SC verdict on validity of Preamble modification in 1976 likely on Nov 25

New Delhi, Nov 22 Refusing to refer the matter to a larger bench, the Supreme Court on Friday decided to pronounce its decision on November 25 over the validity of the 42nd Constitutional Amendment passed in 1976 to add the words "socialist" and "secular" in the Preamble.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, which earlier said that a catena of apex court judgments has held that secularism was always a part of the basic structure, on Friday reserved its orders on a batch of petitions on the matter.

The 42nd Amendment changed the description of India from a "sovereign democratic republic" to a "sovereign, socialist secular democratic republic", and also changed the words "unity of the nation" to "unity and integrity of the nation".

The bench, which also included Justice Sanjay Kumar, stopped short of pronouncing the order during the day’s hearing, refusing to send the matter to a larger bench for a decision on the issue.

Earlier, the court, which was hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the insertion of "Socialist" and "Secular" in the Preamble, declined to issue notice.

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.

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, practise 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 organisations.

The plea contended that in France and some other countries, a secular government is never involved in religious matters whereas the Indian Constitution itself has empowered the state to indulge in religious matters and some special rights have been given even to religious minorities under Article 30 of the Constitution.

The petition also challenged the insertion of the words 'Secular' and 'Socialist' in the Representation of the People Act, 1951, making it compulsory for the political parties applying for registration before the Election Commission to make a specific provision in their memorandum that the association will have true faith and allegiance to the Constitution and "to the principles of 'Socialism' and 'Secularism' and democracy and would uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India".