CDS (I) 2024 General Knowledge · Question 100 of 120

Correct — D, Article 32. Article 32 is the Right to Constitutional Remedies: it guarantees the right to move the Supreme Court directly for the enforcement of the fundamental rights, and empowers the Court to issue the writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari. Debating the draft of this article in the Constituent Assembly on 9 December 1948, B. R. Ambedkar said that if he were asked to name the single most important article in the Constitution — one without which the Constitution would be a nullity — he could point to no other, and that it was the very soul of the Constitution and the very heart of it. 'Heart and soul' is the popular shorthand for that remark. The logic behind it is simple: a right without a remedy is not a right, and Article 32 is the remedy that makes the rest of Part III enforceable.

• (a)Article 15 — Article 15 prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. It is a substantive right, but it is not the remedy that enforces the others.
• (b)Article 21 — Article 21 protects life and personal liberty and has been read expansively by the courts, but Ambedkar's remark was made about the enforcement provision, not about this one.
• (c)Article 23 — Article 23 prohibits traffic in human beings and forced labour. Important, but again a substantive right rather than the machinery for enforcing rights.

Article 32 sits in Part III and is itself a fundamental right — the right to constitutional remedies. It lets a person go straight to the Supreme Court when a fundamental right is infringed, and the Court may issue directions, orders or writs to enforce it. Parliament may empower other courts to exercise similar powers within their local limits, and High Courts have a parallel and in fact wider writ power under Article 226. Article 32 may not be suspended except as the Constitution otherwise provides.

The examiner is testing one of the best-known quotations in Indian constitutional history, so the risk is not difficulty but overthinking. Article 21 draws candidates because it is the article the Supreme Court has expanded the most, and Article 15 because it is the most cited in social justice debates. Neither is the answer. Ambedkar's point was structural rather than about the content of any one right — Article 32 is what converts declarations in Part III into enforceable claims, and that is why he called it the heart and soul. Remember also that this remark is often reproduced as being about the right to constitutional remedies rather than about the article number; the two are the same thing.

• Article 32 guarantees the right to move the Supreme Court for the enforcement of the rights conferred by Part III.
• The Supreme Court may issue directions, orders or writs, including habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari.
• The Constituent Assembly debated the draft of this article on 9 December 1948.
• Parliament may empower any other court to exercise these powers within the local limits of its jurisdiction, and High Courts hold a parallel writ power under Article 226.

• Choosing Article 21 because it is the most litigated fundamental right — the quotation is about the remedy, not about liberty.
• Forgetting that Article 32 is itself a fundamental right and not merely a procedural provision.
• Assuming only the Supreme Court can issue writs; High Courts do so under Article 226, and Parliament may empower other courts.

Asked as a direct recall item pairing a famous constitutional quotation with the article it describes.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Article 32 of the Constitution of India is placed under which Part?

  • (a)Part II
  • (b)Part III
  • (c)Part IV
  • (d)Part IVA

  Answer(b) Part III — it is itself a fundamental right, the right to constitutional remedies.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which writ is issued to secure the release of a person who has been unlawfully detained?

  • (a)Mandamus
  • (b)Certiorari
  • (c)Habeas corpus
  • (d)Quo warranto

  Answer(c) Habeas corpus — literally 'you may have the body', requiring the detaining authority to produce the person before the court.