SC scraps plea against ‘socialist’, ‘secular’ in Constitution’s Preamble

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed pleas challenging the inclusion of the words “socialist”, “secular”, and “integrity” in the Preamble to the Constitution. These terms were added to the Preamble by the Constitution Amendment Act of 1976 during the Emergency.
A bench led by CJI Sanjiv Khanna heard the plea. While pronouncing the judgement, CJI Khanna asked, “It has almost been so many years, why rake up the issue now,” reported LiveLaw.
While dismissing the pleas, the CJI observed that the amendment power of the Parliament extends to the Preamble as well. The bench also clarified that the date of adoption of the Preamble doesn’t restrict the power of the Parliament to amend the Preamble. The judgement also explained the meaning of ‘socialism’ and ‘secularism’.
“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 retrospective arguments, if accepted, will apply to all amendments,” PTI quoted the CJI.
CJI Khanna also said that after so many years, the judgement can’t be nullified. The bench had reserved orders on November 22 in a batch of petitions challenging the 42nd Amendment. The pleas sought the removal of these terms which were included at by the Indira Gandhi-led government during Emergency.
While announcing the judgement, CJI Khanna elucidated upon the meaning of ‘socialism’ in India’s context and urged petitioners to not get influenced by its Western context.
CJI Khanna clarified that socialism in India is “very different from other countries” as here it primarily means the “welfare of the state”. He also added that socialism never prevented the growth of private sector in India.
“The word socialism is used in a different context, meaning that the State is a welfare state and must stand for the welfare of the people and shall provide equality of opportunities,” LiveLaw quoted CJI Khanna. He also pointed that the word “secularism” was held part of the basic structure of Constitution in the SR Bommai case.
The batch of pleas were filed by former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain and others. The CJI had observed that the pleas do not require detailed hearing.
The decision on the pleas was earlier set to be announced on Friday, November 22. But the CJI later said that he would pronounce the order on Monday after miffed with the interruptions from certain lawyers, reported LiveLaw.