The Supreme Court has put its seal on the words secular and socialist, they will not be removed from the Preamble of the Constitution.

New Delhi:The Supreme Court has rejected the petition filed against adding the words secular and socialist in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. The Supreme Court said that constitutional amendment cannot be invalid during emergency. During the Emergency in 1976, the words secular and socialist were added to the Preamble through a constitutional amendment.The case was not sent to the larger bench
The bench led by Supreme Court Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna said that there is no need to hear the petition filed in this case in detail. Earlier, the Supreme Court had refused to refer the case to a larger bench and had reserved its decision after hearing the case. The Chief Justice’s bench said that the words secular and socialist were added to the Constitution under an amendment made in 1976 and it had been in force since 1949, but this does not affect its validity. Its implementation with effect from 1949 onwards does not affect the facts.

The court said that Parliament has the power to amend the Preamble of the Constitution and the validity of the amendment can no longer be questioned. The apex court said that the right given to the Parliament to amend the Constitution also applies to the Preamble. The Preamble is part of the Constitution and cannot be considered separate from it. The bench of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court said that what is the justification in raising this issue after so many years. The court said that after so many questions the amendment process cannot be invalidated.

The word socialist means welfare of the state.
The Supreme Court made it clear that in the Indian context the word socialist means welfare of the state. Socialism in India means something in a different context. It makes the state responsible for the welfare of the people and providing equal opportunities. Regarding the word secular, he/she said that it is part of the basic structure of the Constitution. The Supreme Court has said this in the SR Bommi vs Union of India case that the Preamble is a part of the basic structure.

During the hearing of the case, the petitioners argued that this constitutional amendment was done during the Emergency, then people did not get a chance to present their side in this matter. Also this was a change in the basic structure. The petitioners said that only the Constituent Assembly had the right to amend the Preamble. Also, this amendment was not even approved by the states. During this time, the Supreme Court had said in its comment that the circumstances of emergency do not affect the amendment process and the decision of Parliament taken during this period cannot be invalidated. The Supreme Court said that the words socialist and secular are in accordance with the objectives of the Constitution. Petitioner Dr. Swamy has admitted that the Janata Party government had also supported these words.

What did the Supreme Court say in its comment
-During the hearing, the Supreme Court had refused to hand over the petition filed against the addition of the words secular and socialist in the Preamble of the Constitution to a larger bench.
-Chief Justice Khanna said that in the Indian context, socialist means welfare state.
-Chief Justice said that we cannot say that whatever work the Parliament did during the Emergency is invalid.
-The Supreme Court said that secularism has always been a part of the basic structure of our Constitution.
-The apex court has said many times in its judgment that secularism was always a part of the basic structure of the Indian Constitution and is a part of it.
-If you look at the right to equality, brotherhood and fraternity have also been used there, it clearly gives the message that secularism is a core feature of the Indian Constitution.

What were the arguments of the petitioners?
-The later insertion of the words secular and socialist in the Preamble of the Constitution was challenged in the Supreme Court.
-Petitioner Subrahmanyam Swamy filed an application requesting to delete the words secular and socialism which were added through constitutional amendment in the Preamble.
-Subramanian Swamy, appearing personally, said that later the elected government also supported keeping these words in the preamble. But the question is whether it should have been kept in a separate paragraph or it should have been made effective from the date of 1949 itself.
Apart from this, Advocate Vishnushankar Jain and others also filed an application. Jain argued that this word was inserted in the Preamble through a constitutional amendment in 1976 but people’s opinion was not taken before that.
-This change happened during the Emergency and if seen, a particular ideology was imposed on the people. Once the Preamble has come into force from the date it was made, then how can it be amended later and implemented from the same date. This matter should be sent to a larger bench.
-Petitioner lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay argued that he/she is not against the words socialist, secular and integrity. We are not against keeping it in the Constitution but are against including it in the Preamble in 1976. It was introduced in 1976 during the tenure of Indira Gandhi and was made effective from 26 November 1949.

understand the whole matter like this
-By the way, during the time of Indira Gandhi, the word secular was added to the Preamble of the Constitution in 1976 and after that there has been a lot of controversy regarding it. A question has always arisen whether the word secular can be removed from the Preamble? Can the word secular be removed in the same way as it was inserted through constitutional amendment?
-The word secular was not in the original preamble of the Constitution. When the Preamble of the Indian Constitution was written, an amendment proposal was presented in the Constituent Assembly to add the words secular and socialist. But that amendment proposal was rejected and then Sovereign, Democratic Republic was written in the Preamble of the Constitution.
-This constitution was implemented on 26 January 1950. Later, when Indira Gandhi was in power, the 42nd amendment was made in the Constitution and through this amendment in 1976, Sovereign, Socialist, Secular Democratic Republic was written in the Preamble. In this way the words secular and socialist were added to the preamble. The words secular and socialist were not there in the Preamble of the original Constitution but the constitutional amendment was implemented from the date of 1949.
-The insertion of these words in the preamble was challenged but the Supreme Court rejected the application and also refused to send the case to a larger bench.

Controversy ended after the verdict
The Supreme Court in its decision rejected the petition filed against adding the words secular and socialist in the preamble, only after this it should be expected that this much-discussed controversy will come to an end. However, the Supreme Court had made it clear in its remarks during the hearing that secularism has always been a part of the basic structure of our Constitution. The apex court had said many times in its judgment that secularism had always been a part of the basic structure of the Indian Constitution and is a part of it. If you look at the right to equality, brotherhood and fraternity have also been used there, which clearly gives the message that secularism is a core feature of the Indian Constitution.