Constitution Day 26th November
Originally, it was observed as National Law Day and from 2015, National Law Day was changed to Constitution Day to deepen citizens' connection with the Constitution.
On 26th November 2024, the Supreme Court of India, marking 75 years of the adoption of the Indian Constitution, celebrated the event wherein Our Prime Minister Modi had emphasized the Indian Constitution as a living document crucial for socio-economic progress and justice.
On this constitution day, Dr.B.R. Ambedkar's pivotal role as Chairman of the Drafting Committee, earning him the title "Father of the Indian Constitution" is recalled and praised.
One most historical event on this constitution day of 2024 was that for the first time in 74 years, Jammu and Kashmir celebrated Constitution Day, following the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. The event symbolized a new chapter in the Union Territory's alignment with India's legal and political framework.
Constituent Assembly which was entrusted to draft the Constitution for India consisted of 299 members including 15 women members, took nearly 3 years (2 years, 11 months, 17 days) to complete its tasks.
Article 368 in Part XX grants Parliament the power to amend the Constitution by addition, variation, or repeal of any provision, following the laid-down procedure.
Amendments to the Constitution can be made in 3 different ways, by a simple majority of Parliament, by a special majority of Parliament, and special majority + state ratification for some amendments. Amendments under the simple majority category do not fall under Article 368.
The 42nd Amendment also amended Preamble and changed the description of India from "sovereign, democratic republic" to a "sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic", and also changed the words "unity of the nation" to "unity and integrity of the nation".
Constitution of India in its current structure includes a Preamble, more than 450 Articles (divided into 25 Parts), and 12 Schedules.
As of September 2024, there have been 106 amendments of the Constitution of India since it was first enacted in 1950. The Constitution of India is the lengthiest written Constitution in the world.
The 42nd Amendment brought by Smt. Indra Gandhi during her emergency period was nicknamed as 'Mini-Constitution', as it contained many provisions giving unfettered powers to the Central Government and it was envisaged that these amendments were beyond the review of the Supreme Court.
The Same 42nd Amendment had also amended the Preamble - heart of the Constitution by inserting three important words - socialists, secular and integrity. While many of 42nd Amendment were struck down from the Constitution during Morarji Desai's Janata Rule, these three words in the Preamble were not touched. Further, in spite of many suits were filed at different times to scrap the two words - Socialists and Secular and though the word integrity was accepted by all without any exception, only other two words were challenged to remove them from the Preamble.
It is a sad fact that even the Supreme Court was not consistent in its judgements in dealing with the amendments to the Preamble with the two words - Socialists and Secular. This had led the common public to exclaim in despair: 'O, Supreme Court ! Is Inconsistency thy Name?‘
It was a fact that the Constituent Assembly had taken a stand not to mention these two words - Socialism and Secularism - in the Preamble, after heated and prolonged discussions.
Here are the inconsistent stands of the Supreme Court in dealing with suits before them:
In Berubari case (1960), the Supreme Court opined that the Preamble is not a part of the Constitution and thus not a source of any substantive power.
Subsequently, in Kesavananda Bharati case (1973), the Supreme Court reversed its earlier opinion and said that the Preamble is part of the Constitution and that it should be read and interpreted in the light of the vision envisioned in the Preamble.
3. It also held that the Preamble is subject to the amending power of Parliament as any other provision of the Constitution.
Now, on 25th November 2024 in delivering its judgement in the case filed by Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, advocate Ashwini Upadhyay and others, the Supreme Court ruled that the Preamble can be amended, as the Constitution of India is 'a living document'.
The Subramanya Swamy's Lawyers had argued their case as under: These two words - Socialism and Secularism were including during the Emergency forcing upon the people to follow these specific ideologies which were summarily rejected by the members of the Constituent Assembly. Further, the Preamble had this at the end: In our Constituent Assembly this 26th day of November 1949 do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this constitution.
They argued that since the date of adoption by the Constituent Assembly was mentioned in the Preamble, no additional words can be inserted later by Parliament.
Almost exactly 75 years since the Constitution of India was adopted, the Supreme Court on Monday (November 25) upheld the insertion of the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ in the Preamble of the founding document in their 7 page order by Justices Sanjiv Khanna and P V Sanjay Kumar noting that “the flaws and weaknesses in the arguments of Subramanya Swamy and others are obvious and manifest.”
“The fact that the Constitution was adopted, enacted, and given to themselves by the people of India on the 26th day of November 1949, does not make any difference. The date of adoption will not curtail or restrict the power under Article 368 of the Constitution”.
The learned Judges had further observed that:
Secularism is a basic feature of the Constitution. Secularism essentially represents the nation’s commitment to treat persons of all faiths equally and without discrimination.
Neither the Constitution nor the Preamble mandates a specific economic policy or structure, whether left or right. Rather, ‘socialist’ denotes the State’s commitment to be a welfare State and its commitment to ensuring equality of opportunity through a mixed economy model.
Constitution as a ‘Living’ document: The court noted that while the Constituent Assembly had initially excluded the terms 'secular' and 'socialist' from the Preamble, their inclusion aligns with India's evolving democratic and social framework.
Delay in filing the petitions: The court questioned the petitions filed in 2020, 44 years after the amendment, noting the widespread acceptance of these terms in India.
Interpretation of key terms:
o Secularism:
The State remains neutral, neither endorsing nor opposing any religion. This
principle is enshrined in Articles 14, 15, and 16 of the Constitution.
o Socialism: The term 'socialist' does not constrain economic policies but reflects the State's commitment to being a welfare state.
Conclusion: The Supreme Court's verdict reaffirms the constitutional validity of the 42nd Amendment, emphasising the dynamic nature of the Constitution and the power of Parliament to adapt it to India's evolving societal and democratic needs.
Let this end the controversy over inclusion of
'Socialism' and 'Secularism' in the Preamble of our Constitution.
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