Major Amendments under the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act
Following are the major amendments enacted under the 42nd CAA:
- Preamble: Added three new words: “Socialist,” “Secular,” and “Integrity.”
- Fundamental Rights (FRs): Added the relevant provisions to the constitution for suspension of FRs during emergencies.
- Directive Principles of State Policies (DPSPs): Gave precedence to DPSPs over the Fundamental Rights. It added 3 DPSPs and amended one DPSP, they are:
- Article 39: To provide children with the opportunities necessary for their healthy growth.
- Article 39A: To advance equal justice and offer the needy free legal assistance.
- Article 43A: To ensure that workers are involved in the management of industries.
- Article 48A: To safeguard forests and wildlife, as well as to protect and develop the environment.
- Concurrent List (Schedule VII): It transferred 5 subjects from the state list to the concurrent list. They are education, forests, weights and measures, protection of wild animals and birds, and administration of justice.
- Added Fundamental Duties (FDs): Added Part IV-A (Article 51A), under which 10 FDs were included, based on recommendations of the Swaran Singh Committee (1976).
- Added Part XIV A: Titles ‘Tribunals dealing with Administrative matters’(Article 323A) & ‘Tribunals for other matters’ (Article 323B).
- Amended Article 102 (1)(a): Provided for disqualification if a person holds any such office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State as is declared by Parliamentary law. The power to disqualify the offices’ vests in the Parliament, and not in the State Legislature.
- President: Prescribed President to act in accordance with the advice of the Council of Ministers (CoM).
- This was modified by the 44th CAA (1978), which provided that the President could send back the advice once for reconsideration. Therefore, he must approve if the advice comes back after reconsideration from the CoM.
A. Parliament:
- Article 257A: Centre can send police forces into the state to deal with law-and-order issues.
- Article 329A: Gave discretionary powers to the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
- FRs were subordinated to DPSPs, and any law passed by Parliament to that effect was exempt from judicial scrutiny by the court.
- State legislatures and Parliament no longer require quorums.
- Granted power to the Parliament to regularly decide on the privileges and rights of its committees and members.
- The term length for the Lok Sabha and state legislative bodies was increased from 5 years to 6 years.
- Froze the reorganization of boundaries of parliamentary constituencies till the first census after 2000 i.e 2001.
B. Judiciary:
- Limited the High Courts’ ability to conduct judicial reviews.
- Allowed for the All-India Judicial Service to be established.
- Any law introduced at the Union level must be decided upon by a 7-judge bench of the Supreme Court.
- Only such a bill can be declared unconstitutional by a judgment that has a 2/3rd majority of the bench.
C. Social and Economic Democracy:
- Social democracy is a form of government that shares socialist ideals but operates within a capitalist framework. It upholds democratic principles of equality in class status, social protection, and social welfare.
- Economic democracy advocates for everyone to benefit from economic growth, especially the underprivileged and poorer segments of society. It does not seek to abolish private property but aims to limit private property so that it can be used for the good of the country rather than eliminate it. Thus, favouring a “mixed economy” rather than a “socialist economy” or “capitalist economy”.
An Analysis of 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA 1976)
The Constitution of a nation establishes the fundamental framework for the government, allocates authority among the many state organs, identifies the nation’s objectives, such as democracy, integration, secularism, etc., and protects citizens’ fundamental rights. The 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA, 1976), gains relevance based on these principles of the Constitution. It introduced new provisions in addition to changing the ones that were already there. As a result, the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act is also referred to as the “Mini Constitution of India.”