Important Amendments in the Indian Constitution

India's constitution is neither rigid nor flexible. Parliament is empowered to amend the
Indian Constitution under Article 368, subjected to ‘Basic structure of Constitution’. It is
done in three ways:
• By simple majority
• By special majority
• By special majority with ratification by half of the states.

First Constitutional Amendment Act, 1951

➢ Added Ninth schedule to protect land reforms and other laws from the scrutiny of
Judicial review.

➢ Insertion of new Article 31A and Article 31 B.

➢ Amended Article 19 by adding three more grounds of reasonable restriction on

freedom of speech and expression.

Seventh Constitutional Amendment Act, 1956

➢ State reorganization on a linguistic basis. Abolished classification of states into

four categories and reorganized them into 14 states and 6 UTs.

➢ Appointment of a Governor for two or more states.

➢ Establishment of common High Court for two or more states, extended

jurisdiction of the High Court to union territories. Appointment of additional and
acting judges of High Court.

➢ Insertion of new Article 350 A (instruction in mother-tongue at primary education

to children belonging to linguistic minority) and 350B (Special Officer for linguistic
minorities is provided) in part XVII.

Eighth Constitutional Amendment Act, 1960

➢ Extended reservation of seats for the SCs and STs and special representation for
Anglo-Indians in the Lok Sabha and state legislature.

➢ Twenty-Fourth Constitutional Amendment Act, 1971

 ➢ Amended Article 368 and Article 13, affirming the power of Parliament to amend
any part of the Constitution including fundamental rights.

➢ When an amendment to the Constitution adopted by both Houses of Parliament

is submitted to the President for his approval, he is obliged to give his consent.

Twenty-Fifth Constitutional Amendment Act, 1971

➢ Curtailment of the fundamental right to property.

➢ Insertion of new Article 31 C, which provides that if any law is passed in order to
give result to the DPSP contained in 39(b) and (c), that law will not be considered
to be void on the ground that it removes or reduces any of the rights under Article
14, 19 or 31 and will not be challenged on the ground that it doesn't give effect to
those principles.

Twenty-Sixth Constitutional Amendment Act, 1971

➢ Insertion of Article 363 A giving effect to the abolishment of Privy purse paid to
former rulers of princely states.

Forty-Second Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976

➢ Amendment in Preamble by addition of three words- ‘Socialist’, ‘Secular’ and

‘Integrity’.

➢ Addition of new Part IVA (Article 51 A) for fundamental duties.

➢ Insertion of new Article 31 D for saving laws in respect of anti-national activities,

taking precedence over fundamental rights.

➢ Insertion of new Article 32 A for Constitutional validity of State laws not to be

considered in proceedings under Article 32. Also added Article 226 A for
Constitutional validity of Central laws not to be considered in proceedings under
Article 226.

➢ Insertion of three new Articles regarding DPSP

i. Article 39 A: Free legal aid and Equal justice
ii. Article 43 A: Participation of workers in the management of industries
and
iii. Article 48 A: Protection and improvement of environment and
safeguarding of forests and wildlife.
 ➢ Curtailment of power of Supreme Court and High Court with respect to judicial
review and writ jurisdiction.

➢ Made Constitutional amendment beyond judicial review.

➢ The tenure (period) of Lok Sabha and State Legislative assemblies raised to 6
years by amending Article 83 and Article 172.

➢ Frozen seats in Lok Sabha and State

➢ Parliament is empowered to decide the powers, privileges, and immunities of the

members and the committees of each House of Parliament and State Legislature
by amending Article 105 and Article 194.

➢ Added new Part XIV regarding administrative tribunal and tribunal for other
matters under Article 323 A and 323 B.

➢ Addition of new Article 257 A for assistance to States by the deployment of

armed forces or other forces of the Union.

➢ Creation of All India Judicial Services under Article 236.

➢ Facilitated a Proclamation of emergency in operation in any part of the territory of

India.

➢ Made President bound by the advice of Council of Ministers by amending Article

74.

➢ Amendment in Seventh Schedule by shifting five subjects from the state list to
the concurrent list. These are: (a) education (b) forests, (c) protection of wild
animals and birds, (d) weights and measures (e) administration of justice.

➢ Extended one-time duration of President’s rule from six months to one year.

Forty-Fourth Constitutional Amendment Act, 1978

➢ The substituted term ‘Armed rebellion’ with earlier ‘Internal disturbance’ in case
of national emergency.

➢ President can proclaim an emergency only on the basis of written advice

tendered by the cabinet.
 ➢ Removal of right to property from the list of fundamental rights and recognized as
a mere legal right.

➢ Provided that during national emergency fundamental right guaranteed under

Article 20 and Article 21 cannot be suspended.

➢ Restored the original term of Lok Sabha and State Legislative assembly to five
years.

➢ Restored the power of the Election Commission in deciding matters related to

election dispute of President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, and Speaker of Lok
Sabha.

➢ Guaranteed right of the media to report the proceedings in Parliament and the
State Legislatures freely and without censorship.

➢ Set some procedural safeguards with respect to a national emergency and

President’s rule.

➢ Restored the powers of Supreme Court and High Court taken away in earlier
amendments.

➢ In the case of issuing ordinances, the amendment did away with the provision
that made the satisfaction of the President or Governor as final justification.

➢ President can now send back the advice of the cabinet for reconsideration.
Reconsidered advice, however, is binding on the President.

Sixty-First Constitutional Amendment Act, 1988

➢ Proposed to reduce the voting age from 21 years to 18 years for Lok Sabha and
State legislative assembly election.

Sixty-Ninth Constitutional Amendment Act, 1991

➢ Granted the National Capital a special status among the Union territories to
ensure stability and permanence. Amendment also provided with a Legislative
Assembly and a Council of Ministers for Delhi.

Seventy-Third Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992

➢ Added new Part IX that gave Constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj
Institution. Inserted new Eleventh schedule having 29 functions of Panchayat.
Seventy-Fourth Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992

➢ Granted Constitutional status to Urban Local Bodies. Added ‘The Municipalities’

as new Part XI-A in the Constitution. Inserted Twelfth schedule having 18
functions of the municipality.

Eighty-Fourth Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002

➢ Readjustment and rationalization of territorial constituencies, without altering the

number of seats allotted in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative assemblies to be
fixed on the basis of the 1991 census till 2026.

Eighty-sixth Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002

➢ Inserted new Article 21-A in the Constitution which provided for free and
compulsory education to all children of the age of 6 to 14 years.

➢ Inserted Article 51-A as a fundamental duty which provided for the education of a
child between the age of 6 and 14 years.

➢ Changes in the DPSP Article 45 which provided free and compulsory education
for all children up to the age of 14 years.

Eighty-Seventh Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003

➢ Readjustment and rationalization of territorial constituencies in the states to be

fixed as per the 2001 census instead of the earlier 1991 census.

Eighty-Ninth Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003

➢ Creation of two separate bodies out of combined body namely ‘National

Commission for Scheduled Castes’ under Article 338 and ‘National Commission
for Scheduled Tribes under Article 338-A.

Ninety-First Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003

➢ Inserted new clause Article 75 (1A): provides that the total number of ministers,
including the Prime Minister, in the Council of Ministers shall not exceed 15% of
the total number of members of Lok Sabha.

➢ Inserted fresh clause Article 75 (1B): Provides that a member of either House of
Parliament belonging to any political party that is disqualified on grounds of
 defection from being a member of that House shall also be disqualified from
being a Minister.

➢ New clause Article 164(1A): Provides that the total number of ministers, including
the Chief Minister, in the Council of Ministers shall not exceed 15% of the total
number of members of the State Legislative Assembly.

➢ Inserted new clause Article 164 (1B) which says, a member of Legislative
assembly of the State or either House of State Legislature belonging to any
political party who is disqualified on the ground of defection for being a member
of that House shall also be disqualified to be appointed as a minister.

➢ Removal of the provision in Tenth Schedule pertaining to an exemption from

disqualification in case of the split by one-third of members of the legislature
party.

Ninety-Seventh Constitutional Amendment Act, 2011

➢ It gave Constitutional protection to Cooperative societies by making the following

changes.

➢ The right to form a Cooperative society is a fundamental right under Article 19.

➢ Insertion of the new Directive Principle of State Policy under Article 43-B for
promotion of Co-operative societies.

➢ Added new Part IX B under the Constitution as ‘The Co-operative societies’

under Article 243-ZH to 243-ZT.

Ninety-Ninth Constitutional Amendment Act, 2014

➢ Insertion of new Article 124-A which provided for the establishment of the
National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) for the appointment and
transfer of judges of the higher judiciary. However, it was later struck down by the
apex court and held unconstitutional and void.

Hundredth Constitutional Amendment Act, 2015

➢ This amendment gave effect to the acquisition of territories by India and the
transfer of certain territories to Bangladesh in pursuance of the Land Boundary
Agreement and its protocol entered into between the Governments of India and
Bangladesh.
Hundred and First Constitutional Amendment Act, 2016

➢ Insertion of new Article 246-A, 269-A, and 279-A for enrollment of Goods and
Service Tax (GST) that made changes in Seventh Schedule and course of inter-
state trade and commerce.

Hundred and Second Constitutional Amendment Act, 2018

➢ It provided for the establishment of the National Commission for Backward

Classes (NCBC) as a Constitutional body under Article 338-B of the Constitution.
It is vested with the responsibility of considering inclusion and exclusion of
communities in the list of backward communities for reservation in jobs.

Hundred and Third Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019

➢ In relation to the current reservation, the reservation of up to 10% for

"economically weaker segments" in academic organizations and government
jobs has been made.

➢ It gives effect to the mandate of the Directive Principle of State Policy under
Article 46.

➢ It added new provisions under Article 15 (6) and Article 16 (6) to permit the
government to ensure the advancement of "economically weaker segments."

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