Conflict between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles

Introduction:

Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles can be called as the soul of the Constitution of India. These provisions are the most significant feature that differentiates the constitution of India from other constitutions all over the world. In fact, these provisions are more important than any other part of the constitution because they decide a course for a whole diverse range of issues; it makes it possible to real democracy in all spheres of the country’s life. It will be worth mentioning here that the constitutional framers were keen in ensuring that individual’s Fundamental Rights should not be abolished in favour of Directive Principles, but their main concern was to achieve a balance between these two crucial features which need to co-exist for making a truly democratic society.

What are Fundamental Rights?

Fundamental Rights are rights, guaranteed by the Constitution and protected by the laws of the country. Fundamentals are the rights that are basic to a free and democratic society and peace. These fundamental rights include Life, Liberty, Property, Equality before the Law, Freedom from Torture and several more basic human rights that ensure freedom of speech, freedom of religion, Right to Equality, Right to Information, Right to Grievance Redressal System or fair trial at all stages, right against discrimination on grounds of Race, Creed or Religion/Cs.

Significance of Fundamental Rights:

The significance of Fundamental Rights is two-fold. Firstly, it ensures that “A” person is not discriminated against on account of caste, creed, religion or other such personal factors which may be (or be believed to be) correlated with the “A” person’s performance in the workforce. These rights encourage tolerance and equality in future labour market as well as ensure that there is freedom from discrimination on grounds of caste, creed and religion.

What are Directive Principles?

The Directive Principles are a set of principles which act as a guide for the Indian Constitution. The Directive Principles were drafted in the Constituent Assembly in 1947. These principles were created by the government itself to aid it in its development process. At that juncture, India was facing serious problems with its political system, bureaucracy and social structure. The Indian Government wanted to make these changes gradually instead of implementing them all at once because of the risk involved. The introduction of the Directive principles was made by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as a way to achieve this gradual change, however there were some issues with this.

Significance of Directive Principles:

The importance of the Directive Principles is two-fold. Firstly, it ensures the Indian Constitution is followed closely by the Government to ensure it maintains its integrity in keeping with the political system of India. Secondly, they act as an aid to the Indian Government in making changes that are necessary to enhance the proper functioning of its institutions. The principles act as a guide post for the government and help it decide which measures are necessary to improve a society’s functioning and what are not. The purpose of defining these freedoms and rights was so that no one could have their fundamental right violated or denied on account of their inherent prejudices or religious understanding.

Conflict between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles:

1) There is a bit of conflict between the Directive Principles and Fundamental Rights.These two are not in tune with each other, because although the Directive principles are being followed by the Government, they have been given a second priority in front of the Fundamental Rights by the Supreme Court.

2) These rights are very broad in nature, unlike fundamental rights that are defined through various provisions in our constitution.

3) The Indian constitution has some inherent weaknesses and flaws which stops these two from completely working together as compared to other constitutions that have spent a lot of time perfecting these laws.

4) The Directives Principles is not very detailed, however it is binding upon the government at the moment, however these principles are not legally enforceable by the courts because of their general loose nature and lack of practical use.

5) The Government can use these principles to try and justify its decisions so that it does not have to provide reasons for its decisions.

6) The Directive Principles does not really act as a guide when making laws; it is an aid for deciding which measures are desirable in order to improve the future of India.

Significance of the differences:

Even though there is a difference between directives and fundamental rights, the differences are very significant. The Fundamental rights have been given the highest priority over Directive principles. They are also referred to as “unenforceable rights”. However, this does not mean that the Directive Principles do not serve their purpose in any way. They are essential for improving our nation’s political system and bureaucracy. If it weren’t for these principles, we would not be able to achieve our goal of a perfect nation and we would also fail in achieving our goal of true equality across India.

Conclusion:

The Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles are both very valuable for India. They are also very different, but that does not take anything away from their importance. The Indian Constitution allows freedom of expression in its all forms, differences in race, creed and religion along with the freedom to practise one’s religion as well. These rights ensure that all citizens of our country have the right to live peaceably and peacefully coexist with other citizens of our country so long as they do not harm anyone else or their property. But this does not mean that we should forget about the other vital elements like social justice and equity in the society.