- Monday, November 25, 2024
Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna observed the petitions do not require a detailed hearing
By: Shajil Kumar
THE SUPREME COURT on Monday (25) dismissed pleas challenging the 1976 amendment to the Constitution adding the terms ‘socialist’, ‘secular’ and ‘integrity’ to the Preamble.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar had on November 22 reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas filed by former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain and others challenging the inclusion of the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ in the Preamble to the Constitution.
The petitions do not require a detailed hearing, Justice Khanna said.
“The two expressions ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ were made in 1976 through amendments and the fact that the Constitution was adopted in 1949 does not make any difference… the retrospectivity arguments, if accepted, will apply to all amendments,” Justice Khanna noted.
He said that “being socialist” in the Indian sense is understood only to be a “welfare state”.
“The way we understand socialism in India is very different from other countries. In our context, socialism primarily means a welfare state. That is all. It has never prevented the private sector which is thriving well,” Justice Khanna observed.
He also pointed out that “secularism” has been held to be part of the basic structure of the Constitution in the SR Bommai case. (Agencies)
