Right to Property; DPSP, Fundamental Duties & the FR–DPSP Relationship — KSLU Constitutional Law Notes

Right to Property; DPSP, Fundamental Duties & the FR–DPSP Relationship

Right to property was a fundamental right (Arts. 19(1)(f) and 31) but the 44th Amendment, 1978 deleted it and made it an ordinary constitutional/legal right under Article 300A — “no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law.”

Directive Principles (Part IV) are non-justiciable goals of a welfare State (Arts. 36–51); Fundamental Duties (Part IVA, Art. 51A) were added by the 42nd Amendment, 1976 (ten duties; an eleventh — on education of one’s child — added by the 86th Amendment, 2002).

The FR–DPSP relationship — the most-tested theme — evolved from conflict to harmony:

• Champakam Dorairajan (1951): in a conflict, FRs prevail.
• Kesavananda Bharati (1973) & Minerva Mills (1980): FRs and DPSP are complementary — “the goals of Part IV are to be achieved without abrogating the means in Part III”; their balance is part of the basic structure.
• Courts increasingly read DPSP into FRs — enforcing welfare goals through Article 21 (education, health, environment), giving the directives real force.