- a 4 Preamble Wa, th prpleof Indu, ving wey rsd to conttate Inia into at Sovrretan Stat Sender, Demgry Republic and to evnre to all in atirens Jot, wvtak oven and pit Liberty of hough, prion, Ili farthand serif gmat of tans ad of opportunity and to promoteaning thm al dignity of the individ and te unity aed the inte sith lay of November, 1949 do Hereby Adopt, Enact and give o omar Fraternity auaring he rity ofthe Nation In our Constituent sembly this tooenty thes Constitution, Importance of Preamble lerstanding the legislative intent and 110 the statute and it helps in Preamble isa sort of introducti policy. It ays down the main objectives which the legislation intends to achieve. Preamble of the Constitu: tion contains ideals which the Constitution seeks to achieve. It does not grant any he whole Constitution, It alo power but it gives direction and purpose to the Constitution, It outlines the objectives of th enshrines the grand objectives and socio-economic goals which are to achieved through constitutional processes, The words "We the People of India.” indicate that the sovereignty Ii from them, Ultimate source of the Constitution is the will of the people. in the people and the Constitution emanates f In Re Berubarl Union case (1960) the Supreme Court held that the Preamble is not the part of the Constitution, Later in Keshavanand Bhartl v. State of Kerala (1973) the Supreme Court held that the Preamble is the part of the Constitution, The court held that the Preamble of the Constitution is of extreme importance and the Constitution should be read and interpreted in the light of the Preamble, The court further held that the Preamble can be amended without altering the basic structure of the Constitution. In Sajfan Singh v. State of Rajasthan (1965) Supreme Court held that Preamble is the sum and substance of the features of the Co In 5.R, Hommal v, Union of india (1994 ) Supreme Court reiterated the view held in Keshaosananda bart cue and held that Preamble isan integral part of the Constitution. In K.K. Bhaskaran v. State(20\)) Supreme Court held that the Constitution should be interpreted in such manner so as to secure the gos! of social, economic and political justice. In Nandini Sundar v. State of Chhattisgarh (2011) Supreme Cour said that promise to provide social, economic and political justice given in the Preamble cannot be forgotten tution. or neglected. e————————— i ‘Samarth Agrawal Books Scanned with CamScannerCamuation of indie 7 eee ce Parpore/Objective of Preamble z Object of Preamble ————-— Source of the Type of government and Hughts of Constitution polity wo be established the mee People of India = Sovereign Justice : Social, Economie and = Democtatic Political = Secular —Lileray of thought expresions = Socialist belief faith andl worship. sae of status & opportunity Fraternity: assuring the dignity of amindividual &c unity and inteesty of nation. source ofthe Constitution It says "We the (1 Source of the Constitution : Preamble indicated the prop of India." “edt, enact and give to oases hi Gonitton Thus, it clarifies thatthe source ofthe ‘Constitution i people of Indi, In other words it means that thatthe Constution has been prepared by the House of Representatives elected by the people, is to be established : Preamble clarifies the type of (2) Type of government and polity w! government and polity. The peopl of India have man Secular, Socialist Republic. (@) Sovereign : The word ‘sovereign is indicative ofthe fact that India is not subject to any foreign 1 or external perspective andthe State is fee to legislate on any subject in Union of India, AIR 1990 SC dated to provide India a Sovereign, Democratic, power from interna conformity with constitutional limitations [Charan Lal Sahu v. 1480}. The sovereignty lies in the people of India (ii) Democratic: The term ‘Democratic’ indicates that the source of power of the go} «ests in its people The democratic government is government ofthe peopl for the people and by the onsible to the people. Supreme ernment pple The clected representatives rule the country and they are resp Court ha held that democracy’ the basic structure of the Constitution, [Indian Medical “Association v. Union of India, AIR 2011 SC 2365] The word ‘secular’ has been added by 42 Constitutional Amendment. This concept sxasalready contained in the expression “dere of thought expreion bei ath and worhig! and has been clarified by the above amendment. The term ‘secular’ means that State does not recognize any religion and is neutral in the matters of religion. It treats all religions equally. ‘Samarth Agrawal Books u Scanned with CamScannerOY A Comperndaons Gade Jndiial Serves Mains Examinations: Volume IL Supreme Court in $.8, Bommai v. Union of India (1994) held that the secularisy jy basic structure of the Constitution, In Aruna Roy v. Union of India (2003) the Supreme Coun held that the secularism has a positive meaning and_it means to sleeslop_undertanding sy respect towards different religion. (iv) Socialist : This word has also been added by 42"! Constitutional Amendment, The word ‘ke nomic Joti’ used in the Preamble imbibes the concept of socialism. The Directive Principle, itmportantly Articles 39 (b) and (cate flag bearers of social and economic justice. Constitution finiti ‘socialist’, ‘socialism’ or ‘economic justice’ does not give any definite definition of word “socials, ‘socialism’ or‘ justice! The jalism varies. It is not susceptible to any precise definition, definition and import of's The Supreme Court in Excel Wear v. Union of India (1979) held that the courts would five more weightage to the nationalization and State ownership but the principles of socialism should not be interpreted and implemented to the extent it totally ignores the interest of private ownership. Further, in D.S. Nakara v. Union of India (1983) the Supreme Court held that the basic purpose of socialism isto provide decent standard of life and social security to people The purpote of establishing a welfare state in India was always in the mind of Constitution makers. However, there is no mention of this term in the Preamble of the Constitution but itis reflected in the inherent spirit of the Constitution. (*) Republic: The word ‘republic’ means thatthe head of the nation is an elected representative The tradition of the hereditary rule came to an end by incorporation of this concept. The post of President of India is not hereditary. President is elected for a period of 5 years. (3) Rights of the people: Preamble lays down rights which people of India are entitled to, These are p given in form of objectives and not specifically in the form whicl ‘h has been mentioned in Part III of the Constitution. Justice: Social, Economic and Political G@) Liber: of thought, expression, belief faith and worship, i) Equality: of status and of opportunity the development of the nation; hence more emphasis is given on the spirit of brotherhood. Everyone fhould understand tha they are the child of the same motherland and they should stay with each other with 4 sense of compassion for others and co-operation, Dr. Ambdekar in the Constituent Assembly observed tha the principles of liberty, equality and frate nity form a union of trini ty in the sense that to divorce one from the other is to defeat the very purpose of Samarth Agrawal Books Scanned with CamScanner | { LrE —t—tle leh iii Dh Compnatvon of dia spe democracy To concrete shape to these aspirations, the Constitution has a separate chapter dedi vedio Fordamental Rights which uaaniescentsin rights to the people Supreme Court in Indra ‘Swahney v. Union of India, AIP. 1993 SC 477 held that the words Grater pinyasuringthe dignity of ca of certain sections of the community who had inthe past been looked deren apo. he individual’ have a special relevance in the Indian content becaute of the vial tackward ‘The poals 2 ed through Directive Principles of State Policy. Therefore it is exential that nd objectives enshrined in the Preamble are waght to be farther clan concretiz te read slong withthe Directive Principles of Sate Policy hich lay down the 20 xhiew. Amendment of the Preamble time before down =o yn and; (2) The question whether Preamble can be amended came up for consideration for the Supreme Court in Keshvanand Bharti v. State of Kerala (1973). The court in this case laid swith respect to Preamble; (1) Preamble is the part of the Consti fundamental proposition Preamble can be amended subject to basic structure of the Constitution. ‘As regards fist proposition the court overruled its previous dei schich aid down that Preamble is nota part ofthe Constiation. With rexpect 19 the 1c Preamble are not ambiguous and amending poe power to take away basic and fundamental policy of in Re Berubari Union c2s< second proposition the court held that the words and expressions used in th ofthe Parliament cannot be interpreted to confer the the Preamble. Hence, the Preamble can be amended but in doing so the basic structure of the Constitution should not be disturbed. ‘dz Constitution Amendment (1976) The amendment isered three words ie Secular, Socialist and Integrity. The concepts of secularism and socialism have been already discussed above. Integrity: The word has been used to prevent tends of separatism. This concept i already implicit inthe nature of federal Constitution. The use of phrase ‘India will be be Union of Sate! in Article Icleatly suggest that States have no right to separate from the Union. Under Article 19(2) State can put reasonable restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression in the interest of integrity and sovereignty of India. Previous Years’ Questions of Mains Examinations © Write short note on Preamble to the Constitution of India. [BJS 2000, BJS 2006, M.P. CJ 2012] . : ‘What are the msjoe commitzents ofthe Constitaton of Inia 2s incorporated in it preamble?[MP, Cj 2015] © Discuss the secular character ofthe Indian Constitution. [BJS 2000} ooo ‘Samarth Aggawal Books B _— Scanned with CamScanner