Can Preamble of Constitution be amended without altering the date? asks apex court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court raised doubts on Friday regarding the possibility of amending the Preamble of the Constitution while preserving the original adoption date of November 26, 1949.

Former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy and lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who have requested the removal of the words “Socialist” and “Secular” from the Constitution’s Preamble, were questioned by a bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta.

“For the academic purpose, can a Preamble that has the date mentioned, be changed without altering the date of adoption. Otherwise, yes the Preamble can be amended. There is no problem with that,” Justice Datta said.

Swamy replied, “That’s precisely the question in the matter.”

Justice Datta further remarked, “This is possibly the only Preamble I’ve encountered that is associated with a date. It declares, ‘We give this Constitution to ourselves on such and such date.’ Initially, the terms ‘Socialist’ and ‘Secular’ were not part of it.”

Jain emphasised that the Preamble of the Constitution of India is bound by a particular date, suggesting that any amendment necessitates thorough discussion.

Swamy intervened, citing the passing of the 42nd Amendment Act during the Emergency (1975-77).

Justice Khanna informed Swamy at the beginning of the proceedings that the judges had received the case files early in the morning and, due to time constraints, had not reviewed them.

The bench concluded that the case required extensive deliberation and scheduled the hearing for the two petitions for April 29.

On September 2, 2022, the apex court had combined Swamy’s plea with another pending case filed by Balram Singh and others for adjudication.

Both Swamy and Singh have requested the removal of the terms “Socialist” and “Secular” from the Preamble.

The inclusion of the words ‘Socialist’ and ‘Secular’ in the Preamble of the Constitution occurred through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment proposed by the Indira Gandhi government in 1976.

The amendment altered the description of India in the Preamble from a “sovereign, democratic republic” to a “sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic.”

Swamy argued in his plea that the Preamble is immutable and cannot be altered, modified, or repealed.

He contended that the Preamble not only signifies the fundamental characteristics of the Constitution but also reflects the fundamental principles upon which it was adopted to forge a unified, integrated community.with agency inputs