If a 12-year-old is found to be working in a factory manufacturing carpets, which of the following Articles of the Constitution of India will be violated?

Correct — D. Article 24 forbids the employment of any child below the age of fourteen in a factory, a mine or any other hazardous employment — option (d).

A twelve-year-old on a carpet factory floor is exactly that case: under fourteen, and inside a factory. No further finding about hazard is needed, because a factory is named in the Article itself.

Article 24 sits in Part III under the Right against Exploitation, so the violation is of a Fundamental Right and can be taken straight to court under Article 32.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Article 26 — Article 26 gives every religious denomination the freedom to manage its own religious affairs, own property and maintain institutions. It has no bearing on employment.
• (b)
  Article 25 — Article 25 protects freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practise and propagate religion. It is a religious freedom, not a labour protection.
• (c)
  Article 23 — Article 23 is the neighbouring right and bans traffic in human beings, begar and forced labour. It would bite if the child were unpaid or coerced, but the fact given here is the age.

The Right against Exploitation is a two-Article right, and the pair divides cleanly.

Article 23 attacks the manner of the work — trafficking, begar and other forms of forced labour, whoever the worker happens to be.

Article 24 attacks the age of the worker — no child under fourteen in a factory, a mine or hazardous employment, however willingly the family agreed.

Articles 25 to 28, which follow, are a wholly different right, the Right to Freedom of Religion. That is why two of them appear here as distractors.

Key facts

• Article 24 prohibits employment of children below fourteen in factories, mines and hazardous work.
• Articles 23 and 24 together form the Right against Exploitation in Part III.
• Article 23 prohibits traffic in human beings, begar and other forms of forced labour.
• Articles 25 and 26 belong to the Right to Freedom of Religion.

Common traps

• Choosing Article 23 because child labour feels like exploitation, when the fact given is the age.
• Waiting to be told the work is hazardous, when Article 24 names a factory outright.

No directly related past PYQ was found.