Basics:
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- A preface or introduction, outlining the guiding purpose, principles, and philosophy of the Constitution.
- Based on the ‘Objectives Resolution‘ by Pandit Nehru.
- A. Palkhivala – ‘identity card of the Constitution.’
- Sir Alladi Krishnaswami Iyer– ‘The Preamble to our Constitution expresses what we had thought or dreamt so long’.
- M. Munshi– ‘horoscope of our sovereign democratic republic’.
- Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava- soul, key, and jewel of the Constitution.
- Sir Ernest Barker-‘key-note’ of the Constitution.
- Hidayatullah– the soul of our Constitution, outlining our political society and embodying a solemn resolve.
Significance:
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- It reflects the basic philosophy and fundamental values of the constitution.
- It embodies the vision of constituent assembly and reflect the dreams and aspirations of founding fathers of constitution.
- Non-justiciable but serves as a “guiding light” for judicial interpretation.It aids in assessing the constitutional validity of legislative or executive actions.
Preamble as a part of the constitution:
Amenability of Preamble:
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- The issue of amendability of Preamble under Article 368 was first raised in the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973).
- The Supreme Court ruled that the Preamble is a part of the Constitution and can be amended, with the caveat that the “basic features” cannot be altered.
- 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act1976, added three new words – Socialist, Secular and Integrity.
- The issue of amendability of Preamble under Article 368 was first raised in the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973).
Debate on addition of ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ (42nd Amendment Act)
| Socialist | Secular |
|---|---|
| ● It means a welfare state with absence of inequality and backwardness. ● According to Supreme Court, its principal aim is to eliminate inequality of income and status and standards of life and to provide decent standard of life to working people. ● Indian socialism is a ‘democratic socialism’ and not a ‘communistic socialism’. ● It is a unique blend of Marxism and Gandhism, with a heavier inclination towards Gandhian socialism. | ● It means state should protect all religions equally and does not itself uphold any one religion as state religion. Indian secularism has broadly two meanings: ⮚ Separation of religion from the state i.e. Dharm Nirpekshta. ⮚ Equal respect to all religions by state i.e. Sarva Dharma Samabhava. ● Indian Constitution embodies positive concept of secularism as against negative secularism of west. |
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- B.R. Ambedkarsaid that there was no need to include the term ‘secular’ as the entire Constitution embodied the concept of secular state. On inclusion of the term ‘socialist,’ he said it is against the very grain of democracy to decide in the Constitution what kind of society the people of India should live in.
- According to D. Basu, it was not necessary and rather these introduced vagueness.
- As per Kashyap, it has ‘clarificatory relevance’ i.e. their relevance lies in just giving clarity about nature and does not bring any fundamental change in nature of the Constitution. This was also supported by M V Pylee.
- Thus, addition of these words resulted in clarification and made no substantial change.
Socialist ideal diluted due to NEP (1991)?
| Yes | No | Final view |
|---|---|---|
| • Privatization of public enterprisesincluding banks. • Shift in policy focus from redistribution to growth • Lack of affordability • Increased inequality- Top 1% holds 40% of the wealth in India. • Reduction in subsidies | • Increased resourcefulnesse.g.CSR spending • Better infrastructure and economic growth • Increased number of welfare schemese.g. MGNREGA • Decrease in poverty- 129 million Indians living in extreme poverty in 2024 compared to 431 million in 1990. | • Liberalisation is a necessity and reality of today. • There is change in means and not ends. The end goal remainsnational growth and development. |
