Semester-V

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - II

PREAMBLE

Md Yusuf Hayath (PhD-Law),

Assistant Professor (Law),
MNLU-Aurangabad.
LLM-Constitutional Law (Gold Medalist),
UGC-NET’18, AP-RCET’18, AP/TS/KA/TN–SET’18
 PREAMBLE TO THE
CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
 PREAMBLE
WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to
constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;
and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the
unity and integrity of the Nation;
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of
November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO
OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.
 42ND Amendment Act, 1976
• Originally the preamble described the state as
a "sovereign democratic republic"
• In 1976, the Forty-second Amendment
changed this to read ‘sovereign socialist
secular democratic republic’.
• The words, Unity and Integrity" were also
added by the 42nd amendment during the
Emergency
 Date 26 January
• was chosen to commemorate the Purna Swaraj
declaration of independence of 1930
• With its adoption, the Union of India officially
became the modern and contemporary Republic
of India and it replaced the Government of India
Act 1935 as the country's fundamental governing
document
• To ensure constitutional autonomy, the framers
of constitution inserted Article 395 in the
Constitution and by this Article the Indian
Independence Act, 1947 was repealed
 Constitution of India
• like that of the United States of America, is a
monumental piece prepared by statesmen of
great eminence and patriotism.
• contained the founding principles of the law
of the land which would govern India after its
independence from British rule
 Constitution of India
• has an elaborate Preamble
• The Preamble does not grant any power but it
gives a direction and purpose to the Constitution
• It outlines the objectives of the whole
Constitution
• The Preamble contains the fundamentals of the
Constitution
• The preamble sets out the main objectives which
are attained through legislative acts and
executive actions
 Preamble-page
• along with other pages of the original
Constitution of India, was designed solely by
renowned painter Deodhar
Rammanohar Sinha of 'Jabalpur'
 Significance of the Preamble
• brief introductory statement
• preface of a book
• guiding purpose and principles of the document and
focuses on the ideology of the Constitution
• reflects the ideals and aspirations of Indian national
movement
• embodies the most important values and objectives of
our constitution
• soul and spirit of the Constitution
• vision and mission of the Indian political leaders
• mirror of India's Constitution
 Objective Resolution
• Preamble to Indian constitution is based on “Objective
Resolution” of Pandit Nehru
• Jawaharlal Nehru introduced Objective Resolution on
December 13, 1947
• It was adopted by Constituent Assembly on 22 January
1947
• Drafting committee of the Assembly in formulating the
Preamble in the light of “Objective Resolution” felt that
the Preamble should define the essential features of
the new state and its basic socio-political objective and
philosophy
 Purpose of Insertion of a Preamble

• Preamble states the objects which our

Constitution seeks to establish and promote and
also
• aids the legal interpretation of the Constitution
where language is found ambiguous.
• Proper appreciation of aims and aspirations
embodied in our Constitution
• Preamble is regarded as the soul of the
Constitution
 Preamble to our Constitution serves several
purposes:

a) It contains the enacting clause which brings the

Constitution into force.
b) It points to the basis of rights and freedoms
which people of India intended to secure for
themselves.
c) It focuses on the type of government and polity
which is sought to be established in the country.
d) It indicates the source from which our
Constitution derives its authority
 Constitutional Status of Preamble to the
Constitution of India
• It has been highly a matter of arguments and
debate on the question, whether the Preamble
should be treated as a part of Constitution or not,
that means whether or not a citizen can
challenge in the court of law, in case of any
infringement of any of his rights as have been
mentioned in the Preamble
• If not, then whether the Preamble is merely a
preface or introductory piece of page in the book
of our Constitution
 Two leading cases

1. Beruberi Case
2. Kesavananda Bharati Case
Beruberi case(AIR 1960 SC 845, 1960 3
SCR 250)
• was the Presidential Reference “under Article 143(1) of the
Constitution of India on the implementation of the Indo-Pakistan
Agreement Relating to Beruberi Union and Exchange of Enclaves”
which came up for consideration by a bench consisting of eight
judges headed by the Chief Justice B.P. Singh
• Justice Gajendragadkar delivered the unanimous opinion of the
Court.
• The court held that the Preamble to the Constitution, containing
the declaration made by the people of India in exercise of their
sovereign will, no doubt is ‘a key to open the mind of the makers’
which may show the general purposes for which they made the
several provisions in the Constitution, but nevertheless the
Preamble is not a part of the
Constitution.
 Kesavananda Bharati case(case citation: AIR
1973 SC 1461)
• has created history
• A bench of 13 judges assembled and sat in its original jurisdiction
hearing the writ petition.
• Thirteen judges placed on record 11 separate opinions. To the
extent necessary for the purpose of the Preamble, it can be safely
concluded that the majority in Kesavanada Bharati case leaned in
favor of the view,
• (i) that the Preamble to the Constitution of India is a part of the
Constitution;
• (ii) that the Preamble is not a source of power or a source of
limitations or prohibitions;
• (iii) the Preamble has a significant role to play in the interpretation
of statutes, also in the interpretation of provisions of the
Constitution.
 Kesavanada Bharati case
• is a milestone and also a turning point in the
constitutional history of India
• D.G. Palekar, J. held that the Preamble is
a part of the Constitution and,
therefore, is amendable under Article 368
 Bommegowda vs State Of Karnataka
on 25 September, 1992
• In, time and again reference was made to
the Preamble to the Constitution which ensured
according to the petitioners the undisturbed flow
of democracy and the democratic process
• It is also regarded as the key to open the mind of
the makers of the Constitution
• For these reasons the Preamble is also a
legitimate aid in the interpretation of the
provisions of the Constitution.
 Union Government vs LIC of
India,1995
• Supreme Court has once again held that the
Preamble is an integral part of the
Constitution.
• It is true that there is no legal significance of
the preamble of the Constitution
• Preamble is non-justiceable in a court of law.
• The legislation cannot be imperiled or
thwarted on the ground that it ran counter to
the Preamble of the Constitution.
 ‘We the People’
• people of India are the source of authority
behind the Constitution
• ultimate authority of the people acted as a
sanction behind the Constitution
• enacted and adopted by the Constituent
Assembly in the name of the people of India
 SOVEREIGNTY

• Supreme
• freedom from foreign control or domination
• External & Internal
• Commonwealth of Nations
 SOCIALIST

• Gandhian ideals were aimed to be secured by the

incorporation of the word ‘Socialist’ in the
Preamble by the 42nd Amendment in 1976
• socialization of the means of production, which
demads control of state over the means of
production as necessary prerequisite
• idea of democratic socialism
• Social equality
• Economic equality
 COURT JUDGEMENTS
• In D.S. Nakara v. Union of India, the Court
observed that ‘the basic framework of socialism
is to provide a decent standard of life to the
working people… .’
• In Excel Wear v. Union of India, the Supreme
Court considered that the word “socialist” might
enable he courts to lean more in favour of
nationalisation and state ownership of an
industry…’.
•
 PUBLIC CHOICE APPROACH
• The State now being the enthusiastic adopter
of 'Public Choice' approach to the public
sector
• had to shift the balance of incentives from
input to output, and to proceed for the
contracting out of services, the spread of
internal markets and outright privatization, re-
constituting citizens as consumers or clients in
the ‘open market’ and ‘open society’
 SECULAR

• State shall have no religion of its own and all

persons shall be equally entitled to freedom of
conscience and right freely to practice and
propagate religion
• Right to Freedom of Religion (Art. 25-28)
• Supreme Court in St. Xavier’s College v. State
of Gujarat explained that India “is neither
anti -God, nor pro-God; it treats alike the
devout, the antagonistic and the atheist
 DEMOCRATIC

• chosen a representative and responsible

system of government
• The Supreme Court in Union of India v.
Association for
Democratic Reforms, Observed: “a successful
democracy posits an ‘aware’ citizenry”
 REPUBLIC

• the head of the state is not a hereditary

monarch
• ultimate power resides with the body of
people, enfranchised by universal adult
franchise
 JUSTICE

• harmonious reconcilement of individual

conduct with the general welfare of the
society
• Social justice
• Economic justice
• Political justice
 LIBERTY
• derived from Latin word ‘liber’ which means
free
• both positive as well as negative sense
 EQUALITY

• equality of status and opportunity in civic,

political life of the individual and thus
abolishes all distinctions or discriminations
among the citizens on the ground of race,
religion, caste, sex or place of birth
 FRATERNITY

• feeling of brotherhood
• This feeling can be generated if equal social
and at least equitable economic status can be
ensured for all the Indians, irrespective of
their race, religion, caste, sex or place of birth
 UNITY AND INTEGRITY OF THE NATION

• incorporated elaborate emergency provisions

so as to smash any forces threatening and
endangering the unity and integrity of the
country