Supreme Court Upholds Inclusion of 'Socialist' and 'Secular' in Constitution's Preamble

The court dismissed challenges to the 42nd Amendment, affirming Parliament's authority to amend the Preamble under Article 368.

The Supreme Court rejected petitions questioning the addition of 'socialist' and 'secular' to the Preamble during the 1976 Emergency-era 42nd Amendment.
The bench, led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, reaffirmed that Parliament has the authority to amend the Constitution, including the Preamble, as long as it does not violate the basic structure doctrine.
Petitioners argued that the terms distorted the original intent of the Constitution's framers and questioned the legitimacy of the Emergency-era Parliament, but the court dismissed these claims.
The court clarified that 'socialism' in India signifies a welfare state and does not conflict with private enterprise, while 'secularism' reflects the equal respect for all religions, as upheld in the SR Bommai case.
The judgment emphasized that the amendment has undergone judicial scrutiny and legislative endorsement over decades, making the challenges unjustified after such a long period.