India
SC rejects pleas against words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ in preamble of Constitution | India News – Times of India
A bench comprising CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said Parliament’s amending power also extends to the preamble and the fact that the Constitution was adopted in 1949 does not make any difference.
“The two expressions ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ were created in 1976 through amendments and the fact that the Constitution was adopted in 1949 makes no difference… the retroactive arguments, if accepted, will apply to all amendments ,” CJI Khanna noted. .
CJI Khanna also explained what ‘socialism’ and ‘secularism’ mean and said that ‘being a socialist’ in the Indian sense is merely understood as a ‘socialism’.welfare stateThe CJI also said that ‘secularism’ is considered part of the basic structure of the Constitution in the SR Bommai case.
“The way we understand socialism in India is very different from other countries. In our context, socialism primarily means a welfare state. That’s it. It has never hindered the private sector, which is flourishing. We all benefited from it.” Khanna said
The word socialism is used in a different context, which means that the state is a welfare state and must stand up for the welfare of the people and provide equal opportunities,” he added.
The words ‘socialist’, ‘secular’ and ‘integrity’ were inserted in the preamble under the 42nd constitutional amendment of Indira Gandhi’s government in 1976.
The amendment changed the preamble’s description of India from a “sovereign, democratic republic” to a “sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic”.
On February 9, the Supreme Court asked whether the Constitution’s preamble could be amended while keeping the date of its adoption, November 26, 1949, intact.
Earlier in September 2022, the top court linked Swamy’s plea to other pending cases filed by one Balram Singh and others for hearing. They requested that the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ be deleted from the preamble of the constitution.
Swamy’s plea argued that the preamble not only indicated the essential features of the Constitution but also the fundamental terms on which it was adopted to create a united integrated community.
