The Fundamental Duties

In one line

The Constitution lists eleven things every citizen ought to do, provides no court, no penalty and no procedure for making anybody do them, and courts nevertheless decide real cases by them.

In the wording a student can write in an exam: article 51A, the only article in Part IVA, provides that "It shall be the duty of every citizen of India" to do eleven listed things. Clauses (a) to (j) were inserted by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act 1976, section 11, with effect from 3 January 1977, on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee; clause (k), on the parent or guardian of a child of six to fourteen, was inserted by the Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act 2002, section 4, with effect from 1 April 2010. The duties are not enforceable against a citizen by any court, because Part IVA creates no remedy; they are used to construe statutes, to show that State action is reasonable, and to give content to a fundamental right.

MU's own slip, and how to answer it

MU's 2019 paper, QP 81954, asked at question 1(a) for "Fundamental Duties under Article 51". That is the wrong article, and a student who goes looking for duties in article 51 will find none.

Article 51 is a directive principle in Part IV. It is headed Promotion of international peace and security and directs the State to promote international peace, to maintain just and honourable relations between nations, to "foster respect for international law and treaty obligations", and to encourage the settlement of international disputes by arbitration. It says nothing about citizens.

Article 51A is in Part IVA and is the fundamental duties article. If the same wording appears in an examination, answer article 51A. Open with one sentence saying so: that the fundamental duties are contained in article 51A, inserted by the Forty-second Amendment 1976, article 51 being the directive principle on international peace and security. That sentence costs nothing, answers the question the examiner meant, and shows the examiner you know which article is which. Do not write the answer on article 51 and do not leave the discrepancy unmentioned.

Why the law has this at all

The Constitution as adopted had a Part of rights and a Part of directions to the State. It said nothing about what a citizen owes.

The duties were added in 1976, on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee, and the timing is part of the answer to any question that asks for a critical view: they were inserted during the Emergency, by the same amendment that tried to give the directive principles primacy over articles 14 and 19 and to put constitutional amendments beyond the reach of a court, which is [The Directive Principles]. Nothing about the duties themselves is objectionable. The suspicion attaches to the moment.