Former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament, Dr. Subramanian Swamy, has filed a public interest litigation seeking the removal of the terms “Socialist” & “Secular” from the Preamble to the Constitution of India. The Supreme Court, in response, posed a significant question: Can the Preamble undergo alterations while retaining its original date? The case, originally titled Balram Singh v. Union of India, saw a request from the counsel representing the connected matter, prompting the Bench consisting of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta to schedule it for the week commencing April 29, 2024.
Notably, Datta J said, “It’s not that Preamble cannot be amended,” during the hearing. The judge instructed the attorneys to investigate if the Preamble could have been changed earlier (by the 42nd Amendment Act in 1976) to add the terms Socialist and Secular while maintaining the original date of adoption (November 29, 1949) from an academic standpoint.
Along with other counselors, Dr. Swamy pointed out, “That’s precisely the point”.
“This is perhaps the only Preamble I have seen which comes with a date…’we give this Constitution to us on so and so date’…originally these two words (Socialist and Secular) were not there,” Datta J. said, referring to the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. In the course of the conversation, one of the attorneys said, “This Preamble is coming with a specific date, so therefore amending it without any discussion…” The Amendment Act was passed during an emergency, according to Dr. Swamy (1975–77).
Previous Context
The current appeal questions the legality of the addition of the terms “socialist” and “secular” to the Indian Constitution’s Preamble through the 42nd Constitution Amendment, which was approved in 1976, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was in government. According to Article 368, it is contended, the Parliament did not have the authority to alter such an inclusion.
The petitioners argue that socialist or secular ideas were never meant to be included in democratic government by the Constitution’s founders. Furthermore, it is said that Dr. BR Ambedkar opposed the inclusion of these terms since the Constitution cannot deny citizens their freedom of choice in favor of imposing particular political ideas.
The Communist Party of India’s Rajya Sabha member Binoy Viswam has intervened in the case, opposing the petition, arguing that since socialism and secularism are fundamental components of the Indian Constitution, their inclusion in the Preamble has not changed the essence of the document.
Case Matter : Dr. Subramanian Swamy and Anr. v. Union of India and Anr., WP(C) 1467/2020 (and connected case)