Some Key Proposals of this Fourth Amendment Act
- Amendment of Article 31: This Fourth Amendment Act, 1955, amended the “Article 31” of the Indian Constitution. It is amended to deal with property rights. This amendment removed the fundamental right over the property and made it as a legal right.
- Insertion of Article 31A: This amendment act inserted “Article 31A” into the Indian Constitution. This was provided to give the protection of laws related to the acquisition of estates and the payment of compensation for such acquisitions.
- Insertion of Article 31B: This amendment act also inserted “Article 31B” into the Indian Constitution. This was provided to validate the certain laws related to land reforms that had been enacted by various state governments of India.
- Amendment of Article 39(b): This amendment act amended “Article 39(b)” of the Indian Constitution. This was introduced to deal with the directive principles of state policies. The amendment added a new clause that the state governments were required to ensure that any operation to the economic system must not result in the concentration of wealth and resources to the common detriment.
- Amendment of Article 74: This amendment act also amended “Article 74” of the Indian Constitution to deal with the council of ministers. This amendment increased the role and power of the executives in the appointment of judges and other judicial officials.
- Insertion of Article 368(3): This amendment act also inserted “Article 368(3)” into the Indian Constitution to provide the power that a constitutional amendment could not be challenged by anyone on the grounds that it violated any of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India.
Fourth Amendment Act, 1955 of Indian Constitution
In the year of 1955, an amendment was made to Indian constitution to modify several provisions of the constitution. Basically in the original text of proposal there were a presence of some inconsistencies and ambiguities which were being eliminated by this Fourth Amendment Act, 1955. So, this amendment act introduced some various number of proposals to modify some of the provisions of the Constitution of India. So this was a significant amendment to the Indian Constitution that was passed by the Indian Parliament to address certain challenges faced by the government of India and corresponding State governments in implementing land reformations and acquiring estates of the zamindars.
This amendment added several provisions to the Constitution of India, including “Article 31A” and “Article 31B”, which were provided for the protection of laws related to the acquisition of estates and the payment of compensation for such acquisitions. It also weakened the protection of property rights in India and increased the role and power of the executives in the appointment process of judges and other judicial officials, which has been subject to various criticisms. Despite these criticisms, the Fourth Amendment Act had a significant impact on the implementation of land reformation policies and the redistribution of land to the landless peasants and its legacy continues to be debated in India today also.