Fundamental Duties in Indian Constitutional History Prof (Dr) Sudhir Krishnaswamy* Abstract: This paper traces the place of duties in Indian political and constitutional thought, primarily through contemporary constitutional references to them. Spanning the period from 1895 to 1950, it focuses only on the invocation of fundamental or political duties in ‘constitutional discourse’ prior to the adoption of the Constitution of India in 1950, looking at historical constitutions and Constituent Assembly Debates. The paper explores three questions: nature of duties, that is, the conception of duty and underlying principles along with the matrix of whom the duty is owed to and by whom; the content of duties, that is what are the duties owed and what are the justifications for these duties. Through this tracing it appears that there are a few analytical types of duties that are proposed and enshrined in the various texts. First, where rights are seen to generate horizontal duties on citizens in order to protect the rights themselves. Second, that the entitlement and enjoyment of rights is conditional on the fulfillment of duties that is, each right has a corollary duty. Third, duties act as limitations or constraints over broad fundamental rights. The paper shows that duties were not salient in modern Indian political thought — either from 1895 to 1946 or 1946 to 1950. This salience was absent not just in terms of the occurrence of duties, but also in the lack of consistency in the nature, justification and content of the duties, which are proposed in various antecedent documents and debates. Keywords: Fundamental duties, Constituent assembly debates, Historical constitutions, Constitutional history INTRODUCTION "The Azadi Ka Amrit Kaal is the time for duty towards the country. Be it people or institutions, our responsibilities are our first priority."1 The Constitution of India 1950 that came into force on 26 January 1950 made no place for fundamental duties. These duties were introduced into the Constitution at a most inauspicious time: the 42nd Constitution (Amendment) Act, 1974, introduced Article 51A at the height of the national emergency declared by the Indira Gandhi government. Since that time, these duties have languished in a dark corner of Indian judicial and popular constitutional discourse and academic scholarship. However, in * Director, Professor of Law, Department of Professional and Continuing Education, NLSIU 1 Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Speech at the Constitution Day Celebration (Narendmramodi.in, 26 November 2022) https://www.narendramodi.in/text-of-prime-minister-narendra-modis-address-onconstitution-day-566083 (accessed 29 September 2023). Journal of the National Human Rights Commission, Vol. 22, 2023 21