Supreme Court rejects petitions to remove words ‘Secular’ and ‘Socialist’ from Preamble of Indian Constitution

Supreme Court of India Monday (November 25) Rejected three applications We demand the removal of the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ from the preamble of the Constitution of India.

These terms were added to the preamble by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment in 1976, during the national emergency declared by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar, dismissed the petitions, stating that Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution extends to the preamble and confirming that the insertion of these words was valid.

“The writ petitions do not require further deliberation or decision,” the bench said. The Court explained that the Constitution’s amendment authority under Article 368, which gives the Parliament the authority to amend the Constitution, also includes the initial text, and that the date of adoption of the Constitution cannot restrict this authority.

The petitioners, including BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay and Balram Singh, had challenged the 42nd Amendment, arguing that the inclusion of the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ in the preamble was unnecessary and inconsistent with the very purpose of the Constitution .

However, the Supreme Court had earlier upheld the 42nd Amendment and reiterated that secularism is the fundamental principle of the Constitution.

The court also noted that the terms ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ must be understood in the Indian context and the government’s policies on these principles are open to interpretation.

In its observations, the Court acknowledged that these concepts need not be evaluated from a Western perspective and are subject to evolving policy decisions in India.

In a related development, CPI leader and Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam had filed a petition against the move to remove the terms ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’, arguing that they reflect the country’s commitment to social justice and pluralism.