The procedure of amendment makes the
Constitution of India neither totally rigid nor
totally flexible, rather a curious mixture of both.
Some provisions can be easily changed and for
some others, special procedures are to be
followed. Despite the fact that India is a federal
state, the proposal for amending the
Constitution can be initiated only in the House
of the Union Legislature and the State
Legislatures have no such power.
In fact, there are three methods of amending
the Constitution. But Article 368 of the
Constitution which lays down the procedure for
amendment mentions two methods:
1. An amendment of the Constitution
may be initiated only by the introduction
of a Bill for the purpose in either House
of Parliament and when a Bill is passed
in each House.
(i) by a majority of total membership of
that House.
(ii) by a majority of not less than two-thirds
of the members of that House present
and voting, it shall be presented to the
President who shall give his assent to
the Bill and there upon the Constitution
shall stand amended in accordance with
the term of the Bill.
Most of the provisions of the Constitution
can be amended by this procedure.
2. For amending certain provisions a
special procedure to be followed,
(i) a Bill for the purpose must be passed in
each House of Parliament by a majority
of total membership of the House,
(ii) by a majority of not less than two-thirds
of the members of that house present
and voting and
(iii) it should be notified by the legislatures
of not less than one-half of the States
before the Bill is presented to the
President for assent.
The provisions requiring this special
procedure to be followed include- (a) manner of
the election of the President, (b) matters relating
to the executive power of the Union and of the
State, (c) representation of the States in
Parliament (d) matters relating to the Union
Judiciary and High Courts in the States (e)
distribution of legislative powers between the
Union and the States (f) any of the List in the
Seventh Schedule (g) provisions of Article 368
relating to the procedure for amendment of the
Constitution, etc.
3. There are certain provisions which
require simple majority for amendments.
They can be amended by the ordinary
law making process. They include (a)
formation of new States and alteration
of areas, boundaries or names of existing
ones (b) creation or abolition of
Legislative Councils in the States (c)
administration and control of Scheduled
Areas and Scheduled Tribes (d) the
salaries and allowances of the Supreme
Court and High Court Judges (e) laws
regarding citizenship, etc. It is
significant that the laws passed by
Parliament to change the above
provisions would not be deemed to be
amendments of the Constitution for the
purpose of Article 368.
Some important amendments are:
The Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951
In June 1951, the Constitution (First
Amendment) Act was passed, and the following
Amendment in the Constitution were inserted :
(i) To Article 15, a new clause (4) was added: (ii)
clauses (2) and (6) of Article 19 were recast; (iii)
After Article 31, Article 31A and 31B were
inserted; (iv) For original Article 85, a new Article
was substituted; (v) In Article 87, clauses (1) and
(2) were recast; (vi) For the original Article 174,
a new Article was substituted; (vii) In Article
176, clauses (1) and (2) were recast: (viii) Clause
(1) of Article 341 was recast; and similarly, clause
(1) of Article 342, sub-clause (a) of Article 342,
sub clause (a) of clause (3) of Article 372, and
clause (1) of Article 376 were also recast; (ix) After
the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution a Ninth
Schedule was added and thirteen laws passed
by State Legislatures were included in it so that
those Acts might not be challenged in courts.
The main purpose of the Amendment was
the removal of certain practical difficulties
created by court decisions in several cases such
as Kameshwar Singh vs. State of Bihar, Romesh
Thapar vs. State of Madras, Brij Bhusan vs. State
of Delhi and Motilal vs. Government of Uttar
Pradesh. The issues involved in these cases were
numerous, such as the scope of the fundamental
right of freedom of speech, acquisition of
Zamindari (land) of intermediaries, conflict
between a citizen’s fundamental right to practise
any profession, or to carry on any business or
trade (Article 19) and State monopoly of any
trade, and so on.
The Constitution (Second Amendment) Act,
1952
The Second Amendment, amended Article
81 in order to remove the prescribed limit of
7,50,000 of the population for one member to be
elected to the Lok Sabha. According to the
original provision, at least one member was to
be elected to the Lok Sabha for every 7,50,000 of
the population. It was further provided that the
maximum number of elected member to the Lok
Sabha should not exceed 500.
The Constitution (Third Amendment) Act, 1954
The Third Amendment brought about
changes in the Seventh Schedule consisting of
the three Legislative Lists and entry 33 of the
Concurrent List was substituted by a new one.
The Constitution (Fourth Amendment) Act,
1955
Article 31 and 31A were amended by the
Constitution Fourth Amendment Act. Clause (2)
of Article 31 clause (1) of Article 31A were
substituted by new clauses. As a result of these,
the adequacy of the quantum of compensation
paid for the compulsory acquisition of property
for ‘a public purpose’ could not be questioned in
a court of law. It also amended Article 305 and
the Ninth Schedule.
The Constitution (Fifth Amendment) Act, 1955
The Constitution (Fifth Amendment) Act
amended Article 3. In the Constitution there was
no time limit during which a State Legislature
should express its boundaries, which the Centre
may like to make. With the help of this
amendment, it was provided that the State will
be required to express its views on such matters
within such period as may be specified in the
reference or within such further period, as the
President may allow.
The Constitution (Sixth Amendment) Act, 1956
In this Act, the Seventh Schedule to the
Constitution was amended and in the Union
List, a new entry was added after Entry 92 in
the State List, a new Entry was substituted for
Entry 54. It also amended Articles 269 and 286
dealing with inter-state Sales-tax.
The Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act,
1956
The Seventh Amendment brought about the
most comprehensive changes so far in the
Constitution. This amendment was designed to
implement the State Reorganisation Act. The
Second and Seventh schedules were substantially
amended for the purpose of the States
Reorganization Act.
The Constitution (Eight Amendment) Act, 1959
The Act extended the period of reservation
seats in Lok Sabha and State Legislatures for the
Anglo-Indians, the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes by another 10 years.
The Constitution (Ninth Amendment) Act, 1960
It provided for the transfer of certain
territories of India to Pakistan under an
agreement between India and Pakistan as a part
of a comprehensive settlement of border disputes
between the two countries.
The Constitution (Tenth Amendment) Act, 1961
The Tenth Amendment integrates the areas
of Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli with the Union
of India and provides for their administration
under the regulation making powers of the
President.
continued in next part ............
