Aastha Pareek
On November 25, 2024, the Supreme Court, led by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar, is set to examine critical petitions contesting the addition of “secular” and “socialist” to the Preamble of the Indian Constitution through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment.
These above mentioned terms which were added via the 42nd Constitutional Amendment during the Emergency in 1976, have sparked debate over their alignment with the Constitution’s original framework.
In earlier hearings, the Court reaffirmed that secularism has always been an intrinsic part of the Constitution’s basic structure. Justice Sanjiv Khanna emphasized that concepts like equality and fraternity, embedded in the Constitution, inherently reflect secularism. However, petitioners, including Subramanian Swamy and Ashwini Upadhyay, argue that these amendments, applied retrospectively to 1949, were arbitrary and lacked sufficient parliamentary debate.
The Bench has acknowledged the complex implications of amending a foundational document like the Preamble, particularly when it bears a specific adoption date. A decision on this contentious issue is awaited, with discussions set to resume shortly.