13 Constitutional Amendments That Saw India Evolving: A Recap Before R-Day

Twenty-four years after Independence, the status of the Indian Constitution as the most abiding policy document has come under severe threat. Now Indian Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution and the President (the titular head, similar to the British Monarchy) will be bound to assent to all Constitution Amendment Bills. In addition, Education was shifted to the Concurrent List.

Defection to another party, after the polls, is now illegal. If a member of a political party does that after winning a seat, he/she can’t continue as a Member of Parliament or a State Legislature. And the same thing happens if the person is expelled from the party at any point of time. If an independent member of the House joins a political party any time after the initial 6 months, he/she will be disqualified as well. The Act also makes suitable provisions regarding splits in and merger of political parties.

Popularly known as the Women’s Reservation Bill, this one seeks to reserve for women 33% of all the seats in the Lok Sabha and all the state legislative assemblies. Also, one-third of the total number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes shall be reserved for women of these groups. The Bill has been passed by the Rajya Sabha in March 2010, but is yet to garner support in the Lower House.

Minister of Home Affairs, Sushil Kumar Shinde, introduced it in the Lok Sabha on 7 September, 2012. The Amendment seeks to insert Article 371J in the Constitution so that the Governor of Karnataka can take adequate steps for the development of the Hyderabad-Karnataka Region, spanning the districts of Gulbarga, Bidar, Raichur, Koppal, Yadgir and Bellary. It also provides for reservation in education and public employment for persons within the development area.
Has it been proposed because a separate Telangana state will be formed soon comprising 10 districts, with Hyderabad as its capital? According to reports, GoM is considering special status to Hyderabad and may recommend the central government to keep law & order and some other powers with itself to protect the interests of the people of Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra) settled here. If that happens, the special power to the governor to ensure economic development certainly makes sense.

Understandably, these Acts have restored the provisions curtailed by the Emergency. The most crucial is the scrapping of Article 31D that empowered the Parliament to enact certain laws to control anti-national activities and anti-national associations. However, these powers were of sweeping nature and often resulted into abuse. The 43rd Amendment restores the legislative powers to the States – so that they can take appropriate measures to deal with anti-national activities but in tandem with the Fundamental Rights. Also, the Supreme Court has been given back the power to judge the validity of the State laws while the High Courts can again review the constitutional validity of the Central laws.
The 44th Amendment reduces the duration of the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies from six years to the original span of five years. The Act also ensures constitutional protection for publishing the proceedings at the Parliament and State Legislatures. Also, from now on, the President will issue a declaration of Emergency only after he/she receives the advice of the ‘Cabinet as a whole’, in writing. Moreover, that proclamation will have to be supported by two-third majority at both Houses of the Parliament within a month. The Right to Property also ceases to be a Fundamental Right from now and becomes only a legal right.

Introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 24 August, 2013, by the Minister of Law and Justice, Kapil Sibal. The Upper House has already passed it to pave the way for the creation of a Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) that will replace the current collegium system for appointing judges to higher courts. Members of the Parliament are of the opinion that the Executive must have a say in appointment of judges as the present system is not working well and has not worked well.

The State will provide free and compulsory education to all children aged between 6 and 14 while provisions will be made for early childhood care and education to children below the age of six years.

Mostly viewed as an infamous amendment during the internal Emergency. As a result, the Parliament holds the whip hand and the power of the Judiciary has been curtailed to a great extent, including checking the constitutional validity of Central and State laws. Also, no Constitutional Amendment can be questioned now in any court of law. The tenure of the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha (State Legislature) has been raised from five to six years and the Lok Sabha has been authorised to use Central Armed Forces in any State to deal with law & order problems. The President will be bound by the advice of the Council of Ministers and tribunals will be set up for service matters of government employees, economic offences, etc. However, the Fundamental Rights of Indian citizens have taken the worst beating this time as the Directive Principles have precedence over them. A set of 10 Fundamental Duties are also introduced for the first time.

This Act has reduced voting age from 21 to 18 years by amending Article 326 of the Constitution. Undoubtedly a landmark step as this has given the country’s youth an opportunity to voice their opinion and become a part of the political process.

According to the 39th Amendment, the election to the posts of Prime Minister, President, Vice-President and the Speaker in the Parliament cannot be challenged in any court. The 40th Amendment goes further to strengthen the power equation. It affirms that some major Central and State laws cannot be challenged in courts while the limits of the territorial waters, the Continental Shelf, the Exclusive Economic Zone and the maritime zones of India shall be specified from time to time by the laws made by the Parliament.

Land reform laws are put under the Ninth Schedule – so that these cannot be challenged at any Indian court. Since the State is committed to strike a balance among agricultural land, infrastructural development, industrial growth and environmental sustainability, this step has been taken to ensure that progressive legislation does not get mired into legalities.