RAS question
Fundamental Duties are:
Correct answer: (B) Non-justiciable like DPSP.
Fundamental Duties under Article 51A are non-justiciable like the Directive Principles of State Policy, though courts may use them as interpretive guides.
Explanation
Fundamental Duties are not directly enforceable in court in the way Fundamental Rights are. The Supreme Court, in Ashoka Kumar Thakur v. Union of India, noted that duties in Part IVA are not enforceable by a writ of court like rights in Part III. That is why the closest constitutional comparison is with the Directive Principles of State Policy: both guide constitutional governance but do not create a direct remedy by themselves. They still have practical constitutional value. Fundamental Duties can guide the interpretation of constitutional and legal issues, especially where there is doubt or a choice between possible readings, and they may also support legislation.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Fundamental Duties are not enforceable by courts in the same direct manner as Fundamental Rights, so a writ remedy cannot be claimed merely on that basis.
- (C) Fundamental Duties are framed as duties of citizens, not as a code limited to government servants.
- (D) Fundamental Duties apply to citizens of India, so extending them equally to foreigners overstates their constitutional reach.
Concept
This tests the Part IVA distinction between constitutional duties and enforceable rights. RAS repeatedly asks this because Fundamental Duties sit at the intersection of rights, DPSP-style non-justiciability, judicial interpretation, and citizen obligations.