- विज्ञापन -
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a clutch of petitions challenging the insertion of the words “Socialist” and “Secular” in the Preamble to the Indian Constitution. A Bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI), Sanjiv Khanna observed that the power of the Parliament to amend the Constitution extends to the Preamble as well.
In an earlier hearing, the top court had said that secularism has been held to be a core feature of the Constitution, adding that a catena of apex court judgments has repeatedly held that secularism was always a part of the basic structure. Several petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the 42nd Constitution Amendment Act, 1976 by which the words “Socialist” and “Secular” were inserted in the Preamble of the Constitution.
What did plea said?
One of the petitions said that such an amendment is against the “historical and cultural theme of the Great Republic of Bharat, the oldest civilisation of the world”. It further contended that the concept of “Dharma” is different from the concept of religion and the Communist theory of state cannot be applied in the Indian context, which has been a total failure and is not in tune with the religious sentiments and socioeconomic conditions.
“How can the citizens of India be compelled to be secular when they have the Fundamental Right to Freedom of Religion under Article 25 of the Constitution of India to freely profess, practice and propagate religion,” the plea said.
The plea urged the top court to issue direction or declaration that the concepts of “Socialism” and “Secularism” occurring in the Preamble of the Constitution refer to the nature of the Republic and are limited to the working of the sovereign function of the state and the same is not applicable to the citizens, political parties, and social organizations.
