THE Preamble to the Constitution of India was amended by the Parliament to add the words secular, and socialist to it by the 42nd Amendment in 1976 to fully read as: “WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens….”
The Preamble propounds the idea of equality before law and equal protection of laws. It begins by “We the people” and ends with “secure to all its citizens”. Therefore, the expectation is laws are to be made evenly applicable to all. Further, one would believe that the 42nd amendment incorporating the two words “secular” and “socialist” are in furtherance of the already existing democratic principles and ideas in the Preamble, of providing citizens the hallowed ideals of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity.
The moral central to the framing of the Constitution is encompassed in the last stated virtue i.e.: “…. FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation”. Therefore, in the end, while binding all other rights and cherished ideals, what the Preamble seeks to achieve is the assurance of the dignity of the individual while maintaining the unity and integrity of the nation. No constitutional expert can dispute that the conclusion arrived at in the Preamble is not the central objective of the Constitution for which it has been framed.
This story is from the July 26, 2021 edition of India Legal.
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This story is from the July 26, 2021 edition of India Legal.
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