1. Genesis of Fundamental Duties in India

Recommendations of Swaran Singh Committee that were not accepted

(a) The Parliament may provide for the imposition of such penalty or punishment as may be considered appropriate for any non-compliance with or refusal to observe any of the duties;

(b) No law imposing such penalty or punishment shall be called in question in any court on the ground of infringement of any of Fundamental Rights or on the ground of repugnancy to any other provision of the Constitution;

For any polity, its people are the ultimate custodians of its Constitution. It is in these citizens that sovereignty vests and specifically for India, it is in their name that the Constitution was adopted. Therefore, the Constitution seeks to empower the citizen. However, it is a reciprocal relationship, in the sense, that the citizen also empowers the Constitution. They do it by following it in letter and spirit, by adhering to it, by protecting it, and by persevering to make it more meaningful with words and deeds.

The Constitution of India envisaged a holistic approach towards civic life in a democratic polity. It guaranteed certain rights to the citizen as Fundamental Rights. Since human conduct cannot be confined to the realm of Fundamental Rights, the Constitution also envisaged certain duties,

which are correlated to the rights, and those duties have been described as Fundamental Duties.

It is to be borne in mind that the framers of the Constitution did not deem it appropriate to incorporate those duties in the text of the Constitution when it was originally promulgated. There may be myriad reasons for such omission:

♤ Firstly, the concept of Dharma is deeply rooted in the Indian society. Citizens practice certain duties as basic values irrespective of a threat of penalty.

♤ Secondly, the preamble to the Constitution itself encapsulates the duties of citizensby including not only the aspirations of the people i.e. the goals of the nation, but also the assurances of the Constitution. Hence, it is implied that whatever is required for the fulfillment of these goals be undertaken by every citizen as his duty.

♤ Additionally, the Fundamental Rights enlisted in the Constitution logically bring in an inference of a set of duties which are essential for their realization. If these rights are to be available to people, they are obligated to perform their corresponding duties.

However, after around a quarter century in the history of independent India, it was thought fit to have a framework of duties in the Constitution itself. Sardar Swaran Singh committee was constituted by Indira Gandhi soon after emergency was imposed in the country. The objective of this committee was to study the question of amending the constitution in the light of past experiences and recommend amendments.

Consequently, the 42nd Amendment Act, also called the "Mini Constitution", added added a new part in the Constitution, Part IVA. It incorporated ten (now eleven) Fundamental Duties by inserting a new article 51A below article 51. The objective of incorporating the fundamental duties is to place before the country a code of conduct, which the citizens are expected to follow.