Application of the principles contained in this Part

Article 29, Draft Constitution of India 1948

The provisions contained in this Part shall not be enforceable by any court, but the principles therein laid down are nevertheless fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws.

Article 37, Constitution of India 1950

The provisions contained in this Part shall not be enforceable by any court, but the principles therein laid down are nevertheless fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws.

Draft Article 29 was discussed in the Assembly on 19 November 1948.

This Draft Article, acting as a gateway clause for Part IV of the Constitution, put forward the institutional division of labour regarding the enforcement of the Directive Principles of State Policy. It explicitly states that the implementation of the principles would be the sole domain of the State, and not the Courts.

An amendment was moved in the Assembly to give legal force to the Directive Principles. It was felt that without any legal force, the principles were merely pious wishes. The member further argued that to have critical socio-economic principles, or any provision for that matter, as not legally enforceable, would simply result in making the judiciary lax in implementing the Constitution. Further, it was argued that the socio-economic principles had been ignored during colonial rule, and it was imperative to give them effect in independent India, and legal enforceability was critical to this endeavour,

The Article did find support. Another member felt that the very existence of the Directive Principles in the constitutional text meant that legislatures could not ignore or violate them, and was confident that the principles would be implemented despite the lack of legal force behind them.

The Article was ultimately adopted without amendment on the same day, that is 19 November 1948.