240. Constitution, Preamble, Citizenship and Fundamental Rights

The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950. Its Preamble names India as a sovereign socialist secular democratic republic and places justice, liberty, equality and fraternity at the centre of constitutional interpretation. Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 inserted socialist, secular and integrity in the Preamble and inserted Fundamental Duties through Article 51A on 1976-12-18. S.R. Bommai v. Union of India connected secularism with the basic structure and made Article 356 proclamations open to judicial review when a State government departs from constitutional identity. Part III converts values into enforceable limits on State power. Article 14 equality before law and equal protection of laws protects persons against arbitrary treatment. Article 21 protection of life and personal liberty protects every person against deprivation without lawful and fair procedure. Article 19 is narrower in beneficiary terms because its freedoms belong to citizens. Rajasthan makes the distinction practical: a recruitment rule in Jaipur may raise Articles 14 and 16, a detention order in Jodhpur may raise Article 21, and a High Court writ under Article 226 may reach both Fundamental Rights and other legal rights. Fundamental Duties guide civic obligation, but their enforcement normally depends on a law that gives them operative force. The constitutional identity layer also explains why the Preamble is treated as interpretive rather than independently remedial. Berubari gave the earlier limited view, Kesavananda treated the Preamble as part of the Constitution, and Bommai used its secular character to control Union intervention in States. Rajasthan administration therefore receives constitutional values through statutes, service rules, police powers and welfare orders rather than through the Preamble alone.