News: Supreme court has been hearing a PIL that seeks to legally enforce fundamental duties. It has also issued notice to the centre and states for the same.
Fundamental duties (Article 51A) are in the form of general directives to citizens to display some “ideal” conduct in their public lives. However, they are not justiciable and there have been some objections in making them legally enforceable.
What are the concerns regarding legal enforcement of fundamental duties?
Abuse and misuse: Fundamental duties deal with diverse areas such as environment, education, national security, heritage conservation, etc. Making them legally enforceable will make such a law prone to huge abuse and politicisation.
Provisions already present: There are many laws like Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, IPC 124A, Contempt of Courts Act, Environmental Protection Act, Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Remains Act, Right to Education Act that already cover some fundamental duties.
Law making is Parliament’s and the political executive’s arena and not that of the Courts, who mainly interpret such a law.
PILs are a double-edged sword, so the Judiciary must entertain only those PILs where it fears immense harm to public interest owing to inaction by governments and institutions.
Source: This post is based on the article “Wrong call” published in Times of India on 23rd Feb 2022.
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