Fundamental Rights, DPSP & Duties

Answer: (a) 1, 3 and 4 only

The task is to mediate and balance three legitimate interests, so steps that listen, bring all sides together and put shared evidence on the table help, while a decision that dismisses one side does not. Statements 1, 3 and 4 do this; statement 2 overrides the tribal community's concerns and is likely to deepen the conflict.

• ✓ 1. Starting with the tribal community's cultural and religious concerns shows respect, lowers tension and makes it possible to discuss technical alternatives afterwards.
• ✗ 2. Public health is among the State's primary duties (Article 47), but the State must equally protect the environment (Article 48A) and look to the welfare of Scheduled Tribes (Fifth Schedule); treating one group's view as automatically outweighing another's ignores the balance the task asks for.
• ✓ 3. A platform with tribal leaders, environmental experts and municipal representatives brings all interests to one table and helps reduce tension.
• ✓ 4. An independent impact assessment shared openly with both sides gives them common facts, so the decision can rest on evidence rather than on rival claims.

Remember · In conflict cases, choose steps that listen to every side, share facts openly and balance rights and needs. Reject options that override one party or rush ahead.

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Answer: (d) The view of only ‘Y’ is correct.

Article 13(3)(a) defines 'law' to include ordinances, orders, rules, regulations and notifications, and also custom or usage having the force of law in India. So X was right about what 'law' covers but wrong to doubt that custom is included; only Y's view is correct.

• ✗ (a) X's list is right as far as it goes, but he is wrong to leave out custom or usage, which Article 13(3)(a) expressly includes.
• ✗ (b) Y's view is exactly what Article 13(3)(a) says, so it cannot be called incorrect.
• ✗ (c) X's doubt about custom or usage is not sustained, so both cannot be correct.
• ✓ (d) Only Y is correct: the definition covers ordinances, orders, bye-laws, rules, regulations, notifications and custom or usage having the force of law.

Remember · Art 13(3)(a): 'law' = ordinance, order, bye-law, rule, regulation, notification, custom or usage with the force of law. Any such 'law' that violates a Fundamental Right is void.

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Answer: (a) There are two correct statements, that include statement 2.

Statements 2 and 3 are correct. The tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram fall under the Sixth Schedule, not the Fifth, so statement 1 is wrong. The Constitution reserves at least one-third of the SC and ST seats in Panchayats for women of those groups, and members of Scheduled Tribes living in specified north-eastern areas are exempt from income tax on income from those areas.

• ✗ 1. Article 244(1) applies the Fifth Schedule to Scheduled Areas in every State other than Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram; Article 244(2) gives those four States' tribal areas the Sixth Schedule.
• ✓ 2. Members of Scheduled Tribes living in specified north-eastern areas pay no income tax on income arising in those areas, so some tribes do have an exemption on certain incomes.
• ✓ 3. Article 243D(2) reserves not less than one-third of the seats reserved for SCs and STs in a Panchayat for women of those groups; NCERT puts this at 17 per cent of all seats.
• • Since then The Income-tax Act, 2025 has since been enacted and carries the same exemption for Scheduled Tribe members in its Schedule III, in place of section 10(26) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Remember · Fifth Schedule = Scheduled Areas in most States; Sixth Schedule = tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram (Art 244). Panchayats: one-third of SC/ST seats go to SC/ST women (Art 243D).

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Answer: (c) I and III only

Statements I and III are correct; Statement II is wrong. An Ordinance has the same force as an Act of Parliament, so it can amend Central Acts and can be given effect from an earlier date, but it is void if it goes beyond what Parliament may enact, and Parliament cannot make a law that abridges a Fundamental Right.

• ✓ I Article 123(2) gives an Ordinance 'the same force and effect as an Act of Parliament'. The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Second Ordinance, 2016, for example, amended the Enemy Property Act, 1968 and another Central Act.
• ✗ II Article 123(3) makes an Ordinance void if it contains anything Parliament cannot enact. Article 13(3)(a) says 'law' includes an Ordinance, and Article 13(2) bars the State from making any law that takes away or abridges a Fundamental Right.
• ✓ III An Ordinance can carry a retrospective date. The 2016 Enemy Property Second Ordinance, promulgated on 2 April 2016, was itself deemed to have come into force on 7 January 2016.

Remember · Ordinance (Art. 123) = same force as an Act, can amend Acts and be retrospective, but cannot go beyond Parliament's powers or abridge Fundamental Rights (Art. 13).

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Answer: (c) All the three

All three pairs are correct. Article 50 (a Directive Principle) asks the State to separate the judiciary from the executive in the public services, Article 51A(f) makes valuing our composite culture a Fundamental Duty, and Article 24 (a Fundamental Right) bars employing a child below fourteen in a factory.

• ✓ I Article 50 sits in Part IV. As a Directive Principle it guides the State but, under Article 37, cannot be enforced by a court.
• ✓ II Article 51A(f), in Part IVA, lists among citizens' duties 'to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture'.
• ✓ III Article 24, in Part III, says no child below fourteen shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or in any other hazardous employment.

Remember · Art 50 (DPSP): separate judiciary from executive. Art 51A(f) (Duty): value composite culture. Art 24 (Fundamental Right): no child under 14 in factories, mines or hazardous work.

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Answer: (d) Article 21

In Justice K S Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India (24 August 2017) a nine-judge Bench held that the right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21, and as part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III. It overruled the earlier M P Sharma and Kharak Singh rulings to the extent that they denied such a right.

• ✓ (d) Article 21, 'Protection of life and personal liberty', is the Article the Court named as the home of the right to privacy.
• ✗ (c) Article 19 covers freedoms such as speech. The Court did not anchor privacy there; it named Article 21 and, more widely, the freedoms of Part III.
• ✗ (a) Article 15 is the equality provision against discrimination by the State on the listed grounds, such as religion, race, caste, sex and place of birth. The Court did not place privacy under it.
• ✗ (b) Article 16 deals with equality of opportunity in public employment, not privacy.

Remember · Puttaswamy (2017), nine judges: privacy is a fundamental right, an intrinsic part of life and personal liberty under Article 21 and of the freedoms in Part III.

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Answer: (c) the lower court prohibiting continuation of proceedings in a case.

The writ of prohibition is issued by a higher court, that is the Supreme Court or a High Court, to a lower court that has taken up a case going beyond its jurisdiction. Its effect is to stop that lower court from continuing the proceedings.

• ✓ (c) A lower court that has considered a case beyond its jurisdiction is the target of this writ. The higher court orders it to stop the proceedings.
• ✗ (a) A writ aimed at an office holder who is not doing his legal duty is mandamus, which orders him to act. Prohibition is not addressed to an officer.
• ✗ (d) This writ is not aimed at the Government or at a legislature, as in options (d) and (b). It is directed at a lower court acting beyond its jurisdiction.

Remember · Prohibition: a higher court stops a lower court that has taken up a case beyond its jurisdiction. Mandamus is issued when an office holder neglects a legal duty.

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Answer: (a) The principle of natural justice

'Due process of law', borrowed from the US Constitution, lets courts ask not only whether a law was properly made but whether the law itself is fair, just and reasonable. At its core it is the principle of natural justice: no one is condemned unheard and no one judges their own cause.

• ✓ (a) Due process asks whether a law and its procedure are fair, not only whether it was properly made. In Maneka Gandhi (1978) the Supreme Court held that the Article 21 procedure must be right, just and fair, and that natural justice, such as a fair hearing, is part of that fairness.
• ✗ (b) 'Procedure established by law' is the narrower phrase actually used in Article 21: it asks only whether a validly enacted law was followed, which is why the framers preferred it to due process.
• ✗ (d) Equality before law is a separate guarantee under Article 14, not the meaning of due process.

Remember · Article 21 says 'procedure established by law'; courts have read in 'due process' (fair, just, reasonable; natural justice) since Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India (1978).

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UPSC dropped this question from evaluation in its final answer key.

UPSC dropped this question from evaluation in its final answer key. The classic answer is the 1st Amendment (1951): its own Statement of Objects says difficulties had surfaced from court rulings on Fundamental Rights, and it added Articles 31A and 31B and the Ninth Schedule to protect land-reform laws.

• • (a) The Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951 was brought in because judicial decisions on Fundamental Rights, especially on free speech, trade and property, were blocking social and land-reform laws. It inserted Article 31B, which protects Acts in the Ninth Schedule from being struck down for violating Part III.
• • (b) The 42nd Amendment (1976) also asserted parliamentary supremacy after the Kesavananda Bharati ruling, but the Court repeated its stand in Minerva Mills (1980). This overlap may be why the question was contested.
• • (c) The 44th Amendment (1978) went the other way: it undid many changes made by the 38th, 39th and 42nd Amendments, and removed the right to property from the Fundamental Rights.

Remember · 1st Amendment (1951): a response to court rulings on Fundamental Rights; added Articles 31A, 31B and the Ninth Schedule.

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Answer: (c) Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect

Statement-I is correct: the Supreme Court, notably in M. Nagaraj (2006), has treated Article 335 as a limit that reservation in services must respect. Statement-II is wrong because Article 335 only says SC and ST claims are considered consistently with the maintenance of efficiency of administration; it never defines that phrase.

• ✓ Statement-I The Court has held that the State must comply with Article 335 when providing reservation in public employment, in addition to showing backwardness and inadequacy of representation with data (M. Nagaraj, as restated in Jarnail Singh, 2022).
• ✗ Statement-II Article 335 uses the words 'efficiency of administration' without defining them. The Court has said there is no fixed yardstick for efficiency, which varies with the facts of each case.
• ✓ (c) Only Statement-I is right, so the option that accepts Statement-I and rejects Statement-II is the answer.

Remember · Article 335: SC/ST claims to services are considered consistently with efficiency of administration. The Constitution does not define 'efficiency'; the Supreme Court treats it as a fact-specific test.

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Answer: (b) Only two

Statements 1 and 2 are correct; statement 3 is wrong. The Constitution makes the Union protect every State from internal disturbance and denies a preventive detainee the right to a lawyer, while the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 allowed certain confessions made to a senior police officer to be used in court.

• ✓ 1. Article 355 says it is the duty of the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance.
• ✓ 2. Article 22(1) gives an arrested person the right to consult and be defended by a lawyer, but Article 22(3)(b) says this does not apply to anyone arrested or detained under a preventive detention law.
• ✗ 3. Section 32 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 made a confession recorded by a police officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police admissible in trial under that Act, and required the officer to warn the person that it may be used against him. The Act was repealed in 2004.

Remember · Article 355: Union protects States from external aggression and internal disturbance. Article 22(3)(b): no right to a lawyer under preventive detention. POTA 2002 (repealed 2004) admitted confessions made to a police officer of SP rank or above.

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Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

Mandamus commands the performance of a statutory or public duty, so it reaches a private body only when the law entrusts it with a public duty, and not a company registered under the Companies Act merely because the government owns it: in Praga Tools Corporation (1969) the Supreme Court refused mandamus against a company in which the Union and Andhra Pradesh governments held 88 per cent of the shares. Quo warranto tests a person's title to a public office, and any member of the public may seek it.

• ✓ 1. Mandamus is a command to do a thing that is in the nature of a public duty. The Supreme Court in Praga Tools said it can issue to companies or corporations to carry out duties placed on them by the statutes authorising their undertakings, so a private body is reached only when a statute entrusts it with a public duty.
• ✓ 2. In Praga Tools the company was a government company in substance (56 per cent Union and 32 per cent Andhra Pradesh shareholding), yet the Court held that, being a non-statutory body incorporated under the Companies Act, it bore no statutory or public duty enforceable by mandamus. Government ownership alone does not expose a company to the writ.
• ✓ 3. Quo warranto asks by what authority a person holds a public office. Because the aim is to stop usurpation of public office, the petitioner need not be personally affected — any public-minded person may apply.

Remember · Mandamus: enforces a statutory or public duty; not against a private body without one, nor against a company merely because the government owns it (Praga Tools, 1969). Quo warranto: challenges title to a public office; any public-minded person can file.

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Answer: (c) Article 21

The Supreme Court held in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India (24 August 2017) that the right to privacy is an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21. It also forms part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution.

• ✓ (c) Article 21 says no person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. The nine-judge bench read privacy into this right, overruling earlier decisions (M.P. Sharma and Kharak Singh) to the extent they denied it.
• ✗ (a) Article 15 is the equality guarantee against discrimination by the State on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex or birthplace. Privacy is not derived from it.
• ✗ (b) Article 19 protects freedoms such as speech and movement. The Court said privacy also draws on the Part III freedoms, but its main anchor is Article 21, which is the answer sought.
• ✗ (d) Article 29 protects the interests of minorities in their language, script and culture; it has nothing to do with privacy.

Remember · Right to privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21 (Puttaswamy, 2017), and is subject to reasonable restrictions.

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Answer: (b) 2 only

Statement 1 is wrong because a person in judicial custody is kept in prison (jail) on the Magistrate's order, while a police-station lock-up is police custody. Statement 2 is the one UPSC treats as correct: a person in judicial custody is under the court's control, so the police need the court's approval to question him.

• ✗ 1. The law separates the two: detention is either in a police station under police custody, or in prison under judicial custody. Judicial custody is therefore not a lock-up in a police station.
• ✓ 2. Police custody is granted by the Magistrate only for a limited period. Once the accused is remanded to judicial custody, he is in prison under the court's control, and the MHA Model Prison Manual allows only police officers authorised by the Judge or Magistrate to interrogate an undertrial prisoner there.
• • Since then The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 167) has since been replaced by the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, where the same remand rules appear in Section 187.

Remember · Police custody means the police station; judicial custody means prison under the Magistrate's order. Questioning in judicial custody needs the court's approval.

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Answer: (a) Article 14

Article 14, the guarantee of equality before the law and equal protection of the laws, is violated by a law that gives officials unguided and uncontrolled discretion. Such a power can be used arbitrarily, and the Supreme Court has held that arbitrariness and equality cannot go together.

• ✓ (a) With no guidelines to control the discretion, the authority can treat similar persons differently at will. The Supreme Court has held that a statute vesting unguided and unrestricted power in an authority is vitiated by discrimination, and so violates Article 14.
• ✗ (b) Article 28 is about religious instruction and worship in educational institutions, not administrative discretion.
• ✗ (c) Article 32 gives the right to move the Supreme Court for enforcing Fundamental Rights. It is a remedy, not a right that such a law would breach.
• ✗ (d) Article 44 is a Directive Principle on a uniform civil code, which is not enforceable in court and is unrelated to discretionary powers.

Remember · Arbitrary or unguided discretion in a law offends Article 14: equality is the enemy of arbitrariness.

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Answer: (b) the Directive Principles of State Policy

Concentration of wealth violates the Directive Principles of State Policy. Article 39(c) directs the State to steer the economy so that wealth and the means of production do not pile up in a few hands to the public's harm.

• ✗ (a) The Right to Equality (Articles 14-18) covers equality before law, non-discrimination and equal opportunity in public employment; it does not deal with how wealth is distributed.
• ✓ (b) Article 39(c), a Directive Principle, directs the State to see that the working of the economy does not gather wealth and the means of production into a few hands to the common detriment.
• ✗ (c) The Right to Freedom (Articles 19-22) protects freedoms such as speech, movement and profession; it says nothing about limiting concentration of wealth.
• ✗ (d) 'Welfare' is a general goal, not a specific constitutional provision; the specific direction on wealth is Article 39(c).

Remember · Article 39(c), a Directive Principle: the State must prevent wealth and the means of production from concentrating in a few hands, to the common detriment.

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Answer: (b) Legal right available to any person

The Right to Property is an ordinary legal (constitutional) right under Article 300A, and it is available to any person, not only citizens. The 44th Amendment (1978) removed it from the list of Fundamental Rights.

• ✗ (a) It is a legal right, but Article 300A begins 'No person', so it protects everyone, citizen or not.
• ✓ (b) Article 300A says no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law. It is a right recognised by the Constitution, but it is not a Fundamental Right.
• ✗ (c) The 44th Amendment (1978) removed the right to property from the list of Fundamental Rights, so it is no longer one.
• ✗ (d) It is not a Fundamental Right, but it is still a right: Article 300A gives it constitutional protection against deprivation without authority of law.

Remember · Right to Property: no longer a Fundamental Right after the 44th Amendment (1978); now a legal right under Article 300A ('No person...'), available to every person.

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Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

All three statements are wrong, so the answer is 1, 2 and 3. The awards are not 'titles' (they cannot be used as a prefix or suffix to the name), the Padma Awards were interrupted twice (1978-79 and 1993-97), and Bharat Ratna is limited to three a year, not five.

• ✗ 1. Article 18(1) bars the State from conferring titles. The Ministry of Home Affairs states that the Padma award does not amount to a title and cannot be used as a suffix or prefix to the awardee's name; Bharat Ratna is treated the same way.
• ✗ 2. The Padma Awards were instituted in 1954 but were interrupted in 1978-79 and again from 1993 to 1997, so they were suspended twice, not once.
• ✗ 3. The number of Bharat Ratna awards is restricted to a maximum of three in a particular year, not five.

Remember · Bharat Ratna: maximum three a year. Padma Awards (1954) were interrupted in 1978-79 and 1993-97. Neither is a 'title' under Article 18(1); neither may be a name prefix or suffix.

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Answer: (b) 2 and 4 only

The question rests on the Supreme Court's Aadhaar judgment of 26 September 2018 (Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India). The Court fixed the limit for keeping authentication records at six months, not three; struck down the part of Section 57 that allowed Aadhaar use under a mere contract; and upheld Section 7, which lets governments require Aadhaar for benefits paid from the Consolidated Fund of India. Insurance is not such a benefit.

• ✗ 1. The Court said authentication records may be kept for six months at most and struck down the regulation that allowed archiving for five years. The limit is six months, not three.
• ✓ 2. The Court held that Section 57, so far as it let the State or any company use Aadhaar under 'any contract to this effect', was unconstitutional and void, because a contract is not a law.
• ✗ 3. No law made Aadhaar compulsory for buying insurance, and after the judgment private bodies could not demand it on the strength of a contract. Insurance is not a subsidy or benefit funded from the Consolidated Fund of India.
• ✓ 4. Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 lets the Centre or a State require Aadhaar authentication for any subsidy, benefit or service paid for from the Consolidated Fund of India; the Court upheld it.

Remember · Aadhaar judgment (2018): Section 7 (benefits from the Consolidated Fund) upheld; Aadhaar use under private contracts struck down; authentication records kept for six months at most.

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Answer: (d) Right to Equality

Article 17, which abolishes untouchability and forbids its practice in any form, sits in the group headed 'Right to Equality' (Articles 14 to 18) in Part III of the Constitution. Untouchability is treated as a denial of equal status, so it is dealt with alongside equality before law and the ban on caste discrimination.

• ✓ (d) Part III places Article 17 (Abolition of Untouchability) under the heading 'Right to Equality', together with Articles 14, 15, 16 and 18.
• ✗ (a) Right against Exploitation (Articles 23 and 24) covers trafficking, forced labour (begar) and hazardous child labour, not untouchability.
• ✗ (b) Right to Freedom (Articles 19 to 22) covers freedoms such as speech, assembly and movement and protection of life and personal liberty.

Remember · Right to Equality = Articles 14–18: equality before law, no discrimination, equal opportunity in public jobs, abolition of untouchability (Art 17), abolition of titles (Art 18).

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Answer: (b) a Directive Principle of State Policy

Article 50, in Part IV (Directive Principles of State Policy), asks the State to work towards keeping the judiciary apart from the executive in its public services. It is a directive to the State, not a Preamble ideal, a Schedule entry or a mere convention.

• ✓ (b) Article 50 ('Separation of judiciary from executive') is one of the Directive Principles in Part IV of the Constitution.
• ✗ (a) The Preamble speaks of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity; it does not mention separating the judiciary from the executive.
• ✗ (d) The separation is not left to convention; the Constitution itself states it in Article 50, although, being a Directive Principle, it cannot be enforced in court.

Remember · Article 50, a Directive Principle in Part IV, enjoins separation of the judiciary from the executive; like other DPSPs it is not enforceable in court.

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Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948) covers dignity and brotherhood, social and economic rights, and the individual's duties to the community. These ideas appear in the Preamble, the Directive Principles and the Fundamental Duties respectively, not only in Part III.

• ✓ 1. UDHR Article 1 speaks of equal dignity and a spirit of brotherhood; the Preamble promises justice, liberty and equality and a fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual.
• ✓ 2. UDHR Article 23 gives the right to work and to equal pay for equal work; Directive Principles such as Article 39(d) (equal pay for men and women) and the right to work and education carry the same social and economic rights.
• ✓ 3. UDHR Article 29 says everyone has duties to the community; Part IVA (Article 51A) lists citizens' duties, such as promoting the spirit of common brotherhood.

Remember · UDHR (10 December 1948) echoes across the Constitution: Fundamental Rights (civil-political), DPSP (socio-economic rights), Preamble (dignity, fraternity) and Fundamental Duties (duties to community, UDHR Art 29).

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Answer: (a) Directive Principles of State Policy

The Directive Principles of State Policy (Part IV) set out the welfare goals the State must pursue. Article 38, for instance, asks the State to build a social order in which social, economic and political justice shapes national life, with the people's welfare as the aim; that is the essence of a welfare state.

• ✓ (a) Part IV lists positive duties of the State, such as promoting people's welfare, raising the standard of living and distributing resources equitably; together they describe a welfare state.
• ✗ (c) The Preamble states the objectives of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, but the concrete welfare programme is laid down in the Directive Principles.
• ✗ (b) Fundamental Rights mainly restrain the State to protect individual liberty; they do not set out the State's welfare obligations.

Remember · Directive Principles (Part IV, Articles 36–51) embody the welfare state; Article 38: State to promote welfare of the people through social, economic and political justice. Not enforceable in courts.

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Answer: (d) 2 and 3 only

Part IV contains the Directive Principles of State Policy. Article 37 says they cannot be enforced by any court, yet they are fundamental in governance and the State must apply them in making laws.

• ✗ 1. The Directive Principles are non-justiciable: a citizen cannot go to court to compel the government to implement them.
• ✓ 2. Article 37 expressly states that the provisions of Part IV shall not be enforceable by any court.
• ✓ 3. The same Article makes it the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws, so they are meant to guide legislation.

Remember · Article 37: DPSPs (Part IV, Articles 36–51) are not enforceable by courts but are fundamental in governance; the State must apply them in law-making.

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Answer: (a) Jawaharlal Nehru

The Ninth Schedule was added by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951, which came into force on 18 June 1951. Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister from 15 August 1947 to 27 May 1964, so it was introduced in his time.

• ✓ (a) The First Amendment, 1951, inserted Article 31B and the Ninth Schedule so that the listed laws, mainly land-reform laws, could not be declared void for clashing with Fundamental Rights. Nehru was Prime Minister then.
• ✗ (c) This is the tempting option because Indira Gandhi's period saw many later additions to the Schedule, but the Schedule itself dates from 1951.
• ✗ (b) Lal Bahadur Shastri was Prime Minister only from 1964 to 1966, long after 1951.
• ✗ (d) Morarji Desai headed the government from 1977 to 1979, well after the Ninth Schedule had been created.

Remember · Ninth Schedule and Article 31B came with the First Amendment, 1951, under Nehru; the Fourth Amendment, 1955, added entries 14 to 20.

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Answer: (b) Article 21

Article 21, the protection of life and personal liberty, safeguards this right. In Shafin Jahan v. Asokan K.M. (2018) the Supreme Court held that an adult's freedom to choose whom to marry forms part of Article 21.

• ✓ (b) Article 21 protects life and personal liberty, and the Supreme Court reads into it the freedom of an adult to choose a life partner.
• ✗ (a) Article 19 gives the freedoms of speech, assembly, association, movement, residence and profession; the Court has named Article 21 as the one that protects the choice of a spouse.
• ✗ (c) Article 25 protects freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practise and propagate religion; it is not the source of the right to marry.
• ✗ (d) Article 29 protects the interests of minorities, their language, script and culture, and is unrelated to choice of spouse.

Remember · An adult's freedom to choose a spouse falls under Article 21 (life and personal liberty): Shafin Jahan v. Asokan K.M., 2018.

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Answer: (d) Opportunity to develop oneself fully

Liberty is best understood as the chance to develop one's talents and potential to the full, within reasonable social limits. Merely having no restraint is only one side of freedom, and no one can have unlimited freedom in society.

• ✓ (d) NCERT describes freedom as the condition in which people can develop their creativity and capabilities, and a free society as one that lets all its members develop their potential with the minimum of social constraints.
• ✗ (b) Absence of restraint is what NCERT calls only one aspect of freedom (negative liberty); it leaves out the conditions needed to develop oneself.
• ✗ (c) No individual living in society can enjoy a total absence of constraints, so doing whatever one likes cannot be the definition of liberty.
• ✗ (a) Protection from rulers' tyranny is one purpose of liberty, but it is narrower than the full idea, which also covers the opportunity to develop oneself.

Remember · Liberty has two sides: freedom from unjustified constraints (negative) and freedom to develop one's potential (positive). The fullest definition stresses the opportunity to develop oneself.

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Answer: (a) 1 only

Parliament adds laws to the Ninth Schedule through constitutional amendments, and Article 31B shields them from challenge for violating Fundamental Rights. But the shield is not absolute: laws added on or after 24 April 1973 (the Kesavananda Bharati judgment) can be tested against the basic structure.

• ✓ 1. The Ninth Schedule was created by the First Amendment (1951), and Parliament has added many Acts to it by later constitutional amendments.
• ✗ 2. Following Waman Rao (1981) and I.R. Coelho (2007), courts can review a law inserted into the Ninth Schedule after 24 April 1973 if it damages the basic structure of the Constitution.

Remember · Ninth Schedule (Art. 31B, First Amendment 1951) protects listed laws from Part III challenges, but post-24 April 1973 additions remain open to basic-structure review (I.R. Coelho, 2007).

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Answer: (b) If there are no laws, there is no liberty.

Law and liberty go together: without laws, nobody's freedom is protected from the coercion of others, so there is no real liberty. Law restrains harmful acts and thereby secures the freedom of everyone.

• ✓ (b) Political theory treats law as a support for freedom: legal restraints are needed so that one group cannot coercively impose its views on another, and law protects each person's freedom.
• ✗ (a) This treats law as the enemy of liberty. Only unnecessary or unjustified constraints reduce freedom; the test is whether a restriction is necessary and justified, not how many laws exist.
• ✗ (c) Laws being made by the people is a feature of democratic government and positive liberty, but it does not describe the basic relationship between law and liberty.

Remember · Law and liberty are not opposites: laws protect liberty. Where there is no law, the strong dominate and there is no liberty for others.

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Answer: (c) Article 21 and the freedoms guaranteed in Part III

In Justice K. S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (24 August 2017), a nine-judge Supreme Court bench held privacy to be a Fundamental Right. It flows from Article 21, which protects life and personal liberty, and from the freedoms in Part III taken together. Only option (c) names both.

• ✓ (c) Article 21 says no person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty except by procedure established by law. In Puttaswamy the Court read privacy into this Article and into the wider Part III freedoms.
• ✗ (a) Article 14 is equality before law, and the 42nd Amendment (1976) has no provision on privacy; neither is the source of the right.
• ✗ (b) Article 17 abolishes untouchability, and Directive Principles in Part IV are not enforceable rights; privacy was held to be a Fundamental Right.
• ✗ (d) Article 24 bars employment of children in factories and similar hazardous work; the 44th Amendment (1978) does not create the right to privacy.

Remember · Privacy is a Fundamental Right, grounded in Article 21 and the Part III freedoms (Puttaswamy, 2017, nine judges).

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