Which of the following commissions/committees identified the existence of legal provisions for implementation of some of the Fundamental Duties?

Correct — B. The Justice Verma Committee on Fundamental Duties of the Citizens (1999) is the body that went looking for laws already on the statute book giving effect to some of the Fundamental Duties, and found them — option (b).

Its finding matters because Fundamental Duties are not directly enforceable by a court. The committee showed that several are backed indirectly by ordinary legislation, such as the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 behind the duty to respect the National Flag and Anthem.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Rajamannar Commission — The Rajamannar Committee (1969) was appointed by Tamil Nadu to examine Centre-State relations. It has no connection with the duties of citizens.
• (c)
  Sarkaria Commission — The Sarkaria Commission (1983) was appointed to review Centre-State relations, not the duties of citizens. Nothing in its remit reaches Article 51A.
• (d)
  Vasantrao Naik Committee — Vasantrao Naik is remembered in a Maharashtra context, and no Fundamental Duties review is attached to the name. The 1999 review is the Verma one.

Fundamental Duties were not in the Constitution as adopted. They were added by the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976, on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee, and are listed in Article 51A in Part IV-A.

Ten duties were inserted in 1976. An eleventh, the duty of a parent or guardian to provide education to a child, was added by the 86th Amendment Act, 2002.

They are non-justiciable: no court will enforce a duty on its own. Parliament may, however, give any of them legal teeth by ordinary law, which is what the Verma Committee documented.

Key facts

• Fundamental Duties were added by the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee.
• Article 51A now lists eleven duties, the eleventh added by the 86th Amendment Act, 2002.
• The Verma Committee (1999) identified existing legal provisions enforcing some Fundamental Duties, such as the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.
• Fundamental Duties are non-justiciable and are enforced only through ordinary legislation.

Common traps

• Confusing the 1999 Verma Committee on Fundamental Duties with the 2013 Justice J S Verma Committee on criminal law.
• Crediting Verma with recommending the duties, which was the Swaran Singh Committee's work.

No directly related past PYQ was found.