Entrance Exams
Govt. Exams
Articles 12-35 establish justiciable Fundamental Rights (Part III), while Articles 36-51 provide non-justiciable DPSP (Part IV).
Landmark cases like Kesavananda Bharati (1973) established that courts can use DPSP for constitutional interpretation and as guidelines for judicial review.
The distinction is crucial: Rights are enforceable, DPSP are aspirational but legally significant for governance and judicial reasoning.
Article 131 grants the Supreme Court original jurisdiction in disputes between Union and states or between states.
Article 32 provides original jurisdiction for enforcing constitutional rights.
Article 138 extends original jurisdiction to matters of public importance involving interpretation of the Constitution.
The Supreme Court's original jurisdiction is limited and mainly covers federal disputes and constitutional matters, not general civil/criminal cases.
The 44th Amendment (1978), passed after the Emergency ended, restored several rights and modified earlier changes made by the 42nd Amendment.
It: (1) restored the right to property as a constitutional right; (2) made the right to life more explicit; (3) amended Article 21 regarding arrest and detention; (4) restored some parliamentary supremacy.
The 42nd Amendment had reduced fundamental rights and expanded DPSP, while 44th Amendment partially reversed these changes.
The 73rd Amendment (1992) made Articles 243 et seq. mandatory for panchayats.
Key features include: three-tier system (village, block, district) for states with population above 20 lakh; five-year tenure; regular elections; and reservation provisions.
Women's reservation was set at 33% (not 50%).
The amendment makes these provisions constitutionally binding on all states.
Article 356 (Emergency Provisions) allows the President to declare President's Rule (National Emergency at state level) when satisfied that the constitutional machinery has broken down and the state cannot be governed according to the Constitution.
This typically follows dismissal of the state government.
The President acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers but the constitutional ground is the failure of constitutional governance in the state.
Article 80 specifies that Rajya Sabha has a maximum strength of 250 members (238 elected + 12 nominated by President).
Lok Sabha has 545 members including 2 Anglo-Indians nominated by President (not 545 including nominated members separately).
Lok Sabha members serve 5-year terms, not 6.
Rajya Sabha members are elected by state legislatures, not directly elected by universal adult suffrage.
Article 37 of the Constitution explicitly states that DPSP are non-justiciable, meaning they cannot be enforced through courts.
However, they provide positive directions to the state for governance and policy formulation.
Unlike Fundamental Rights (Part III), DPSP cannot be challenged in courts, though courts can use them as interpretive aids.
Options A and B are correct characteristics of DPSP.
Article 32 empowers the Supreme Court to issue five types of writs: Habeas Corpus (for unlawful detention), Mandamus (to perform public duty), Prohibition (to prevent illegal action), Certiorari (to quash illegal order), and Quo Warranto (to challenge authority of office).
All five are constitutionally recognized remedies under Article 32.
The Preamble mentions: Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic, Justice, Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. 'Federal' is not explicitly stated in the Preamble, though federalism is incorporated through Articles 1-7 and other constitutional provisions. 'Socialist' and 'Secular' were added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976.
The Right to a Pollution-free Environment and the Right to Live in a Healthy Environment have been read into Article 21 through landmark judgments (Subhash Kumar v.
State of Bihar, 1991; M.C.
Mehta v.
Union of India, 1992).
While Right to Information was later codified (RTI Act, 2005) and Right to Education became Article 21A (86th Amendment, 2002), the environmental right exists only through judicial interpretation of Article 21.