A Constitutional Amendment is a formal alteration of the Constitution through the procedure prescribed primarily under:
Article 368.
The amendment process allows the Constitution to:
Continuity + Adaptability.
Article 368 deals with:
Power and procedure of Parliament to amend the Constitution.
Constitutional provisions can be amended through:
Certain provisions are outside the Article 368 special-majority procedure.
Examples include certain matters concerning:
Generally requires:
Majority of total membership of each House
Two-thirds of members present and voting.
Required for amendments affecting important federal/constitutional provisions.
Examples include matters relating to:
A Constitutional Amendment is:
Not equivalent to an ordinary law.
An ordinary law is generally passed by:
Simple parliamentary majority.
A constitutional amendment follows:
The procedure applicable to the particular constitutional provision.
The most important judicial limitation on constitutional amendment power is:
Basic Structure Doctrine.
Supreme Court held:
Parliament can amend the Constitution but cannot destroy its basic structure.
Constitutional amendment power ≠ Unlimited constituent power.
The Supreme Court has recognised several features as part of the basic structure, including:
There is:
No exhaustive, closed list of basic-structure elements.
→ Parliament's amendment power initially given broad recognition.
→ Broad amendment power reaffirmed.
→ Parliament held unable to amend Fundamental Rights under the then-understood Article 368 framework.
→ Basic Structure Doctrine.
→ Free and fair elections and judicial review reinforced as constitutional essentials.
→ Limited amending power itself is part of basic structure.
→ Basic-structure review and Ninth Schedule framework clarified.
→ Post-24 April 1973 Ninth Schedule laws can be tested against basic structure.
One of the most important early amendments.
The amendment enabled the State to make special provisions for:
Established an explicit constitutional basis for:
Reservation/special provisions based on social and educational backwardness.
The First Amendment created:
Ninth Schedule.
To protect specified laws, especially land-reform laws, from certain forms of judicial challenge.
Ninth Schedule does not create:
Absolute immunity from judicial review.
After I.R. Coelho:
Post-Kesavananda laws placed in the Ninth Schedule remain subject to basic-structure review.
Major territorial and administrative reorganisation.
Constitutional basis for the States Reorganisation process.
The Seventh Amendment accompanied the:
States Reorganisation Act, 1956.
Linguistic and administrative reorganisation.
Strengthened the modern territorial structure of the Indian Union.
Extended the period for reservation of seats for:
and Anglo-Indian representation in legislatures.
Beginning of a long series of amendments extending the constitutional period of political reservations.
Concerned:
Adjustment of territory following the India-Pakistan agreement.
Illustrates that constitutional amendment can be required for:
Territorial adjustment.
Important for:
Land reform.
It expanded protection under:
Continued constitutional effort to protect:
Land reform legislation.
A major amendment after the:
Golaknath judgment, 1967.
Parliament → Strong amendment power.
But later:
Kesavananda Bharati imposed the Basic Structure limitation.
Related to:
Property rights and implementation of certain Directive Principles.
Inserted:
Article 31C.
Originally intended to protect laws implementing certain DPSPs from challenge under specified Fundamental Rights.
Intensified the conflict between:
Fundamental Rights
and
Directive Principles.
The original scope of Article 31C was expanded by the:
42nd Amendment.
But the Supreme Court struck down the expansion in:
Minerva Mills, 1980.
Current Article 31C protection is not as broad as the 42nd Amendment attempted to make it.
A highly important political-institutional amendment.
Abolished:
Privy purses and official recognition of former princely rulers.
Completed the constitutional transition away from:
Special constitutional privileges of former princely rulers.
Made:
Sikkim
a full-fledged State of India.
Article 371F.
Sikkim became:
A State of the Indian Union.
Known as:
The "Mini-Constitution".
It was passed during the:
Emergency period.
Added:
Socialist.
Secular.
Integrity.
Sovereign Democratic Republic.
Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic.
The 42nd Amendment added:
Part IVA.
Article 51A.
10 Fundamental Duties.
Added:
Citizens' constitutional responsibilities.
The:
86th Amendment, 2002
added another Fundamental Duty relating to providing educational opportunities to children in the specified age group.
Total:
11 Fundamental Duties.
The 42nd Amendment sought to strengthen:
Directive Principles of State Policy.
It attempted to give broader constitutional protection to laws implementing DPSPs.
Minerva Mills held that:
Harmony and balance between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles is part of the basic structure.
Passed after the Emergency period.
To reverse certain anti-judicial-review provisions introduced by the:
42nd Amendment.
Restoration of judicial safeguards.
One of the most important amendments.
"armed rebellion" as a ground for National Emergency under Article 352.
Article 300A.
5 years.
The 44th Amendment removed:
Right to Property
from Fundamental Rights.
Article 19(1)(f) → Deleted.
Article 31 → Removed.
Inserted:
Article 300A.
Property → Constitutional legal right.
Not:
Fundamental Right.
The 44th Amendment ensured that:
Rights under Articles 20 and 21 cannot be suspended through an Emergency order under Article 359.
Strong protection of:
National Emergency under Article 352 now requires:
Written advice of the Cabinet.
Prevents:
Personal discretion of the Prime Minister from independently triggering emergency.
Known as:
Anti-Defection Amendment.
Tenth Schedule.
Prevent:
Political defections.
Disqualification from the legislature on specified grounds of defection.
A legislator may face disqualification for:
The decision is made by:
Speaker/Chairman,
subject to judicial review.
Reduced the voting age from:
21 years
to:
18 years.
Article 326.
Expanded democratic participation.
Created special constitutional arrangements for:
National Capital Territory of Delhi.
Articles 239AA and 239AB.
→ Union Territory with:
Legislative Assembly and Council of Ministers,
subject to constitutional limitations.
Delhi is:
A Union Territory, not a full-fledged State.
Added languages to the:
Eighth Schedule.
Added:
Recognition of linguistic diversity.
Constitutionalised:
Panchayati Raj Institutions.
Part IX.
243 to 243O.
29 subjects.
Constitutionalised:
Urban Local Bodies.
Part IXA.
243P to 243ZG.
18 subjects.
73rd → Rural local government.
74th → Urban local government.
73rd → Eleventh Schedule.
74th → Twelfth Schedule.
Placed Tamil Nadu legislation relating to reservation in:
Ninth Schedule.
A major reservation-related constitutional development.
Ninth Schedule protection is:
Not absolute after I.R. Coelho.
Inserted:
Article 16(4A).
Allowed reservation in promotion for:
SCs and STs,
subject to constitutional conditions.
Extended reservation policy into:
Promotion.
Added:
Article 16(4B).
Allowed treatment of:
Unfilled reserved vacancies
as a separate class of vacancies for subsequent years under constitutional conditions.
Backlog vacancies provision.
Added a proviso to:
Article 335.
Permitted, in specified circumstances:
Relaxation in qualifying marks or standards for SC/ST candidates in promotion-related matters.
Balancing:
Administrative efficiency
with:
Representation of SC/STs.
Provided for:
Consequential seniority
for SC/ST candidates promoted under reservation in specified circumstances.
Retrospective effect was associated with the amendment.
One of the most important social-rights amendments.
Article 21A.
Free and compulsory education for children aged:
6–14 years.
Article 45.
Article 51A(k):
Parent/guardian duty regarding educational opportunities for children aged 6–14.
Separated:
National Commission for Scheduled Castes
and
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.
Articles:
338 — NCSC.
338A — NCST.
Major anti-defection and ministerial-size reform.
15% of strength of Lok Sabha/State Assembly.
In states:
At least 12 ministers.
Added four languages to the Eighth Schedule:
22 scheduled languages.
Related to:
Cooperative societies.
Recognised:
Cooperative societies as a constitutional governance concern.
The Supreme Court in:
Union of India v. Rajendra N. Shah, 2021
held that Part IXB could not operate to regulate cooperative societies within a State because the required ratification by half the States had not been obtained.
However, the provisions could continue in relation to:
Multi-State cooperative societies and Union Territories.
97th Amendment → Cooperatives.
But:
Part IXB has limited enforceability after judicial review.
Implemented the:
India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement framework.
Territorial adjustments between:
India and Bangladesh.
Constitutional amendment was required for certain territorial adjustments.
Created the constitutional framework for:
Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Article 246A.
Article 269A.
Article 279A.
Article 279A.
GST replaced multiple indirect taxes with:
A unified indirect-tax framework.
Major fiscal-federal reform.
Constitutional body under:
Article 279A.
Institutionalised cooperative fiscal federalism.
GST transformed:
Centre-State taxation relations.
Multiple indirect taxes.
Shared GST framework.
Cooperative fiscal federalism.
Gave constitutional status to:
National Commission for Backward Classes.
Article 338B.
Article 342A.
NCBC → Constitutional body.
The Supreme Court's interpretation in:
Maratha reservation case, 2021
initially raised concerns about whether States retained power to identify SEBCs.
This was subsequently addressed through:
105th Constitutional Amendment.
Introduced:
10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).
Inserted:
Articles 15(6) and 16(6).
EWS reservation applies to:
Economically weaker sections outside the existing SC/ST/OBC reservation categories, subject to constitutional and statutory conditions.
The Supreme Court upheld the EWS reservation framework in:
Janhit Abhiyan v. Union of India, 2022.
The Court upheld:
103rd Amendment by majority.
Extended reservation of seats for:
SCs and STs
in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies for a further period.
The amendment effectively ended the constitutional provision for:
Nomination of Anglo-Indian members to Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies
because that provision was not extended further.
104th Amendment:
Continued SC/ST political reservation.
Ended Anglo-Indian nominated representation.
Restored/clarified the power of:
States and Union Territories
to identify socially and educationally backward classes for their own purposes.
Followed the judicial interpretation concerning:
102nd Amendment.
Strengthened:
Federal role in backward-class identification.
Known as:
Women's Reservation Amendment.
Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023.
The amendment provides for reservation of:
As nearly as may be, one-third of seats
for women in:
Added:
Article 330A.
Article 332A.
Article 334A.
Women’s reservation in:
Lok Sabha.
Women’s reservation in:
State Legislative Assemblies.
Deals with:
Coming into effect and duration of the reservation framework.
Within the reserved seats for:
SCs and STs,
one-third of those seats are reserved for:
Women belonging to SC/ST categories.
The seats reserved for women are to be:
Rotated after such delimitation as provided by the constitutional framework.
Do not describe it simply as:
Immediate reservation in every existing constituency.
The constitutional implementation is linked to:
Delimitation after the relevant census process.
The 106th Amendment Act received Presidential assent on:
28 September 2023.
The Act provides that its provisions come into force on a date appointed by the Central Government by notification. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}
The amendment is:
Constitutionally enacted,
while the operative reservation framework is linked to the constitutional conditions specified in Article 334A.
1st → Article 15(4).
24th → Parliament's amendment power clarified.
25th → Article 31C.
44th → Property right removed from Fundamental Rights.
77th → Article 16(4A).
103rd → Articles 15(6), 16(6).
42nd → Strengthened DPSP-oriented constitutional provisions.
25th → Article 31C.
86th → Modified Article 45.
97th → Article 43B.
73rd → Panchayats.
74th → Municipalities.
73 → Rural.
74 → Urban.
1st → Backward classes.
7th → Territorial reorganisation.
77th → SC/ST promotion.
81st → Backlog vacancies.
82nd → Relaxation in qualifying standards.
85th → Consequential seniority.
89th → Separate NCSC/NCST.
102nd → NCBC constitutional status.
103rd → EWS.
104th → SC/ST political reservation extension; Anglo-Indian nomination ends.
105th → State/UT SEBC identification.
106th → Women's reservation.
61st → Voting age 18.
69th → Delhi Assembly.
73rd/74th → Local elections.
84th → Delimitation freeze framework extended.
87th → Adjusted delimitation based on 2001 Census while retaining the broader freeze on seat allocation.
52nd → Tenth Schedule.
91st → Strengthened anti-defection.
7th → States reorganisation.
69th → NCT Delhi.
73rd → Local government.
74th → Urban local government.
101st → GST federalism.
102nd/105th → Backward-class federal roles.
42nd → Expanded centralising tendencies.
44th → Restored safeguards.
42nd → Centralisation.
44th → Democratic safeguards.
42nd → Tribunals framework.
71st → Language additions.
73rd/74th → Constitutional local bodies.
89th → NCSC + NCST.
97th → Cooperatives.
101st → GST Council.
102nd → NCBC.
106th → Women's reservation framework.
42nd → Emergency-era centralisation.
44th → Democratic correction.
Golaknath → Parliament's amendment power restricted.
24th → Amendment power expressly affirmed.
Kesavananda → Basic structure limitation.
52nd → Anti-defection introduced.
91st → Strengthened it.
102nd → NCBC constitutional status.
105th → States/UTs' SEBC identification power restored/clarified.
103rd → EWS category.
Existing reservations → SC/ST/OBC framework.
Reservations + Ninth Schedule.
States reorganisation.
Parliament's amendment power.
Article 31C.
Privy purses abolished.
Sikkim State.
Mini-Constitution.
Emergency/property safeguards.
Anti-defection.
Voting age 18.
Delhi/NCT.
Three languages.
Panchayats.
Municipalities.
SC/ST promotion.
Backlog vacancies.
Relaxation under Article 335.
Consequential seniority.
Article 21A.
NCSC/NCST separation.
Anti-defection + 15% ministry cap.
Four languages.
Cooperative societies.
GST.
NCBC.
EWS.
SC/ST reservation extension + Anglo-Indian nomination ends.
State/UT SEBC identification.
Women's reservation.
Article 368 gives unlimited amendment power.
❌ Wrong.
Basic Structure limits amendment power.
First Amendment created only reservation.
❌ Incomplete.
It also inserted Articles 15(4), 31A, 31B and Ninth Schedule, among other changes.
42nd Amendment increased democratic safeguards.
❌ Wrong.
It substantially strengthened centralising tendencies; the 44th later restored safeguards.
44th Amendment abolished the Right to Property completely.
❌ Oversimplified.
It removed it as a Fundamental Right but retained it as a constitutional legal right under Article 300A.
52nd Amendment created the Ninth Schedule.
❌ Wrong.
First Amendment.
52nd Amendment created anti-defection law.
✅ Correct.
61st Amendment reduced voting age from 21 to 18.
✅ Correct.
73rd Amendment is about municipalities.
❌ Wrong.
73rd → Panchayats.
74th → Municipalities.
86th Amendment created Article 21A.
✅ Correct.
101st Amendment created the GST Council.
✅ Correct.
102nd Amendment created EWS reservation.
❌ Wrong.
103rd Amendment.
103rd Amendment gave constitutional status to NCBC.
❌ Wrong.
102nd Amendment.
105th Amendment introduced OBC reservation for the first time.
❌ Wrong.
It clarified/restored States/UTs' authority regarding SEBC identification.
104th Amendment extended Anglo-Indian nominated representation.
❌ Wrong.
That nomination was not extended.
106th Amendment immediately reserved one-third of all existing legislative seats from 2023.
❌ Incorrect.
Its implementation is linked to the constitutional conditions, including delimitation following the relevant census process.
1st → Article 15(4) + Ninth Schedule.
24th → Parliament amendment power.
25th → Article 31C.
44th → Property no longer Fundamental Right.
77th → Promotion reservation SC/ST.
103rd → EWS.
42nd → Emergency-era centralisation.
44th → Safeguards restored.
52nd → Anti-defection.
61st → Voting age 18.
91st → Stronger anti-defection.
7th → States reorganisation.
69th → Delhi.
73rd → Panchayats.
74th → Municipalities.
101st → GST.
1st → Backward classes.
77th → SC/ST promotion.
81st → Backlog.
82nd → Relaxation.
85th → Consequential seniority.
89th → NCSC/NCST.
102nd → NCBC.
103rd → EWS.
105th → State SEBC power.
106th → Women.
71st → Konkani + Manipuri + Nepali.
92nd → Bodo + Dogri + Maithili + Santhali.
86th → Article 21A.
97th → Article 19(1)(c) + 43B + Part IXB, subject to judicial limitation.
101st → Articles 246A, 269A, 279A.
If time is limited, prioritise:
1st, 7th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 42nd, 44th, 52nd, 61st, 69th, 73rd, 74th, 77th, 86th, 91st, 97th, 101st, 102nd, 103rd, 104th, 105th, 106th.
The Indian Constitution is neither completely rigid nor completely flexible. Article 368 enables constitutional adaptation, while judicial review through the Basic Structure Doctrine prevents amendments from destroying the Constitution's foundational identity.
Examples:
Examples:
Examples:
Examples:
Examples:
Examples:
Kesavananda Bharati → Basic Structure.
Minerva Mills → Limited amending power and FR-DPSP balance.
I.R. Coelho → Ninth Schedule subject to basic-structure review.
Constitutional amendments demonstrate:
Constitutional adaptability.
Political majoritarianism or excessive centralisation.
Judicial review + Basic Structure Doctrine.
Constitutional amendments are best understood not as alterations to an immutable document but as instruments of constitutional evolution. Their legitimacy depends on maintaining a balance between democratic responsiveness, social transformation, federalism, individual liberty and the basic structure of the Constitution.
Amendment = Change, but not constitutional destruction.
Remember:
1st → Social justice + Ninth Schedule.
7th → States.
24th → Amendment power.
25th → DPSP/Fundamental Rights conflict.
26th → Privy purses.
42nd → Mini-Constitution.
44th → Democratic correction.
52nd → Anti-defection.
61st → Vote at 18.
69th → Delhi.
73rd → Panchayats.
74th → Municipalities.
86th → Education.
91st → Anti-defection strengthened.
97th → Cooperatives.
101st → GST.
102nd → NCBC.
103rd → EWS.
104th → SC/ST reservation extension; Anglo-Indian nomination ends.
105th → State SEBC power.
106th → Women's reservation.
1 Social Justice → 7 States → 24 Amendment Power → 25 DPSP → 26 Privy Purses → 42 Mini-Constitution → 44 Emergency Safeguards → 52 Defection → 61 Vote 18 → 69 Delhi → 73 Panchayats → 74 Municipalities → 86 Education → 91 Ministry Cap → 97 Cooperatives → 101 GST → 102 NCBC → 103 EWS → 104 SC/ST + Anglo-Indian → 105 State OBC Power → 106 Women.
