makes pre- and post-constitutional laws void to the extent they take away fundamental rights. In Kesavananda Bharati it was held that a constitutional amendment is not "law" under Article 13(2) for this purpose, but it may still fail the basic structure test.

3. Article 14: equality

Article 14 forbids discrimination between equals and permits reasonable classification, which needs an intelligible differentia and a rational nexus with the object (State of West Bengal v. Anwar Ali Sarkar, 1952, and later Budhan Choudhry).

In E. P. Royappa (1974), the Court said that arbitrariness is the opposite of equality. In Maneka Gandhi (1978), the Court read Articles 14, 19 and 21 together as a golden triangle.

4. Articles 15 and 16: discrimination and public employment

• Article 15(4) and 15(5) allow special provision for backward classes and for admission to educational institutions.
• In Indra Sawhney (1992) the Court upheld 27 per cent reservation for OBCs, applied the creamy layer rule and set a 50 per cent ceiling, with limited exceptions.
• The 103rd Amendment (2019) added reservation for economically weaker sections, and the Court upheld it by majority in Janhit Abhiyan (2022).
• Article 16(4A) and the M. Nagaraj line govern promotions for SC and ST.

5. Article 19: six freedoms

Article 19(1)(a) to (g) gives speech and expression, assembly, association, movement, residence and profession, and Article 19(2) to (6) list the permitted restrictions, which must be reasonable and be on the listed grounds only. Property is no longer a fundamental right and is under Article 300A.

• Romesh Thappar (1950) and Brij Bhushan (1950) protected press freedom.
• Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015) struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act as vague and overbroad, while upholding the blocking power under Section 69A with safeguards.
• Indian Express Newspapers protected the press from arbitrary taxation.

6. Article 20 and Article 22

Article 20 gives three protections: no ex post facto criminal law (20(1)), no double jeopardy (20(2)), and no compulsion to be a witness against oneself (20(3)). In Selvi v. State of Karnataka (2010) the Court held that involuntary narcoanalysis, polygraph and brain-mapping tests violate Article 20(3).

Article 22 protects an arrested person, who must be told the grounds and produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, and regulates preventive detention. In D. K. Basu (1997) the Court set arrest and custody guidelines.

7. Article 21: the widest right

Article 21 says that no person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. After Maneka Gandhi, that procedure must be fair, just and reasonable. Learn its expansions as case-and-right pairs:

Article 21A (86th Amendment, 2002) makes elementary education a right for children aged six to fourteen, and the Right to Education Act, 2009 gives effect to it.

8. Remedies: Article 32 and Article 226

Article 32 is itself a fundamental right, and Dr Ambedkar called it the heart and soul of the Constitution. The Supreme Court can issue habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo warranto. High Courts act under Article 226, which is wider because it also covers "any other purpose". Public interest litigation grew from the relaxation of locus standi.

9. Directive Principles and duties

Part IV (Articles 36 to 51) is not enforceable by a court (Article 37) but is fundamental in governance. In Minerva Mills (1980), the Court held that the Constitution rests on a balance between Parts III and IV. Fundamental duties in Article 51A were added by the 42nd Amendment (1976).

10. Basic structure doctrine

The doctrine limits the amending power under Article 368. The line of cases is a standard question:

1. Shankari Prasad (1951) and Sajjan Singh (1965): Parliament may amend Part III.
2. Golaknath (1967): Part III cannot be amended.
3. Kesavananda Bharati (1973), by a thin majority of 7 to 6: Parliament may amend any part, but not destroy the basic structure.
4. Indira Gandhi v. Raj Narain (1975) struck down a clause of the 39th Amendment on the same ground.
5. Minerva Mills (1980) held that limited amending power is itself part of the basic structure.
6. I. R. Coelho (2007) held that Ninth Schedule laws can be reviewed against the basic structure.

Features held to be basic include supremacy of the Constitution, judicial review, secularism (S. R. Bommai, 1994), federalism, free and fair elections, rule of law and separation of powers. In L. Chandra Kumar (1997) the Court held that judicial review by the High Courts and the Supreme Court is part of the basic structure.

11. A problem-answer pattern

A state transfers a government doctor on 24 hours' notice without reasons, and the doctor challenges it. Write: (1) Is the employer "the State" under Article 12? (2) Which right is engaged: Article 14 arbitrariness and possibly Article 21? (3) State the test: is the action arbitrary or mala fide? (4) Apply and conclude, with the remedy under Article 226.

Common traps judicial exams set here

• Treating property as a fundamental right. It is a constitutional right under Article 300A.
• Giving Golaknath as the basic structure case. It is Kesavananda Bharati, 1973.
• Confusing Articles 32 and 226. Article 32 is a fundamental right in the Supreme Court; Article 226 is a constitutional remedy in the High Courts.
• Saying Directive Principles are enforceable. They are not, though they guide interpretation.
• Placing Puttaswamy in 2018. It is 2017.

Memory aids

• "Intelligible differentia and rational nexus": the test for classification.
• "Golden triangle": Articles 14, 19 and 21.
• "1967 No, 1973 Not destroy, 1980 Balance": Golaknath, Kesavananda, Minerva Mills.

Summary

Part III binds the State, and Articles 14, 19 and 21 form a connected set tested by arbitrariness, reasonableness and fairness. Article 21 has grown to cover livelihood, dignity, privacy and legal aid.

Remedies are in Articles 32 and 226. The basic structure doctrine from Kesavananda Bharati limits amendments and was applied in Minerva Mills and Coelho.

Exam protocol

• Name the Article first, then the rule and the case.
• Apply the rule to the facts before concluding.
• Give the remedy and the forum.