Political history of India - Major constitutional amendments

An update on the crucial amendments made to the Indian Constitution

 Political history of India - Major constitutional amendments

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• The story: India is a dynamic country, and the founder-fathers knew that things will evolve very fast. They made enough provisions in the Constitution to allow the coming generations to adapt it to new needs.
• The enabling provision: The Article 368 in Part XX of the Constitution deals with the powers of Parliament to amend the Constitution and its procedure. It states that the Parliament may amend the Constitution by way of addition, variation or repeal any provision in accordance with the procedure laid down for the purpose. However, the Parliament cannot amend those provisions which form the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution. This was ruled by the Supreme Court in the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973), and evolved later over next few decades.
• Crucial Amendments: Some amendments have been defining in nature -

1. First Amendment Act, 1951 - To remove certain practical difficulties created by the court's decision in several cases such as Kameshwar Singh Case, Romesh Thapar Case, etc. Issues involved in the cases included freedom of speech, acquisition of the Zamindari land, State monopoly of trade, etc. The amendment empowered the state to make special provisions for the advancement of socially and economically backward classes. It provided for the saving of laws providing for acquisition of estates, etc. It added the Ninth Schedule to protect the land reforms and other laws included in it from the judicial review. After Article 31, Articles 31A and 31B were inserted. It added three more grounds of restrictions on freedom of speech and expression: public order, friendly relations with foreign states and incitement to an offence. Also, it made the restrictions ‘reasonable’ and thus, justiciable in nature. It provided that state trading and nationalisation of any trade or business by the state is not to be invalid on the ground of violation of the right to trade or business.
2. Fourth Amendment Act, 1955 - It made the scale of compensation given in lieu of compulsory acquisition of private property beyond the scrutiny of courts. It authorised the state to nationalise any trade, and included some more Acts in the Ninth Schedule. It extended the scope of Article 31 A (savings of laws).
3. Seventh Amendment Act, 1956 - It was brought to implement the recommendations of the State Reorganization Committee and to implement the State Reorganization Act, 1956. It amended the Second and Seventh Schedules, and abolished the existing classification of states into four categories i.e., Part A, Part B, Part C, and Part D states, and reorganised them into 14 states and 6 union territories. It extended the jurisdiction of high courts to union territories. It provided for the establishment of a common high court for two or more states, and also provided for the appointment of additional and acting judges of the high court.
4. Ninth Amendment Act, 1960 - After the Nehru-Noon agreement was signed between India and Pakistan to divide the territory of Berubari Union, the Government of West Bengal opposed it. The Union referred the matter to the S.C. which held that the power of Parliament to diminish the area of a state (under Article 3) does not cover cession of Indian territory to a foreign country. Hence, Indian territory can be ceded to a foreign state only by amending the Constitution under Article 368. Consequently, the 9th Constitutional Amendment Act (1960) was enacted. The amendment facilitated the cession of the Indian territory of Berubari Union (located in West Bengal) to Pakistan as provided in the Indo-Pakistan Agreement (1958).
5. Tenth Amendment Act, 1961 - It incorporated Dadra, Nagar and Haveli as a Union Territory, consequent to acquisition from Portugal.
6. Eleventh Amendment Act, 1961 - It changed the procedure of election of the vice president by providing for an electoral college instead of a joint meeting of the two Houses of the Parliament. It provided that the election of the President or vice president cannot be challenged on the ground of any vacancy in the appropriate electoral college.
7. Twelfth Amendment Act, 1962 - It incorporated Goa, Daman and Diu in the Indian Union.
8. Thirteenth Amendment Act, 1962 - It gave the status of a state to Nagaland and made special provisions for it.
9. Fourteenth Amendment Act, 1962 - It incorporated Puducherry in the Indian Union, and provided for the creation of legislatures and council of ministers for the Union Territories of Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Goa, Daman and Diu, and Puducherry.
10. Seventeenth Amendment Act, 1964 - It prohibited the acquisition of land under personal cultivation unless the market value of the land is paid as compensation, and included 44 more Acts in the Ninth Schedule.
11. Eighteenth Amendment Act, 1966 - It made clear that the power of Parliament to form a new state also includes a power to form a new state or union territory by uniting a part of a state or a union territory to another state or union territory. It created new states namely, Punjab and Haryana.
12. Twenty First Amendment Act, 1967 - It included Sindhi as the 15th language in the Eighth Schedule.
13. Twenty Fourth Amendment Act, 1971 - The Amendment Act was brought in response to the Golaknath ruling (1967) of the Supreme Court which held that the Parliament does not have the power to take away any fundamental rights through amendment to the Constitution. It affirmed the power of Parliament to amend any part of the Constitution including fundamental rights by amending Article 13 and 368, and made it compulsory for the President to give his assent to a Constitutional Amendment Bill.
14. Twenty-Fifth Amendment Act, 1971 - It curtailed the fundamental right to property, and provided that any law made to give effect to the Directive Principles contained in Article 39 (b) or (c) cannot be challenged on the ground of violation of the rights guaranteed by Articles 14, 19 and 31.
15. Twenty-Sixth Amendment Act, 1971 - It abolished the privy purses and privileges of the former rulers of princely states.
16. Thirty First Amendment Act, 1973 - There was an increase in the population of India as revealed in the Census of 1971. The amendment increased the number of Lok Sabha seats from 525 to 545.
17. Thirty Third Amendment Act, 1974 - It amended Articles 101 and 190 and provided that the resignation of the members of Parliament and the state legislatures may be accepted by the Speaker/Chairman only if he is satisfied that the resignation is voluntary or genuine.
18. Thirty-Fifth Amendment Act, 1974 - It terminated the protectorate status of Sikkim and conferred the status of an associate state of the Indian Union. The Tenth Schedule was added laying down the terms and conditions of association of Sikkim with the Indian Union.
19. Thirty Sixth Amendment Act, 1975 - It made Sikkim a full-fledged State of the Indian Union and omitted the Tenth Schedule.
20. Thirty-Eighth Amendment Act, 1975 - It made the declaration of emergency by the President non-justiciable, and made the promulgation of ordinances by the President, governors and administrators of Union territories non-justiciable. It also empowered the President to declare different proclamations of national emergency on different grounds simultaneously.
21. Fortieth Amendment Act, 1976 - Parliament was empowered to specify from time to time the limits of the territorial waters, the continental shelf, the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and the maritime zones of India.
22. Forty Second Amendment Act, 1976 - It was the most comprehensive amendment of the Indian Constitution, called the ‘Mini-Constitution,’ and almost redid the entire constitution! It was undone in parts by later judgments of the Supreme Court.
23. Forty Fourth Amendment Act, 1978 - It was enacted by the Janata Government, and undid a lot of the damage done to Constitution earlier.
24. Sixty first Amendment Act, 1989 - The voting age was decreased from 21 to 18 for both Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies elections.
25. Sixth fifth Amendment Act, 1990 - A multi-member National Commission for SC/ST  was established and the office of a special officer for SCs and STs was removed.  
26. Seventy Third Amendment Act, 1992 - Panchayati Raj institutions were given constitutional status. A new Part-IX and 11th Schedule were added in the Indian Constitution to recognize Panchayati Raj Institutions and provisions related to them.
27. Seventy Fourth Amendment Act, 1992 - Urban local bodies were granted constitutional status. A new Part IX-A and 12th Schedule were added to the Indian Constitution.
28. Eighty Sixth Amendment Act, 2002 - Elementary Education was made a fundamental right – Free and compulsory education to children between 6 and 14 years A new Fundamental Duty under Article 51 A was added – “It shall be the duty of every citizen of India who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or ward between the age of six and fourteen years”.
29. Ninety Seventh Amendment Act, 2011 - Co-operative Societies were granted constitutional status: Right to form cooperative societies made a fundamental right (Article 19); A new Directive Principle of State Policy ( Article 43-B) to promote cooperative societies; A new part IX-B was added in the constitution for cooperative societies
30. One Hundredth Amendment Act, 2015 - To pursue land boundary agreement 1974 between India and Bangladesh, exchange of some enclave territories with Bangladesh mentioned. Provisions relating to the territories of four states (Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya) in the first schedule of the Indian Constitution, amended.
31. One Hundred and First Amendment Act, 2016 - The Goods and Service Tax (GST) was introduced.
32. One Hundred and Second Amendment Act, 2018 - A Constitutional Status was granted to  National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).
33. One Hundred and Third Amendment Act, 2019 - A maximum of 10% Reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of citizens of classes other than the classes mentioned in clauses (4) and (5) of Article 15, i.e. Classes other than socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.

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