Nature and Classification of Directives
NCERT Class 11 - Indian Constitution at Work, Chapter 2
Nature and Classification of Directives
Directive Principles of State Policy are in Part IV, Articles 36 to 51. They are instructions to the state on the kind of society it should build. They are not enforceable in court, but Article 37 declares them fundamental in the governance of the country.
Nature of the directives
- They were borrowed from the Irish Constitution, which in turn took the idea from the Spanish Constitution.
- Article 37 states two things - the directives are not enforceable by any court, and it is nevertheless the duty of the state to apply them in making laws.
- They set out positive obligations on the state, while Fundamental Rights mainly impose negative restrictions on it.
- They are a moral and political mandate - a government that ignores them answers to the voter, not to a judge.
- They aim at establishing a welfare state and at social and economic democracy, without which political democracy alone is incomplete.
Why they were made non-justiciable
- The new state had limited resources, and a court could not be asked to order spending the treasury did not have.
- They require positive action over time, which cannot be delivered by a single judicial order.
- Priorities among them must be set by an elected government answerable to the people, not by a court.
- Ambedkar argued that a government that disregarded them would have to answer at the polls.
The three-fold classification
| Group | Character | Main articles |
|---|---|---|
| Socialistic | Social and economic justice, welfare state | 38, 39, 39A, 41, 42, 43, 43A, 47 |
| Gandhian | Village self-rule, cottage industry, uplift of weaker sections | 40, 43, 43B, 46, 47, 48 |
| Liberal-intellectual | Modern liberal ideals of law, education and peace | 44, 45, 48, 48A, 49, 50, 51 |
- The classification is not in the Constitution itself; it is used by scholars and textbooks to make the list easier to grasp.
- Some articles fall in more than one group. Article 47, on nutrition and prohibition of intoxicants, is both socialistic and Gandhian. Article 48, on agriculture and animal husbandry, is Gandhian and also liberal-intellectual.
- Directives have been added by amendment - Articles 39A, 43A and 48A by the 42nd Amendment of 1976, and Article 43B on cooperative societies by the 97th Amendment of 2011.
हिंदी संकेत: नीति निदेशक तत्व न्यायालय में लागू नहीं कराए जा सकते, पर अनुच्छेद 37 उन्हें देश के शासन में मौलिक बताता है। यह विरोधाभास नहीं - यह नैतिक बाध्यता है, विधिक नहीं।
Exam me kaise aata hai
Factual questions ask which part and articles contain the directives and which country they were borrowed from. Match-the-following links directive with its group. Statement-based questions test whether they are enforceable - they are not, but they are fundamental in governance.
UPSC / State PSC ke liye
Present the directives as the positive programme of the Constitution against the negative guarantees of Part III. Note also that several directives have been made effective indirectly, by being read into Article 21 by the courts, which is how the right to education, health and a clean environment acquired legal force.
Yahan confuse hote hain
✗ Directive Principles can be enforced by writ | ✓ They are non-justiciable; only Fundamental Rights can be enforced by writ
✗ The three-fold classification is given in the Constitution | ✓ It is a scholarly classification, not a constitutional one
✗ Directives were borrowed from the United States | ✓ They came from the Irish Constitution
Ek nazar me
- Directive Principles are in Part IV, Articles 36 to 51, borrowed from Ireland.
- Article 37 makes them non-justiciable but fundamental in the governance of the country.
- They impose positive duties on the state, unlike the negative restrictions of Fundamental Rights.
- Non-justiciable because of limited resources and the need for elected priority setting.
- Classified as socialistic, Gandhian and liberal-intellectual, a classification not in the text.
- Articles 39A, 43A and 48A were added in 1976; Article 43B in 2011.