AMN / New Delhi
In a major verdict Supreme Court today Rejected the Petitions demanding Removal of ‘Secular’ And ‘Socialist’ From India’s Constitution Preamble.
Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna said that the petitions do not require a detailed hearing. A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar had reserved its verdict on November 22 on pleas by former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, and others, contesting the addition of “socialist” and “secular” to the Constitution’s Preamble.
“The two expressions ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ were made in 1976 through amendments and the fact that the Constitution was adopted in 1949 does not make any difference… the retrospectivity arguments if accepted will apply to all amendments,” CJI Sanjiv Khanna.
The bench emphasised that Parliament’s authority under Article 368 to amend the Constitution extends to the Preamble. The court reiterated that the amendment has undergone extensive judicial scrutiny and legislative endorsement in the decades since its enactment.
In its observations, the Court acknowledged that these concepts need not be viewed through a Western lens and are subject to evolving policy decisions in India.
What did Supreme Court say?
During the hearing, the Supreme Court observed that “Socialism” and “Secularism” are integral to the basic structure of the Constitution. The top court noted that while these terms can be interpreted in different ways, they should be understood in the Indian context rather than through the lens of Western interpretations. The petitions do not require a detailed hearing, the CJI said. “The two expressions ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ were made in 1976 through amendments and the fact that the Constitution was adopted in 1949 does not make any difference. The retrospectivity arguments if accepted will apply to all amendments,” noted the CJI.
.In a related development, CPI leader and Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam had filed a petition opposing the move to remove the terms, arguing that the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ reflect the country’s commitment to social justice and pluralism.