47 Topics.
0 of 7 Concepts Done
What to Study: Which Part and which Articles of the Constitution hold the Fundamental Rights, and which foreign constitution inspired them? Remember why Part III is called the 'Magna Carta of India' (and what the original Magna Carta was). Understand the two reasons these rights are called 'fundamental', and how they protect political democracy against authoritarian rule.
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 1995UPSC 2002UPSC 2017UPSC 2020
What to Study: What were the seven Fundamental Rights in the original Constitution, and which Articles did each one cover? Know which right was later removed, by which amendment and in which year, and where it sits in the Constitution now.
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 2002
What to Study: Learn which right or subject each Article from 12 to 35 deals with, including the general Articles at the start and the saving and enforcement Articles from 31A to 35. Remember which Articles of Part III now stand repealed.
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 1999
What to Study: Which Fundamental Rights are only for citizens, and which are also available to foreigners? Be clear that 'persons' here also covers legal persons such as companies. Know the position of enemy aliens: which provision expressly excludes them, and from which protections?
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 2017
What to Study: Why are these rights called qualified and not absolute, and who decides whether a restriction on them is reasonable? Understand whether they hold only against the State or also against private persons (including the 2023 Kaushal Kishor ruling on Articles 19 and 21), and how negative rights differ from positive ones. Be clear why a person can go straight to the Supreme Court, and how far Parliament can change these rights (ordinary law, constitutional amendment, basic structure).
What to Study: Which Fundamental Rights stay enforceable even during a National Emergency? Be clear about when the six rights under Article 19 are suspended automatically. Does it depend on the ground on which the emergency is declared (war, external aggression or armed rebellion)?
What to Study: How does a self-executing Fundamental Right differ from one that needs a law to give it effect? Understand why only Parliament, and not the State legislatures, can make such a law. Be aware that Articles 31A to 31C, 33 and 34 also limit how these rights apply.