Amendment of indian constitution.

Amendment Procedure and its Types in Indian Constitution, Basic structure of Constitution and Amendment Illustrations. Related To Indian Constitution.

1. Amendment Procedure In Indian Constitution.

2. Introduction : What is Constitutional   Amendment ?

3. With the development of the State in every sphere, amendment has become necessary. The Constitution should be able to serve the needs of the society. People would have opted for extra constitutional remedies like Revolution, had there been no amendment procedure. The framers of the Constitution were anxious to have a document which could grow with a growing nation, adapt itself to the changing need and circumstances of growing people. When a Constitution is too flexible, it results in wrong exercise of power and thus harms its original provisions. When a Constitution is too rigid, it fails to grow according to the needs of a state. Therefore, the Indian Constitution is partly flexible and partly rigid.

4.   TYPES OF AMENDMENTS

5.      Amendment by Simple Majority. Certain Articles of the Constitution can be amended by simple majority. Article 368 does not deal with this category of amendment. The following provisions require amendment by simple majority: Citizenship Abolition or creation of Legislative Councils in States Creation of Local Legislatures or Council of Ministers or both for certain Union Territories Admission or establishment of new states Use of English language in the Parliament Quorum of the Parliament Rules of procedure in the Parliament Delimitation of Constituencies Fifth schedule Sixth schedule, etc.

6.      Amendment by Special Majority. Articles which require amendment by special majority come under the ambit of Article 368. The Articles which require amendment by special majority shall be brought into effect by a majority of the total members of each House of the Parliament and by majority of not less than 2/3 of the members of that House who are present and voting. The impeachment of the President under Article 61. Approval of national emergency, etc. comes under this category. The Provisions which cannot be amended by Simple Majority and which do not require Ratification by States are amended by Special Majority.

7.                Amendment by Special Majority and Ratification by States. Some Articles require Amendment by Special Majority as well as ratification by not less than ½ of the State Legislatures. The States have an important role in the amendments of these matters. The following provisions require ratification by the States: Election of President – Articles 54, Article 55 Extent of Executive powers of the Union and States – Article 73, Article 162 Articles dealing with Judiciary, Supreme Court, High Court in the States and Union Territories – Articles 124 to 147, Article 214 to 231, Article 241 Distribution of Legislative powers between the Centre and the State – Article 245 to Article 255 Any of the Lists of Seventh Schedule Representation of States in Parliament Forth Schedule Article 368 (Amendment)

8. Procedure for Amendment. A Bill in order to amend the Constitution may be introduced by any House of the Parliament and must be passed by each House by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than 2/3 of the members of that House who are present and are voting. After being passed by both the Houses, it shall be presented to the President and he shall give his assent to the Bill. In this process the Constitution is amended.

9.                               Amendment of Fundamental Rights. The topic of amendment of Fundamental Rights arose in the case of Shankari Prasad V Union of India. In this case, it was held that the power to amend the Constitution includes the power to amend Part III of the Constitution too. In the subsequent case that is Sajjan Singh V State of Rajasthan ]  the Court approved its previous decision and held that Fundamental Rights can also be amended. In the case of Golak Nath V State of Punjab, the Supreme Court held that Part III of the Constitution cannot be amended and Parliament cannot abridge the fundamental rights of the citizens. In the case of  KesavanandaBharati Vs State of Kerala,   the Supreme Court held that the Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution but the basic structure of the Constitution must be maintained. Basic structure of Indian Constitution. The Supreme Court has held that the basic structure of the Constitution cannot be amended. Basic structure includes provisions like Supremacy of the Constitution, Democratic and Republic form of Government, Sovereign, Secular, Socialist character, Judicial Review, Fundamental Rights.

10.              Criticism of Amendment Procedure. The following are the criticisms of the Amendment procedure: The State Legislatures have a mere voice in the Amendment procedure. India lacks the provision of seeking public opinion on any Constitutional Amendment. Any time limit regarding ratification by States has not been provided. As a result such amendments can be killed if the States take no action. An amendment in order to be valid should be passed by both the Houses. There may be differences in opinion between the Houses but any procedure regarding solving it has not been provided in the Constitution.

11. Illustrations. Simple Majority  – For example, the strength of Lok Sabha is 545 and 500 Members were present. 400 Members were present and voting. So the Simple majority is (50% of 400)+1 that is 201. Special Majority  – For example, the strength of Rajya Sabha is 245. The number of members who are present and are voting is 150. The special majority will be (2/3 of 150)+1 that is 101.

12. Made By :                     Pratyush Mahajan                   Roll No. - A243                   SAP ID- 70012000323