Overview: Articles 12 to 35

Prerequisites

• Preamble and Salient Features of the Constitution — Part III gives legal teeth to the Preamble’s promise of liberty, equality and justice.
• Constitutional Development (1773–1950) — the demand for a bill of rights grew out of the freedom struggle and the Constituent Assembly debates.

The Hook: Three People at Bhilai

Why it matters: Prelims questions on Part III mostly turn on exact article numbers, on which rights belong only to citizens, and on emergency provisions. Mains GS-I questions ask you to evaluate the rights, their limits and how the courts have widened them.

Part III in One Look

Fundamental Rights (मौलिक अधिकार) are in Part III, Articles 12 to 35 of the Constitution. They are called “fundamental” because they are guaranteed by the Constitution itself and can be enforced in court. Part III is often described as the Magna Carta of India.

Article 12: Who Is “the State” (राज्य)?

Most Fundamental Rights protect you against the State. So the first question is what counts as “the State”. Article 12 says the State includes:

1. The Government and Parliament of India (the Union executive and legislature)
2. The Government and Legislature of each State (for us, the Government of Chhattisgarh and the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha)
3. All local authorities — municipal corporations, panchayats, district boards and similar bodies
4. Other authorities within the territory of India or under the control of the Government of India

The phrase “other authorities” has been read widely by the Supreme Court:

So statutory bodies (such as LIC or ONGC) and government-controlled public sector undertakings can be sued for violating Fundamental Rights. Purely private bodies cannot, except for the few rights that also bind private persons (see below).

Article 13: The Shield of Judicial Review (न्यायिक पुनरावलोकन)

Article 13 makes Part III supreme over ordinary law:

• 13(1): Laws in force before the Constitution are void to the extent they are inconsistent with Fundamental Rights.
• 13(2): The State shall not make any law that takes away or abridges these rights. Any such law is void to the extent of the contravention.
• 13(3): “Law” is defined broadly. It includes ordinances, orders, bye-laws, rules, regulations, notifications, and custom or usage having the force of law.
• 13(4): Added by the 24th Amendment (1971). It says Article 13 does not apply to a constitutional amendment made under Article 368.

Two doctrines grow out of Article 13:

• Doctrine of severability: Only the offending part of a law is struck down. The rest survives if it can stand on its own.
• Doctrine of eclipse: A pre-Constitution law that conflicts with a Fundamental Right is not dead. It is only “eclipsed” (dormant), and it can revive if the conflict is removed by amendment.

The Six Categories

Article 31 (Right to Property) was repealed in 1978. Articles 31A, 31B and 31C remain as exceptions that save certain laws. They are not rights.

The rest of Part III:

Citizens Only vs All Persons

Back to the hook: the foreign engineer can claim Article 21 but cannot claim Article 19 or Article 16. Note that an enemy alien does not get the safeguards against arrest in Article 22(1)–(2).

Against the State vs against private persons

Most rights limit the State. A few also bind private individuals:

• Art 15(2) — no citizen can be denied access to shops, public restaurants, hotels, places of public entertainment, wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and similar places
• Art 17 — abolition of untouchability
• Art 23 — ban on traffic in human beings and forced labour
• Art 24 — ban on child labour in factories, mines and hazardous employment

Suspension During Emergency (आपातकाल)

Fundamental Rights are curtailed during a National Emergency proclaimed under Article 352 through two separate articles. After the 44th Amendment (1978), a National Emergency can be proclaimed only on the grounds of war, external aggression or armed rebellion.

Right to Property (संपत्ति का अधिकार): From Fundamental Right to Legal Right

Consequences:

• Property is now a constitutional (legal) right, not a Fundamental Right.
• If it is violated, the remedy is a writ petition under Article 226 in a High Court or an ordinary suit. Article 32 is not available, because Article 32 only enforces Fundamental Rights.
• The State may acquire property by a valid law. Whether compensation must be paid depends on the statute, not on Part III.
• Exception: Article 30(1A), also added by the 44th Amendment, requires the State to fix an amount for acquiring the property of a minority educational institution that will not restrict or abrogate the right under Article 30.

Why it was done (Mains angle): Land reform laws after 1950 were repeatedly challenged under the property right. The First Amendment (1951) added Articles 31A and 31B and the Ninth Schedule to protect those laws. The 44th Amendment removed the source of the conflict altogether.

Analysis for Mains: Strengths and Criticisms

Significance

• They set limits on government power and keep democracy from turning into the tyranny of the majority.
• They protect minorities and weaker sections, for example through Articles 15(4), 16(4), 17, 29 and 30.
• They form the base of judicial review. Article 32 makes the Supreme Court the guardian of these rights.
• Through Article 21, courts have read in many new rights: privacy, livelihood, a clean environment, speedy trial and others.

Criticisms (state them in a balanced way)

• There are too many exceptions and restrictions. Critics said the Constitution gave rights with one hand and took them away with the other.
• Preventive detention (Article 22) sits inside a chapter meant to protect liberty.
• There is no explicit social and economic right such as work or social security. Those were left to the Directive Principles (DPSP).
• Rights can be suspended during an emergency, as the 1975–77 Emergency showed.
• Phrases such as “reasonable restrictions” and “public order” are vague, which leaves a lot to judicial interpretation.

Chhattisgarh angle: In Nandini Sundar v. State of Chhattisgarh (2011), the Supreme Court held that the State’s use of tribal youth as Special Police Officers in counter-insurgency operations (the Salwa Judum context) violated Articles 14 and 21. It is a strong example of Part III protecting citizens against the State’s own security policy.

Memory Tricks

Don’t Confuse

Common Mistakes

Practice

All questions below are original practice questions written in CGPSC style. They are not previous-year questions.

Level 1: Foundation

1. Fundamental Rights are contained in Part ______ of the Constitution, Articles ______ to ______.
2. The Right to Property was removed from Part III by the ______ Amendment Act of ______ and placed in Article ______.
3. Under Article 359, which two Fundamental Rights cannot be suspended after the 44th Amendment?

Level 2: Prelims MCQs

Q1. Which of the following Fundamental Rights are available only to citizens of India?

1. Article 14
2. Article 16
3. Article 21
4. Article 29

Select the correct answer using the code below:

• (a) 1 and 3 only
• (b) 2 and 4 only
• (c) 1, 2 and 4 only
• (d) 2, 3 and 4 only

Q2. Consider the following statements regarding the suspension of Fundamental Rights during a National Emergency:

1. Article 358 suspends Article 19 automatically when an emergency is proclaimed on the ground of armed rebellion.
2. Under Article 359, the President may suspend the right to move any court for the enforcement of Articles 20 and 21.
3. Article 359 suspends the enforcement of rights, not the rights themselves.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) 1 and 2 only
• (b) 3 only
• (c) 2 and 3 only
• (d) 1, 2 and 3

Q3. Match List I (Article) with List II (Subject):

• (a) A-2, B-3, C-1, D-4
• (b) A-3, B-2, C-4, D-1
• (c) A-2, B-3, C-4, D-1
• (d) A-3, B-2, C-1, D-4

Q4. With reference to the 44th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1978, which of the following is not correct?

• (a) It deleted Article 19(1)(f) and repealed Article 31.
• (b) It inserted Article 300A in Part XII.
• (c) It made the Right to Property part of the basic structure of the Constitution.
• (d) It replaced “internal disturbance” with “armed rebellion” as a ground for National Emergency.

Q5. Under Article 13(3) of the Constitution, the term “law” includes which of the following?

1. Ordinance
2. Bye-law
3. Custom or usage having the force of law
4. Notification

• (a) 1 and 2 only
• (b) 1, 2 and 4 only
• (c) 2, 3 and 4 only
• (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Level 3: Mains Answer Writing

Q1. (60 words) Why was the Right to Property removed from the list of Fundamental Rights? What is its present status?

Q2. (150–200 words) “Fundamental Rights are not absolute.” Discuss with reference to the limitations placed on them by the Constitution itself.

Quick Revision Table

Key Takeaways

What’s Next

• Right to Equality and Freedom (Articles 14–22) — the articles in detail, with landmark cases
• Constitutional Remedies and Writs — how these rights are enforced
• Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties — the other half of the rights–duties framework
• Judiciary — the courts that guard Part III