BPSC 70th CCE Re-exam Prelims General Studies · Question 118 of 142

Correct — A, Freedom of trade and profession. The whole question is decided by the opening words of the relevant articles. Article 19(1) begins 'All citizens shall have the right...' and then lists six freedoms, of which the sixth, Article 19(1)(g), is the right to practise any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business. Because the article confers those freedoms on citizens and not on persons generally, a foreign national in India — a British citizen, for this question — cannot claim any of them. The other three options are drawn from articles that use the word 'person'. Article 14 says the State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India. Article 21 says no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. Article 25 entitles all persons equally to freedom of conscience and to the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion. Each of those extends to aliens as much as to citizens, so none of them is a right a British citizen in India is denied. It is worth adding, as corroboration rather than as this paper's answer, that UPSC set this question in near-identical terms in 1999 and its published key names the freedom of trade and profession. BPSC published no answer key for this sitting, so that agreement is external evidence, not confirmation — but it points the same way as the constitutional text, which is what actually settles it.

• (b)Equality before law — Article 14 is expressly framed in favour of 'any person', which the Supreme Court has read to include foreigners and even legal persons such as companies. Equality before the law is one of the guarantees an alien in India carries with him; it is not withheld on grounds of nationality.
• (c)Protection of life and personal liberty — Article 21 protects 'no person', not 'no citizen', and this is not a technicality — it is precisely why a foreign national facing detention or deportation in India can approach the courts under Article 21. Denying it to aliens would empty the article of much of its practical work.
• (d)Freedom of religion — Article 25 speaks of 'all persons' being equally entitled to freedom of conscience and to profess, practise and propagate religion, subject to public order, morality and health. A visitor's faith is not conditional on a passport, and the framers used 'persons' here deliberately, in contrast with the 'citizens' of Article 19.

Part III of the Constitution divides its guarantees into two classes, and the division is visible in the text itself. Rights available only to citizens are conferred by Article 15 (no discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth), Article 16 (equality of opportunity in public employment), Article 19 (the six freedoms), and Articles 29 and 30 (cultural and educational rights of minorities). Rights available to all persons, citizens and aliens alike, include Article 14 (equality before the law), Article 20 (protection in respect of conviction for offences), Article 21 (life and personal liberty), Article 21A (education), Article 22 (protection against arrest and detention, with the exception that an enemy alien cannot claim clauses (1) and (2)), Articles 23 and 24 (against trafficking, forced labour and child labour), and Articles 25 to 28 (freedom of religion). Article 19 has itself changed: the right to property, once Article 19(1)(f), was removed by the Forty-fourth Amendment in 1978 and became a constitutional right under Article 300A, leaving six freedoms where there were seven, and the right to form co-operative societies was added to clause (1)(c) in 2011.

The reasoning route for any question of this shape is mechanical once you know it: identify the article behind each option and read its opening words. 'All citizens' means the right stops at the border of citizenship; 'any person' or 'all persons' means it does not. That single test disposes of this question without recalling any case law. A second thing worth carrying is that none of the citizen-only freedoms is absolute even for citizens — Article 19(2) to 19(6) allow reasonable restrictions, and clause (6) specifically permits the State to prescribe professional or technical qualifications for a trade and to carry on any business itself to the exclusion of citizens. So the freedom denied to a foreigner here is, for a citizen, a freedom exercised within limits rather than an unconditional licence. Finally, note the difference between a right and a permission: a foreign national can and does carry on business in India, but under statute and licence granted by the State, not as a fundamental right that the courts will enforce under Article 32.

• Article 19(1) opens 'All citizens shall have the right...' and lists six freedoms, including 19(1)(g), the right to practise any profession or carry on any occupation, trade or business — available to citizens only
• Article 14 protects 'any person'; Article 21 protects 'no person'; Article 25 entitles 'all persons' — all three therefore extend to foreign nationals in India
• Rights available only to citizens: Articles 15, 16, 19, 29 and 30. Rights available to all persons include Articles 14, 20, 21, 21A, 22, 23, 24 and 25 to 28
• Article 22(1) and (2) are not available to an enemy alien — the one place where the Constitution distinguishes among foreigners
• The right to property was dropped from Article 19(1)(f) by the Forty-fourth Amendment in 1978 and now exists as a constitutional right under Article 300A; the right to form co-operative societies was added to Article 19(1)(c) in 2011
• Article 19(6) allows the State to prescribe professional or technical qualifications and to carry on any trade or business itself, to the exclusion of citizens

• Assuming that a foreigner has no fundamental rights in India; several of the most important ones are drafted for 'persons' and apply fully to aliens
• Confusing the ability to do business in India under a licence with a fundamental right to carry on a trade under Article 19(1)(g)
• Forgetting the enemy-alien exception in Article 22, the only clause that distinguishes between classes of foreigner

BPSC asks it as a single denial — which right a named foreigner cannot claim — so the citizen-only list has to be memorised article by article. UPSC has asked exactly this question in the same form once before, and otherwise tests the surrounding machinery: which articles make up the Right to Equality, what the Constitution says about acquiring or losing citizenship. The one preparation, the text of Part III with its opening words, serves both.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following Fundamental Rights is available to citizens only ?

  • (a)Article 20 — protection in respect of conviction for offences
  • (b)Article 21 — protection of life and personal liberty
  • (c)Article 16 — equality of opportunity in public employment
  • (d)Article 25 — freedom of conscience and religion

  Answer(c) Article 16 — equality of opportunity in matters of public employment is guaranteed to citizens; Articles 20, 21 and 25 are all framed for 'persons' and extend to aliens.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The right to property was removed from the list of Fundamental Rights by which amendment ?

  • (a)The Forty-second Amendment, 1976
  • (b)The Forty-fourth Amendment, 1978
  • (c)The Twenty-fifth Amendment, 1971
  • (d)The Eighty-sixth Amendment, 2002

  Answer(b) The Forty-fourth Amendment, 1978 — it deleted Article 19(1)(f) and Article 31 and made property a constitutional right under Article 300A.