Consider the following statements:
With reference to the Constitution of India, the Directive Principles of State Policy constitute limitations upon
- 1.legislative function.
- 2.executive function.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Neither is correct. Directive Principles are guidelines for the State that no court can enforce, so they are not legal limits on what Parliament may pass or what the executive may do. The real limits come from the Fundamental Rights, which courts do enforce.
- ✗ 1. Article 37 says the Directive Principles are not enforceable by any court. A law is therefore not struck down merely because it does not follow one; they guide law-making rather than restrict it.
- ✗ 2. They tell governments what to aim for, but they are non-justiciable: if a government does not act on a directive, citizens cannot ask a court to make it do so. They are instructions, not limitations.
Remember · Directive Principles guide the State (Article 37) but are non-justiciable; only Fundamental Rights actually limit legislative and executive action.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Indian Constitution at Work, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 11 · Indian Constitution at Work, Chapter 2 “some guidelines were incorporated in the Constitution but they were not made legally enforceable: this means that if a government did not implement a particular guideline, we cannot go to the court asking the court to instruct the government to implement that policy.”
- Constitution of India, Part IV, Article 37 ↗ “The provisions contained in this Part shall not be enforceable by any court, but the principles therein laid down are nevertheless fundamental in the governance of the country”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·