GA Notes :Notes on Important Amendments Of The Indian Constitution

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IMPORTANT AMENDMENTS OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION

To evolve and change with all changes in the society and environment is a necessity for every constitution.The makers of the Constitution of India laid down a flexible amendment method in respect of its some parts and for several others they provided for a rigid method.

Part XX of the Constitution of India has only one article that is Article 368 that deals with the amendment of the Constitution. As per this article, Parliament may add, amend or repeal any provision of the constitution as per the procedure laid down for this purpose. However, in the Kesavanand Bharati Case 1973, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Parliament cannot amend those provisions which constitute the Basic Structure of the Constitution.

The article 368 provides for three types of amendments:

1. Amendment by simple majority of the parliament:

These bills are passed by both Houses of Parliament by a simple majority of members present and voting.

2. Amendment by special majority of the parliament:

The majority of the provisions in the Constitution need to be amended by a special majority of the Parliament, that is, a majority (that is, more than 50 per cent) of the total membership of each House and a majority of two-thirds of the members of each House present and voting. The expression ‘total membership’ means the total number of members comprising the House irrespective of fact whether there are vacancies or absentees.

The provisions which can be amended by this way include:

- Fundamental Rights

- Directive Principles of State Policy

- All other provisions which are not covered by the first and third categories.

3.Amendment by special majority of the parliament and the ratification of half of the state legislatures:

Those provisions of the Constitution which are related to the federal structure of the polity can be amended by a special majority of the Parliament and also with the consent of half of the state legislatures by a simple majority.

The provisions which can be amended by this way include:

- Election of the President and its manner.

- Extent of the executive power of the Union and the states.

- Supreme Court and high courts.

- Distribution of legislative powers between the Union and the states.

- Any of the lists in the Seventh Schedule.

- Representation of states in Parliament.

- Power of Parliament to amend the Constitution and its procedure (Article 368 itself).

Some Important Amendments of The Indian Constitution

7th Amendment (1956) – States Reorganization Act 1956 on the linguistic basis and abolition of Class A, B, C, D states.

14th Amendment (1962) - Pondicherry incorporated into Indian Union after transfer by France.

26th Amendment (1971) – Abolition of Privy Purse paid to the former ruler of states.

31st Amendment Act (1973) - Increased the elective strength of the Lok Sabha from 525 to 545. Under the Act, the upper limit of representatives of the States goes up from 500 to 525 and that of the Union Territories decreases from 25 to 20.

36th Amendment (1975) – Sikkim included as an Indian State

42nd Amendment Act(1976)- Fundamental Duties Prescribed, It is known as “mini-Constitution” or the “Constitution of Indira”. It is due to the Forty-second Amendment to the Indian Constitution that India became a Socialist, Secular and Democratic Republic. Changes were made to almost every part of the Constitution which includes the Preamble too. It was enacted during the period of internal emergency. It was passed by Parliament on November 11, 1976 and received Presidential assent on December 18, 1976.

44th Amendment Act (1978) - Right to Property deleted from the list of fundamental rights.

52nd Amendment (1985)- Defection to another party after election made illegal.

55th Amendment Act (1987) - It grants Statehood to Arunachal Pradesh which consequently became the 24th State of the Indian Union.

56th Amendment Act (1987) - It confers Statehood on Goa and forms a new Union Territory of Daman and Diu. Goa thus became the 25th State of the Indian Republic.