RAS question
Under Article 25, freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion is subject to:
Correct answer: (A) Public order, morality, health, and other provisions of Part III.
Under Article 25(1), freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practise and propagate religion are subject to public order, morality, health, and the other provisions of Part III.
Explanation
Article 25 protects two linked freedoms: freedom of conscience, and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion. But the guarantee is not absolute. The official text begins with the limiting phrase, “Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part,” which makes option A the complete answer. The same Article also clarifies that the State may regulate or restrict economic, financial, political or other secular activity associated with religious practice. So Article 25 safeguards religious freedom while allowing constitutional limits where public order, morality, health, other Part III rights, or secular activities connected with religious practice are involved.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) It omits the phrase “and to the other provisions of this Part,” which is part of Article 25(1)'s limiting clause.
- (C) Article 25(1) does not restrict this freedom only on sovereignty and integrity grounds; it specifically names public order, morality, health, and other Part III provisions.
- (D) Article 25 is not unrestricted because the constitutional text expressly subjects the right to stated limits and permits regulation of secular activities linked to religious practice.
Concept
This tests Fundamental Rights, especially the qualified nature of religious freedom under Part III. It recurs in RAS because questions often turn on the exact constitutional limitation clause, not just the broad idea of religious liberty.