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The Supreme Court has used Directive Principles to expand the scope of Fundamental Rights, particularly Article 21 (right to life), recognizing rights to health, education, environment, livelihood as part of right to life with human dignity.
- True
- False
Answer: True
DPSP judicial interpretation and rights expansion: (a) Judicial methodology: Courts use DPSP to interpret Fundamental Rights expansively, filling gaps where legislative action delayed, (b) Key examples: (i) Right to health: Paschim Banga (1996) recognized right to emergency medical care as part of Article 21, guided by Article 47 (public health), (ii) Right to education: Unnikrishnan (1993) recognized education up to age 14 as Fundamental Right under Article 21, guided by Article 45; led to 86th Amendment (Article 21A), (iii) Right to environment: Subhash Kumar (1991), MC Mehta cases recognized right to healthy environment as part of Article 21, guided by Article 48A, (iv) Right to livelihood: Olga Tellis (1985) recognized livelihood as integral to Article 21, guided by Article 39(a), 41, (c) Rationale: (i) Transformative constitutionalism: Courts use DPSP to realize constitutional vision of social justice, dignity, not just formal rights, (ii) Legislative gap-filling: When Parliament delays DPSP implementation, courts step in to protect rights, (iii) Harmonious construction: Interpreting FRs, DPSP together ensures balanced approach to individual liberty, social justice, (d) Limits: (i) Not judicial legislation: Courts interpret existing rights, not create new justiciable rights absent constitutional text, (ii) Respect for separation of powers: Courts encourage legislative action, do not substitute policy judgment, (e) Applications: (i) Puttaswamy (2017): Used DPSP values (dignity, liberty) to recognize privacy as Fundamental Right, (ii) Navtej Singh Johar (2018): Used DPSP values (equality, dignity) to decriminalize homosexuality, advance LGBTQ+ rights, (f) Illustrates living constitutionalism: DPSP guide judicial interpretation to adapt constitutional rights to contemporary challenges; balance between judicial innovation, legislative primacy essential for realizing transformative constitutional vision.