Fundamental Rights PYQs – Polity, SSC & Railway

Answer: Option 1 — 14
Article 24 bars the employment of any child below 14 years in a factory, mine or any other hazardous employment.
Revision note — Right against Exploitation and child rights
• Articles 23–24 form the Right against Exploitation (Part III, Fundamental Rights).
• Article 23 — bans traffic in human beings, begar and other forced labour.
• Article 21A — free and compulsory education for children aged 6–14 (86th Amendment, 2002).
• Article 45 (DPSP) — early childhood care and education for children below 6.
• Article 51A(k) — duty of parents to provide education to children aged 6–14.
• Child Labour Amendment Act, 2016 — no child below 14 in any work; adolescents 14–18 barred from hazardous work.
Also asked from this topic: Article against trafficking and forced labour (Article 23); Articles forming the Right against Exploitation (23–24); Article on child labour below 14 (Article 24).

Answer: Option 4 — Article 20
Article 20 gives protection in respect of conviction for offences.
It covers ex post facto laws, double jeopardy and self-incrimination.
Revision note — Article 20 and its neighbours
• Article 20(1) — no punishment under an ex post facto (retrospective) criminal law.
• Article 20(2) — no one prosecuted and punished twice for the same offence (double jeopardy).
• Article 20(3) — no accused person can be compelled to be a witness against himself (self-incrimination).
• Articles 20 and 21 cannot be suspended even during a National Emergency (44th Amendment, 1978).
• Article 21 — protection of life and personal liberty; Article 21A — free and compulsory education (6–14 years), added by the 86th Amendment, 2002.
• Article 22 — protection against arrest and detention; Article 23 — bans human trafficking and forced labour (begar).
Also asked from this topic: the Amendment that added Article 21A (86th Amendment Act); the two kinds of detention Article 22 covers (punitive and preventive).

Answer: Option 4 — Right to Property
The Right to Property is not part of Article 21. The 44th Amendment (1978) removed it from the Fundamental Rights; it is now a constitutional legal right under Article 300A.
Free legal aid, privacy and livelihood have all been read into Article 21 by the Supreme Court.
Revision note — Article 21 (Protection of life and personal liberty)
• Text: no person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law (idea borrowed from Japan).
• Available to all persons — citizens and foreigners.
• Maneka Gandhi case (1978) widened it: the procedure must be fair, just and reasonable.
• Rights read into Article 21: privacy (K.S. Puttaswamy, 2017), livelihood (Olga Tellis, 1985), free legal aid (Hussainara Khatoon, 1979).
• Others read in: clean environment, speedy trial, shelter, health, dignity.
• Article 21A — free and compulsory education for 6–14 years, added by the 86th Amendment (2002).
• Articles 20 and 21 cannot be suspended even during a National Emergency (44th Amendment).
Also asked from this topic: the case that made privacy a Fundamental Right (K.S. Puttaswamy, 2017); the amendment that removed the Right to Property (44th, 1978); source of "procedure established by law" (Japan).

Answer: Option 3 — Only Articles 12 to 35
The Fundamental Rights are in Part III of the Constitution, which runs from Article 12 to Article 35.
Revision note — Fundamental Rights (Part III)
• Part III is called the Magna Carta of India; the idea was borrowed from the USA (Bill of Rights).
• Article 12 defines "the State"; Article 13 voids laws that violate FRs — the basis of judicial review.
• Six rights now: Equality (14–18), Freedom (19–22), Against Exploitation (23–24), Freedom of Religion (25–28), Cultural and Educational (29–30), Constitutional Remedies (32).
• Right to Property (Articles 19(1)(f) and 31) was removed by the 44th Amendment, 1978; it is now a legal right under Article 300A.
• Articles 33–35 — Parliament may restrict FRs of the armed forces (Art. 33), during martial law (Art. 34), and make laws to give effect to certain FRs (Art. 35).
• During a National Emergency the rights under Articles 20 and 21 cannot be suspended (Article 359).
Do not mix these up
• Article 14 to 32 vs 12 to 35 — Articles 14–32 cover the six rights themselves, but Part III as a whole begins at 12 and ends at 35.
Also asked from this topic: the part of the Constitution called the "Magna Carta of India" (Part III); the number of categories of Fundamental Rights today (six); the Article on FRs of the armed forces (Article 33).