Constitutional Amendment Bill 2021

A Constitutional Amendment Bill 2021 has been proposed by a private member to amend the Preamble of the Constitution of India. A member who is not a Minister is known as a ‘Private member’ and Bills introduced by that member is called as Private Member’s Bill. So the question that came up before Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha Harivansh Narayan Singh was, ‘Whether a Private Member’s Bill seeking to amend the Preamble of the Constitution of India be introduced in Parliament without the prior assent of the President?

Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill –

Mr. Alphons Joseph Kannanthanam said, ‘its ideological moorings in certain historic movements makes it very difficult for a large portion of people to accept ‘Socialism’ as a legitimate objective of the Constitution of the country in the modern era. Hence u/s 3, it ought to be replaced with the word ‘Equitable’ which has no political connotations and does not carry historical baggage’.

It further seeks to modify the word Equality. Section 3(ii) states- for the words ‘Equality of status and of opportunity’ the following shall be substituted namely – ‘equality of status and of opportunity to be born, to be fed, to be educated, to get a job and to be treated and dignity…’ Also under section 3(iii)– for the words ‘Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation’ the following shall be replaced namely – ‘Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the community and the unity and integrity of the Nation…Happiness assuring a high gross domestic happiness.’

The Private member bill introduced by Mr. KJ Alphons is about amendment in preamble, which is part of the Basic structure of the Constitution of India. Preamble stresses the fundamental values and guiding principles and forms the basis of Constitution of India. For the first time; in Kesavananda Bharati case it was held that the Preamble will be considered as part of the Constitution but is not enforceable by courts. This Bill seeks to remove the word ‘Socialist’ from the preamble and replace it with ‘Equitable’. .

It is significant to note that the Preamble has been amended only once by way of 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act 1976 which added words Socialist, Secular and Integrity.

After seeing a logjam, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan proposed the Chair to reserve its decision. The Deputy Chairman agreed to this and said, ‘If this is the opinion of the House, then we reserve it.’ Rajya Sabha has reserved the decision on Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to amend Preamble of Constitution.