Could Preamble be amended by keeping date intact, SC asks on plea against inclusion of socialist & secular

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought to know if the Preamble could be amended while keeping the date intact, as it took up a plea by former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy seeking to delete words “socialist” and “secular” from it.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta orally observed that it is not that Preamble cannot be amended. 

The bench said the matter could be considered from an academic point of view as the Preamble was earlier amended (by the 42nd Amendment Act in 1976) to include the words socialist and secular while keeping the date of adoption, November 29, 1949, intact. 

At this juncture, Swamy along with other counsel said that is precisely the point.

The bench, referring to the Preamble to the Constitution, said that this is perhaps the only Preamble, which comes with a date. It was argued before the bench that originally these two words socialist and secular were not there.

A counsel contended that this Preamble came with a specific date. Swamy said that the Amendment Act was passed during Emergency (1975-77). 

The court fixed the matter for further hearing in April. Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain represented Balram Singh and others.

The plea challenged insertion of words "socialist" and "secular" in the Preamble to the Constitution by the 42nd constitution amendment of 1976 during the time of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

The petitioners’ have contended that such insertion was beyond the amending power of the Parliament under Article 368 and the framers of the Constitution never intended to introduce socialist or secular concepts in democratic governance.