Article 33: Power of Parliament to modify the rights conferred by this Part in their application etc.-

Parliament may, by law, determine to what extent any of the rights conferred by this Part shall, in their application to,-

(a) the members of the Armed Forces; or

(b) the members of the Forces charged with the maintenance of public order; or

(c) persons employed in any bureau or other organization established by the State for purposes of intelligence or counter intelligence; or

(d)  persons employed in, or in connection with, the telecommunication systems set up for the purposes of any Force, bureau or organization referred to in clauses

(a) to (c), be restricted or abrogated so as to ensure the proper discharge of their duties and the maintenance of discipline among them.

Meaning:

The Article 33 of the Indian Constitution empowers or gives the power to the Parliament to make laws through which they can modify, restrict or abrogate the fundamental rights of the members of the Armed Forces or the members charged with the maintenance of public order in order to discharge their duties properly.

Explanation:

The members of the Armed forces, forces charged with the maintenance of public order, certain persons employed by the state etc., are employed for some special purposes and their main aim is to serve the country and its citizen in one way or other. Thus, they cannot have or be entitled to the same and equal fundamental rights as given to the other citizens of the country. Hence, the Parliament is empowered to make certain amends or modifications to their entitlement of fundamental rights. The Parliament exercises this power to ensure that the said persons in the article can properly discharge their respective duties. This article also says that the Parliament by law, can also determine the extent to which the said persons are entitled to the fundamental rights.

However, this article in itself does not restrict the application of the fundamental rights of the said persons, which means that the laws must be made exclusively for the same.

 Need and importance:

The main aim of the article is to ensure that the officials mentioned in the article such as the Armed forces, police officials, employees of the organizations established by the state etc., discharge their respective duties and maintain the discipline of their position properly as the proper discharge of their duties is very crucial and important for the country and maintenance of the public order.

Since that is the case, certain fundamental rights cannot be given to them as it would interfere with or hinder the proper discharge of their respective duties. For instance, if an army officer wants to exercise his right to freedom in a particular manner, under article 19 of the Indian constitution, he would not be able to serve the country properly and his exercise of this right would go against his duties as an army officer.

Hence, this article is very much important as it provides exemption of the said persons, who are duty bound to maintain law and public order, from the

entitlement or application of certain fundamental rights in order to discharge their respective duties properly and without any hinderance.

Article 34: Restriction on rights conferred by this Part while martial law is in force in any area.-

Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Part, Parliament may by law indemnify any person in the service of the Union or of a State or any other person in respect of any act done by him in connection with the maintenance or restoration of order in any area within the territory of India where martial law was in force or validate any sentence passed, punishment inflicted, forfeiture ordered or other act done under martial law in such area.

 Meaning:

The Article 34 of the Indian Constitution indemnifies any person in the service of the Union or any State for the acts done by him, in order to discharge his duties properly or to obey the orders given to him as per the requirement and in accordance with his duties conferred upon him by the law, in any particular area within the Indian territory during the time when the martial law is in force in that particular area.

Explanation:

Here, the word “indemnify” means that the said person will not be punished for the acts done by him during the enforcement of the martial law. His acts may include any sentence passed by him, punishment inflicted by him upon any other person, anything forfeited by him or any other act provided that it was done in order to maintain the law and order.

Here, the enforcement of the martial law in any area means any situation which normally would not occur but has occurred due to any foreseen or unforeseen contingency which leads to the suspension of the ordinary law and imposition of

the military rule such as state of emergency or crisis, curfew, any major disaster in that particular area etc.

However, the article itself does not exempt or give indemnity to the said persons, the indemnity has to be given by the Parliament exclusively by making the required laws for the same.

Need and importance:

The main aim of this article is to indemnify the persons in the service of the union or any state for the acts done by them in order to maintain law and order when the martial law in force, provided that, such indemnity is given by the Parliament. This indemnity, provided under this article, is very much necessary as there are certain acts which the said persons have to perform during any particular contingency and if not performed, may hinder the maintenance of the law and order. In such situations it is impossible, rather very difficult, for them to think whether the act is rational or irrational, or in accordance with the ordinary law in that area or not. For instance, an official may kill or take into custody any person on suspicion during curfew in order to maintain the public order. Now, even if that person is innocent, the official did that being duty bound by the law and just to maintain the public order and peace, and hence needs indemnity by the law for his act.

Hence, it is very essential to provide certain indemnities to the said persons in the article, in order to discharge their duties properly and maintain the law and order, provided that, such indemnities have been given to them by the Parliament exclusively.

Article 35: Legislation to give effect to the provisions of this Part.- Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution,-

(a)  Parliament shall have, and the Legislature of a State shall not have, power to make laws-

(i)  with respect to any of the matters which under clause (3) of Article 16, clause (3) of Article 32, Article 33 and Article 34 may be provided for by law made by Parliament; and

(ii)   for prescribing punishment for those acts which are declared to be offences under this Part; and Parliament shall, as soon as may be after the commencement of this Constitution, make laws for prescribing punishment for the acts referred to in sub-clause (ii);

(b) any law in force immediately before the commencement of this Constitution in the territory of India with respect to any of the matters referred to in sub-clause

(i) of clause (a) or providing for punishment for any act referred to in sub-clause

(ii)  of that clause shall, subject to the terms there of and to any adaptations and modifications that may be made therein under Article 372, continue in force until altered or repealed or amended by Parliament.

Explanation.- In this article, the expression "law in force" has the same meaning as in Article 372.

 Meaning:

The Article 35 of the Indian Constitution says that the power to make laws with respect to certain fundamental rights shall vest with the Parliament only and not with the Legislature of any State.

Explanation:

Clause (a)(i) of the article lists down certain articles with respect to which the parliament shall have the power to make laws and it restricts the power of any State legislature to make laws on the same matters.

Those articles with respect to which only the Parliament has the power to make laws are: (i) article 16(3), which empowers the Parliament to make laws prescribing the residence as a requirement for equal opportunity for public employment or appointment, for eg., Domicile of a particular state gets employment based on his domicile certificate; (ii) article 32(3), which empowers the Parliament to make laws in order to empower any other court to exercise within the local limits of its jurisdiction all or any of the powers exercisable by the Supreme Court to issue writs under article 32(2) of the Indian Constitution;

(iii)  article 33, which empowers the Parliament to make laws in order to modify fundamental rights of certain people and; (iv) article 34 which empowers the Parliament to indemnify certain persons for their acts during the enforcement of the Martial law.

Clause (a)(ii) of the article says that the power to make laws in order to punish for the violation of certain fundamental rights, for e.g., practicing untouchability, human trafficking and forced labour under article 23 etc., shall vest with the Parliament and not with any State Legislature. The Parliament may exercise this power after the commencement of the Indian Constitution.

Clause (b) of the article says that any law before the commencement of the Indian Constitution will continue to be in force unless it has been repealed, altered or modified or amended by the Parliament. In other words, it simply means that this article empowers the Parliament to make laws in order to amend, alter or modify the old laws which were into the force before the commencement of this Constitution.

Hence, it can be said that the article 35 of the Indian Constitution empowers the Parliament to make laws with respect to certain fundamental rights even if the matters fall into the State list.

Explanation attached:

The explanation attached to this article says that the expression "law in force" has the same meaning as in the Article 372 of the Indian Constitution

Need and Importance:

The Parliament is empowered to make laws regarding the application and violation of certain fundamental rights and this empowerment restricts any State legislature to make laws on the same matters. This empowerment of the Parliament and restriction on the law making power of the State legislatures is very much essential as different State Legislatures would like to make and implement different laws for their respective states regarding the application and violation of the fundamental rights. This may lead to instability and hinderance in the smooth functioning of the States and the Country as a whole. Empowering the Parliament to make laws on such matters brings uniformity and stability, leads to smooth functioning of the country and further upholds the interests of the citizens equally and uniformly.

Hence, this article is very much needed and is an important part of the Indian Constitution.