Under the Forty Fourth Constitutional Amendment Act of 1978, which fundamental right was removed from the list of fundamental rights and converted into a legal right?

Introduction / Context:
This question checks your understanding of a major change introduced by the Forty Fourth Constitutional Amendment Act of 1978. The amendment was enacted after the Emergency period to restore certain democratic safeguards and to modify the structure of some rights. One of its most important changes was to alter the status of the right to property, which had earlier been a fundamental right. Knowing which right was downgraded from a fundamental right to a legal or constitutional right is a standard topic in Indian polity questions.

Given Data / Assumptions:

The question refers specifically to the Forty Fourth Constitutional Amendment Act of 1978.
It asks which fundamental right was abolished as a fundamental right by this amendment.
The options are Right to Liberty, Right to Property, Right to Equality, and Right to Religion.
We assume standard interpretation of fundamental rights under Part III of the Constitution.

Concept / Approach:
Originally, the right to property was provided as a fundamental right under Articles 19 and 31. This led to frequent litigation whenever the state attempted land reforms or acquisition of private property. The Forty Fourth Amendment removed the right to property from Part III and introduced Article 300A, which protects property as a constitutional or legal right, not as a fundamental right. The other rights mentioned in the options, such as the right to equality, liberty, and freedom of religion, remain core fundamental rights. Therefore, the correct approach is to recall that this amendment specifically targeted the status of the right to property.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall the historical context that land reform and property acquisition were frequently challenged based on the fundamental right to property.Step 2: Remember that the Forty Fourth Amendment aimed to ease this tension by removing property from the fundamental rights chapter.Step 3: Note that the same amendment inserted Article 300A, which says that no person shall be deprived of property save by authority of law, making it a constitutional legal right.Step 4: From the options, identify Right to Property as the right which was abolished as a fundamental right and converted into a legal right.

Verification / Alternative check:
You can verify this by recalling the classification of rights after the Forty Fourth Amendment. Right to Equality under Articles 14 to 18, Right to Freedom under Articles 19 to 22, and Right to Freedom of Religion under Articles 25 to 28 remain part of Part III. In contrast, the right to property is no longer in Part III and is instead located in Article 300A in Part XII, which is outside the fundamental rights chapter. Standard polity texts explicitly state that the Forty Fourth Amendment abolished the status of right to property as a fundamental right, confirming the correctness of this option.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
The Right to Liberty is protected through several provisions, especially Articles 21 and 22, and was not removed by the Forty Fourth Amendment; in fact, certain protections were strengthened after the Emergency, so this option is incorrect.
The Right to Equality is the very foundation of the Constitution and remains fully intact as a fundamental right; no amendment has abolished it as a fundamental right, so this option is wrong.
The Right to Religion under Articles 25 to 28 continues as an important fundamental right and was not converted into a mere legal right, so this choice is also incorrect.

Common Pitfalls:
A frequent mistake is to think that the amendment affected several rights at once, leading some candidates to guess liberty or equality due to their broad names. Others may confuse the content of different amendments and mix up the 42nd and 44th amendments. To avoid this, remember the clear slogan that the Forty Fourth Amendment removed the right to property from the list of fundamental rights and placed it in Article 300A as a legal right, while strengthening other civil liberties. Fixing this association in memory helps you answer quickly and correctly.

Final Answer:
The Forty Fourth Constitutional Amendment removed the Right to Property from the list of fundamental rights and converted it into a legal right under Article 300A.