Competition Digest

Books for IBPS, SBI, SSC, NDA/CDS And Other Competitive Exams

Major and Important Amendments in the Indian Constitution

Amendment Act

What it is About?

The Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951Passed in June 1951, the main purpose of the Act was to remove the practical difficulties created by court decisions in certain cases such as: Kameshwar Singh Vs State of Bihar, Brij Bhushan Vs. State of Delhi etc.Numerous issues were involved in these cases. Such as : the scope of fundamental right of the freedom of speech, acquisition of the Zamindari land, trade and state monopoly etc.
The Constitution (Fourth Amendment) Act, 1955Article 31 and Art. 31A were amended. As a result of these amendments the adequacy of the quantum of compensation paid for the compulsory acquisition of property for “public purpose” could not be questioned in the court of law.
The Constitution (Twelfth  Amendment) Act, 1962Main objective of this amendment was to add the union territories of Goa, Daman and Diu to the Union of India. For this 1st schedule of the constitution was amended.
The Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act, 1962Act provides for the creation of the state of Nagaland as the 16th state of Union of India.
The Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment) Act, 1962Incorporation of the French Establishments in India under the name of Pondicherry.Also seats assigned to the Union territories for Lok Sabha increased to 25 from 20.
The Constitution (Eighteenth  Amendment) Act, 1966Creation of new states of Punjab and Haryana as a result of the reorganization of former state of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
The Constitution (Twenty-Second Amendment) Act, 1969Passing of Assam Reorganization (Meghalaya) Act, 1969 for the creation of autonomous hill state of Meghalaya, within the state of Assam.
The Constitution (Twenty- Fourth Amendment) Act, 1971Amends art.13 and 368with a view of removing all possible doubts regarding the power to amend the Constitution. This acts over rules the verdict given in Golak Nath Case.
The Constitution (Twenty-fifth Amendment) Act, 1955Added a new clause Article 31 to the constitution. Before this amendment the primacy was given to Fundamental rights over directive Principles of state policy. After 25th Amendment this was changed to some extent by conferring primacy to Article 39(b) and Art. 39 (c) over articles. 14, 19 and 31.
The Constitution (Twenty-Sixth Amendment) Act, 1971Abolition of Art. 291. End of recognition granted to the former rulers of the princely states and abolition of Privy Purse.
The Constitution (Thirty-Second Amendment) Act, 1973Makes few special provisions for the state of Andhra Pradesh to satisfy the aspirations of the people of Telangana region.
The Constitution (Thirty-fifth and Thirty-Sixth Amendment) Acts, 1974-197535th Amendment conferred Sikkim with the status of an associate in th Union of India.36th amendment 1975 conferred fully fledged statehood on Sikkim.
The Constitution (Thirty Ninth  Amendment) Act, 1975Introduced changes in the method of deciding election disputes relating to the four high officials of the state. The President, The Prime Minister, The Vice President, the speaker.Under Art. 71(2) parliament was to establish some kind of “authority” to decide disputes and its decision cannot be challenged inn any court of law.
The Constitution (Forty Second Amendment) Act, 1976This amendment act of the Indian Constitution is one of the most important activities in this field. A volley of changes was made in the constitution. It touched almost all the sensitive issues. It is some times called as “mini constitution”.The Act inter-alia gave preponderance to Directive Principles of State Policy over Fundamental rights, curtailed the power of Judiciary and established the supremacy of parliament.An over view of the amendments brought about by this Act are as follows:

  1. Preamble:

“Sovereign Democratic republic was changed to “Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic”.

The words “Unity of Nation” was changed to “Unity and Integrity of Nation”

     2.  Executive:

Art. 74 was amended to state explicitly that the President shall act in accordance with the advice of the Council of Ministers in discharge of his functions.

     3.  Judiciary:

  • Inserted Art.32A in order to deny Supreme Court the power to consider the constitutional validity of a state Law.
  • Art. 131A added. Gave SC exclusive jurisdiction to determine question relating to the constitutional validity of a central Law.
  • Art. 144A and Art. 128A made further innovation in the area of judicial review of constitutionality of legislation. Under Art.144A the number of judges of SC to decide on the constitutional validity of a central or state law was fixed as at least 7 and further this required a 2/3rd majority of the judges sitting to declare a law as unconstitutional

4.   Federalism:
Art. 257A. Center could deploy any armed force of the union or any other force under its control for dealing with any grave situation in any state.

5.   Fundamental Rights;

Primacy to directive principles over Fundamental rights contained in Art.14, 19 or 31.

6. Fundamental Duties:

Inserted Art. 51 –A to create a new part IV-A in the Constitution as Fundamental Duties.

7. Emergency:

Prior to this Act, President could declare emergency under Art. 352 throughout the country. This Act authorized the President to proclaim emergency in any part of the country.

The dominant thrust of this Amendment was to reduce the role of courts and strengthen the Parliament.

The Constitution (Forty-fourth  Amendment) Act, 1978Passed in 1978, it undid most of the distortions introduced in the constitution by the 42nd Amendment.The salient features of this Act were as follows:

  1. Reduced the life of Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies back to 5 years.
  2. Cancelled 39th amendment which deprived the SC to decide disputes concerning the election of President and Vice President.
  3. A new provision was added to Art. 74(1) saying President could require the Council of ministers to reconsider their advice to him and the President should act in accordance to the advice tended to him after such reconsideration.
  4. Art 257 A was omitted.
  5. Right to property was taken out of the Fundamental rights and declared as a legal right.
The Constitution (Fifty-fifth Amendment) Act, 1986Arunachal Pradesh was elevated to the status of State.
The Constitution (Fifty-seventh Amendment) Act, 1987With Goa, Daman and Diu reorganization Act, 1987, Goa was elevated to be the 25th state of Union of India.
The Constitution (Sixty-First Amendment) Act, 1988Voting age was reduced from 21 years to 18years for Lok Sabha assembly elections.
The Constitution (Sixty-Fifth Amendment) Act, 1990Art. 338 was amended for the constitution of a National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes consisting of a chairperson appointed by the president.
The Constitution (Sixty Ninth Amendment) Act, 1991Grants Statehood to Delhi as “National Capital Territory of Delhi”.
The Constitution (Seventy Third Amendment) Act, 1992Passed by the Parliament on 22nd December 1992 and ratified by the State Legislature and assented by the President, the Act gave constitutional legitimacy to the Panchayati Raj Institutions.Part IX was added to the constitution with the addition of Art. 243A and the Eleventh Schedule enumerating the powers and functions of the Panchayati Raj institutions.The act provides for Gram Sabha, reservation of seats for SC & STs in proportion and reservation of 1/3rd of seat for Women.
The Constitution (Seventy-Seventh Amendment) Act, 1995New clause (4-a) was added to the Art. 16 which empowered the state to make any provision for reservation in promotions in Govt. jobs in favor of SCs and STs. This was done to nullify the effect of SC judgment in Mondal Commission Case where the Court has held that reservations in promotions cannot be made.
The Constitution (Eightieth Amendment) Act, 2000Based on the recommendation of the 10th Finance Commission, an alternative form of sharing taxex between the Union and State was enacted.Under this scheme of devolution of revenue between the Union and States, 26% of gross proceeds of Union taxes and duties is to be assigned to the states in lieu to the already existing share in the income tax, excise, special excise duties and grants in lieu of tax on  railway passenger fare.
The Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002Art. 21A was inserted making the right to free and compulsory education for children between 6 to 14 years a fundamental right.The act amends Part III, Part IV and Part IV (A) of the constitution.
The Constitution (Ninety-third Amendment) Act, 2005Providing reservation for the Other Socially and Educationally backward classes, besides SCs and STs, in Private unaided educational Institutions.
The Constitution (Ninety-Seventh Amendment) Act, 2012Added the words “or co-operative societies” after the word “or unions” in Article 19(l) (c) and insertion of article 43B i.e., Promotion of Co-operative Societies.The objective is to encourage economic activities of cooperatives which in turn help progress of rural India.

 

Like this post? Get much more

Join 9500+ aspirants who receive out latest updates.

CLICK TO JOIN

Reader Interactions

Need help? Leave a comment...

Competition Digest