Fundamental Rights — Overview — Punjab Police previous year questions

Article 27 is headed 'Freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion' and says that no person shall be compelled to pay any tax the proceeds of which are specifically appropriated for the promotion or maintenance of any particular religion or religious denomination. It is one of the four articles of the Right to Freedom of Religion: Article 25 gives freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion; Article 26 gives every religious denomination the right to establish and maintain institutions, manage its own affairs in matters of religion and own and administer property; and Article 28 bars religious instruction in educational institutions wholly maintained out of State funds. The courts read Article 27 narrowly — it bars a tax, not a fee, so charges recovered for regulating a pilgrimage or maintaining a shrine have been upheld. Option 3 tempts because Article 28 is also about religion and the State's money, but it concerns instruction in schools, not taxation. Hence the answer is option 2.