Directive Principles of State Policy: Articles 36-51, their relation with Fundamental Rights and the Uniform Civil Code

LUG-104 Constitutional Law-I, Unit IV: Directive Principles of State Policy (Articles 37–51). · LLB · 60 min

Part IV sets out the Directive Principles, the social and economic programme that the State must keep in view while making laws but which no court can enforce. This lecture reads Articles 36 to 51, classifies the principles, traces the sixty-year dialogue between Parts III and IV from Champakam Dorairajan through Article 31C and Minerva Mills to the present, and ends with Article 44 and the uniform civil code, including the Uttarakhand Act of 2024. The relationship between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles, and the uniform civil code, are each asked for seven marks almost every year.

Objectives

Explain the text of Article 37 and why the Directive Principles are non-justiciable yet fundamental in the governance of the country
Classify the Directive Principles as socialistic, Gandhian and liberal-intellectual and name the Articles in each group
Trace the relationship between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles through Champakam Dorairajan, Kerala Education Bill, Golaknath, Kesavananda, Article 31C and Minerva Mills
Apply the harmonious construction approach to a problem in which a welfare law is challenged under Articles 14 or 19
Discuss Article 44 and the uniform civil code with the leading cases, the merits and demerits, and the Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code 2024

Slides

Part IV: what the Constitution says and where the idea came from
Nature of the Directives: non-justiciable but not meaningless
Classification of the Directive Principles
The key Directives (1): social and economic justice, Articles 38-43A
The key Directives (2): Articles 44-51
Rights v. Directives, round one: Champakam Dorairajan and the Kerala Education Bill
Round two: Golaknath, the 25th Amendment and Article 31C, Kesavananda
Round three: the 42nd Amendment, Minerva Mills and the doctrine of balance
Directives as a tool of interpretation: expanding Article 21 and testing reasonableness
Article 44 and the uniform civil code: the text and the leading cases
The uniform civil code today: Goa, the Law Commissions and Uttarakhand 2024
How the examiner asks it

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