Fundamental Rights — Prelims Strategy

Prelims Strategy

Use a rights matrix with columns for article, protected person, conduct, qualification and remedy. This exposes confusable pairs: Article 14's protection of persons and Article 19's citizen-specific freedoms; Article 32's Part III focus and Article 226's wider scope. Avoid extending the wording of one provision to the whole chapter.

Read the exact restriction relevant to the freedom in question. A legitimate public concern does not make each restriction valid without the applicable constitutional test. Similarly, the existence of a statutory benefit does not automatically make it a Fundamental Right enforceable under Article 32.

For hypothetical questions, identify who acted, what was done and which guarantee is engaged before selecting a remedy. Do not assume that private conduct is irrelevant to the entire rights chapter; provisions such as Article 23 require their own reading.

Keep property-law questions separate from the Part III catalogue and check the constitutional location of the claim. Precision about scope is more reliable than memorising an absolute statement that rights either bind government alone or are unrestricted.