The Supreme Court has dismissed pleas challenging the inclusion of the words “socialist” and “secular” in the Constitution’s Preamble. The court stated that the amending power of Parliament extends to the Preamble, and after so many years, the process cannot be nullified.¹ ² ³
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna observed that the date of adoption of the Constitution would not curtail the government’s power under Article 368, which was not under challenge in the current petitions.
The petitions were filed by former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, and one Balram Singh, arguing that the inclusion of these terms through the 42nd Amendment during the Emergency was unconstitutional.⁴
However, the court rejected these arguments, stating that secularism has been held to be a core feature of the Constitution, and the terms “socialist” and “secular” in the Preamble need not be looked at through a Western lens.
