In February 2022, the Supreme Court of India had sought response from the Centre and states on a plea seeking direction for enacting well defined laws/rules to ensure adherence to the fundamental duties as enshrined in the Constitution for Fundamental duties under Article 51A.
- Composition of bench: A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M M Sundresh issued notice on the plea filed by Supreme Court lawyer and Advocate on Record, Durga Dutt related to Fundamental rights, a forgotten chapter. The plea was filed through advocate Karunakar Mahalik.
- Fundamental duties are interlinked to Fundamental Rights: The plea sought issuance of directives ensuring adherence to the mandates as postulated under Part IV-A of the Constitution and said that non-adherence to them has a direct bearing on the exercise and enjoyment of the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 14, 19, 21 for formulation and operationalisation of appropriate scheme providing incentives to the citizenry for their adherence.
- Guidelines of Court to fill the vacuum for performance of duties: Presently, there are no guidelines present to adhere to them and is acting as forgotten chapter in practical observation. The petition is filed as it may be just and appropriate for this court to frame guidelines for regulation and effective implementation for fundamental duties in exercise of the plenary and extra-ordinary power of this court under Article 32 and 142 of the Constitution until the scheme in this regard is formalised by the respondents.
- No uniformity of sketchy laws for performance of the Fundamental duties nationally: The laws are inadequate for ensuring performance of the fundamental duties, it said. The plea further added that except for some scattered legislation, there is neither a uniform policy nor a comprehensive code for enforcement of fundamental duties.
- Suggestion for Constitution of High Powered Committee: The plea also sought direction for setting up of an independent high-powered committee, headed by a retired chief justice or judge of this court or High Court and consisting of distinguished citizens from different fields/professions and concerned officials of the stakeholders and the respondents, to scrutinise and review the entire legal framework relating to the effective implementation of Part IV-A of the Constitution and recommendation of appropriate guidelines needed to be laid down by this court.
- Sensitisation of Public: Law cannot operate in vacuum unless its performance is well mandated for observation by public at large by counter actions for non observations. The plea sought directions to Centre and states for framing of guidelines for taking appropriate steps to sensitize people and spread general awareness among the citizens in relation to performance of fundamental duties under the Constitution. Swachh Bharat abhiyan is one such glaring example of sensitisation.
- Background of PIL: The plea argued that the need to enforce the fundamental duty arises because of a new illegal trend of protest by the protesters by blocking road and rail routes under the guise of freedom of speech and expression, so that the government was forced to meet can go their demands.
- Issue of converting moral obligation into legal obligation: It said that while citizens show a serious concern towards fundamental rights, they often forget that there is a corresponding Constitutional and moral obligation upon them to perform the fundamental duties. Therefore, it is need of the hour that certain moral obligations be converted to legal obligations by enacting legislation and framing guidelines, so that if in future such situation arises, we as a nation shall be seen standing together with united efforts”, it said.
The plea said the fundamental duties are intended to serve as a constant reminder to every citizen that while the Constitution conferred on them certain fundamental rights specifically, it also requires citizens to observe certain basic norms of democratic conduct and behaviour because rights and duties are correlative.
- The fundamental duties are an important tool to protect the unity and integrity of several institutions including the judiciary. It is submitted that every citizen must learn how to respect the institutions of this country.
- The Fundamental Duties were added in 1976, upon recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee, that was constituted by Indira Gandhi just after the declaration of national emergency, to study and amend the constitution. However, by the 86th Amendment in 2002, the original 10 duties were then increased to 11, under Article 51A, Part IV-A of the Constitution of India. The 10 fundamental duties are as follows:
- The 11 fundamental duties enshrined in Indian Constitution are as follows:
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HON’BLE MR JUSTICE SANJAY KISHAN KAUL
Judge Supreme Court of India
HON’BLE MR M M SUNDRESH
Judge Supreme Court of India
Image: My Gov.in- Riva Monteiro,JW
