The Constitution of India is neither completely rigid nor completely flexible.
It provides:
A combination of rigidity and flexibility.
Constitutional amendment → Continuity + Adaptability.
The principal constitutional provision is:
Article 368.
Constitutional changes can occur through:
Certain constitutional provisions can be changed by:
Simple majority of Parliament.
These are technically:
Outside the Article 368 constitutional amendment procedure.
Not every constitutional change is an "Article 368 amendment."
Most constitutional amendments require:
Majority of the total membership of each House
AND
Two-thirds of members present and voting.
Both conditions are required.
Amendments affecting certain federal provisions require:
Special majority of Parliament
plus:
Ratification by at least half of the State Legislatures.
Matters relating to:
Amendment procedure itself reflects:
India's federal character.
Some provisions affect:
Union + States.
Therefore:
States receive a constitutional role in amendment.
One of the most important themes in Constitutional Amendments is:
Basic Structure Doctrine.
Established in:
Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, 1973.
Parliament has:
Wide power to amend the Constitution.
But it cannot:
Destroy or alter its Basic Structure.
Judicially recognised elements include:
There is:
No single exhaustive list.
The evolution of amendment law reflects an ongoing constitutional dialogue:
Parliament ↕ Judiciary ↕ Constitution.
→ Parliament's amendment power broadly upheld.
→ Broad approach continued.
The Supreme Court restricted Parliament's ability to amend:
Fundamental Rights.
Parliament responded through:
24th Constitutional Amendment, 1971.
The:
24th Amendment, 1971
strengthened Parliament's constitutional amendment power.
The:
25th Amendment, 1971
strengthened:
Socio-economic redistribution.
Article 31C.
Originally related to:
Article 39(b) and 39(c).
The Court held:
Parliament can amend the Constitution but cannot destroy its Basic Structure.
Amendment Power + Judicial Review + Basic Structure.
The:
42nd Amendment, 1976
was one of the most extensive amendments.
The 42nd Amendment added:
Socialist.
Secular.
Integrity.
"Unity of the Nation"
→
"Unity and Integrity of the Nation."
The 42nd Amendment inserted:
Part IVA.
Article 51A.
Originally:
10 Fundamental Duties.
86th Amendment later added:
11th Fundamental Duty.
The 42nd Amendment inserted:
→ Equal justice + free legal aid.
→ Workers' participation in management.
→ Environment, forests and wildlife.
A recurring amendment theme is:
Balance between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles.
→ Article 31C.
→ Attempted to extend Article 31C to all DPSPs.
→ Broader extension struck down.
The Supreme Court held:
Harmony and balance between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles is part of the Basic Structure.
Neither:
Fundamental Rights
nor:
Directive Principles
can be given unlimited constitutional supremacy over the other.
Emergency provisions became a major amendment theme after the:
1975–77 Emergency.
The:
44th Amendment, 1978
was a major post-Emergency corrective amendment.
"Internal disturbance"
→
"Armed rebellion."
44th Amendment:
44th Amendment ensured:
Rights under Articles 20 and 21 cannot be suspended through Article 359.
Emergency ≠ Unlimited suspension of personal liberty.
Property rights underwent major constitutional transformation.
Property:
Fundamental Right.
Removed:
Inserted:
Article 300A.
Right to Property:
Constitutional legal right.
Not:
Fundamental Right.
The Constitution has repeatedly changed:
India's territorial structure.
Major:
States Reorganisation.
Major themes:
Constitutional development reflects:
Accommodation of linguistic identities.
Regional identity + National unity.
Created:
National Capital Territory of Delhi.
Inserted:
Article 239AA.
and:
Article 239AB.
Delhi:
Union Territory.
But also:
Delhi Assembly cannot legislate on:
Police.
Public Order.
Land.
→ Panchayats.
→ Municipalities.
Added:
Part IX.
Eleventh Schedule.
Added:
Part IXA.
Twelfth Schedule.
73rd + 74th
→
Democratic decentralisation.
Introduced:
Anti-Defection Law.
Added:
Tenth Schedule.
Broadly:
Strengthened Anti-Defection Law.
52nd + 91st
→
Political stability + party discipline.
Reduced voting age:
21 → 18.
Voting age reform relates to:
Article 326.
It concerns:
Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections.
Reduce candidate age to 18.
Inserted:
Article 21A.
Provides:
Free and compulsory education
for:
Children aged 6–14.
→ Fundamental Right.
→ Early childhood care and education below 6.
→ Parent/guardian duty for 6–14.
Constitutional framework for:
Cooperative societies.
Major changes:
Rajendra N. Shah, 2021
limited Part IXB's application to State cooperatives because required State ratification was absent.
Created constitutional framework for:
GST.
→ GST legislative power.
→ Inter-State GST.
→ GST Council.
101st Amendment illustrates:
Cooperative fiscal federalism.
Constitutional body.
Centre:
1/3.
States collectively:
2/3.
The Supreme Court held:
GST Council recommendations are not automatically binding legislative commands.
Gave constitutional status to:
NCBC.
Article:
338B.
102nd Amendment inserted:
Article 342A.
and:
Article 366(26C).
Clarified/restored:
State and Union Territory power to prepare and maintain their own SEBC lists.
102nd + 105th demonstrate:
Centre-State balance in reservation policy.
Inserted:
Article 15(6).
Article 16(6).
Provides constitutional basis for:
Up to 10% reservation.
Supreme Court:
Upheld the 103rd Amendment by 3:2 majority.
→ Social + educational backwardness.
→ Economic weakness.
Extended:
SC/ST legislative reservation
to:
104th Amendment:
Did not extend Anglo-Indian nominated representation.
SC/ST:
Reserved elected seats.
Anglo-Indians:
Nominated representation.
Introduced:
Women's reservation framework.
Key provisions:
→ Lok Sabha.
→ State Assemblies.
→ Delhi Assembly.
→ Commencement, duration, rotation.
Target:
Approximately one-third of directly elected seats.
Approximately:
One-third of SC/ST reserved seats
are reserved for:
SC/ST women.
Women's reservation is linked to:
Relevant post-commencement census figures + delimitation.
106th Amendment:
❌ Did not immediately create one-third reserved constituencies in 2023.
✅ Created the constitutional framework for future implementation.
Important amendments include:
→ Article 15(4).
→ Article 31C.
→ Article 21A.
→ NCBC.
→ EWS.
→ State/UT SEBC lists.
→ Women's representation.
→ Voting age 18.
→ Women/SC/ST reservation in Panchayats.
→ Women/SC/ST reservation in Municipalities.
→ SC/ST legislative reservation continued.
→ Women's legislative reservation.
Important:
→ State reorganisation.
→ Delhi's special status.
→ Local decentralisation.
→ Cooperative fiscal federalism.
→ State role in SEBC identification.
→ Article 19 restrictions.
→ Amendment power.
→ Judicial review restrictions attempted.
→ Civil-liberty safeguards.
→ Anti-defection.
→ Voting age.
→ Panchayats.
→ Municipalities.
→ Ministerial cap + anti-defection strengthening.
→ Redistribution/DPSP.
→ Right to Property changed.
→ Cooperatives.
→ GST.
→ Education moved to Concurrent List.
→ Article 21A.
→ Article 15(5) and educational reservation framework.
→ Article 48A.
→ Article 51A(g).
Constitutional environmentalism.
Major constitutional story:
Shankari Prasad → Sajjan Singh → Golaknath → 24th Amendment → Kesavananda → 42nd → Minerva Mills.
Shankari Prasad.
Golaknath.
24th.
Kesavananda.
42nd.
Minerva Mills.
→ Emergency-era centralisation.
→ Post-Emergency safeguards.
→ Anti-defection.
→ Anti-defection strengthened + ministry cap.
→ 104th.
→ 106th.
→ 103rd.
→ 102nd + 105th.
→ Rural.
→ Urban.
"Democracy at the grassroots."
→ Cooperatives.
Economic institutions must coexist with federal constitutional limits.
→ GST.
Pooling of tax powers can coexist with State participation through cooperative institutions.
A broad constitutional evolution:
1951 → Article 15(4).
1971 → Article 31C.
2002 → Article 21A.
2018 → NCBC.
2019 → EWS.
2021 → State/UT SEBC lists.
2023 → Women's representation.
Memorise:
1951 — Article 15(4), 31A, 31B, Ninth Schedule.
1956 — States Reorganisation.
1971 — Parliament's amendment power.
1971 — Article 31C.
1976 — Mini-Constitution.
1978 — Emergency safeguards.
1985 — Anti-Defection.
1988 — Voting age 18.
1991 — Delhi NCT.
1992 — Panchayats.
1992 — Municipalities.
2002 — Article 21A.
2003 — Anti-Defection + 15% ministry cap.
2011 — Cooperatives.
2016 — GST.
2018 — NCBC.
2019 — EWS.
2020 — SC/ST political reservation.
2021 — State/UT SEBC lists.
2023 — Women's legislative reservation.
| Amendment | Year | Core Theme |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1951 | Social justice + land reform + speech restrictions |
| 7th | 1956 | States reorganisation |
| 24th | 1971 | Amendment power |
| 25th | 1971 | Article 31C + redistribution |
| 26th | 1971 | Privy purses |
| 42nd | 1976 | Mini-Constitution |
| 44th | 1978 | Post-Emergency correction |
| 52nd | 1985 | Anti-defection |
| 61st | 1988 | Voting age 18 |
| 69th | 1991 | Delhi NCT |
| 73rd | 1992 | Panchayats |
| 74th | 1992 | Municipalities |
| 86th | 2002 | Right to Education |
| 91st | 2003 | Anti-defection strengthening |
| 97th | 2011 | Cooperatives |
| 101st | 2016 | GST |
| 102nd | 2018 | NCBC |
| 103rd | 2019 | EWS |
| 104th | 2020 | SC/ST political reservation |
| 105th | 2021 | State/UT SEBC lists |
| 106th | 2023 | Women's reservation |
15(4) → First Amendment.
15(5) → 93rd Amendment.
15(6) → 103rd Amendment.
16(4) → Backward classes in employment.
16(6) → 103rd Amendment.
21A → 86th Amendment.
45 → 86th Amendment modified.
51A(k) → 86th Amendment.
243–243O → 73rd.
243P–243ZG → 74th.
239AA → 69th.
239AA + 106th → Women's reservation in Delhi Assembly.
246A → GST power.
269A → Inter-State GST.
279A → GST Council.
338B → NCBC.
342A → SEBC.
366(26C) → SEBC definition.
330 → SC/ST Lok Sabha.
332 → SC/ST State Assemblies.
330A → Women Lok Sabha.
332A → Women State Assemblies.
334 → Duration of older special representation.
334A → Women's reservation implementation.
→ Amendment power.
→ Fundamental Rights amendment controversy.
→ Basic Structure.
→ FR-DPSP balance.
→ Anti-Defection + judicial review.
→ Reservation framework.
→ Cooperative amendment + federal ratification.
→ GST Council recommendations.
→ State SEBC identification.
→ EWS reservation.
Amendment Power → Golaknath → 24th → Kesavananda → 42nd → Minerva Mills.
Article 15(4) → Reservation evolution → NCBC → EWS → State SEBC lists → Women's representation.
States Reorganisation → Delhi NCT → Panchayats/Municipalities → GST → State SEBC lists.
Voting age → Anti-Defection → Local democracy → SC/ST political reservation → Women's legislative reservation.
Land reform → Property rights → Cooperatives → GST.
Amendments demonstrate:
The Constitution's ability to adapt without abandoning its core identity.
Amendment power is:
Broad but limited.
→ Basic Structure.
Amendments have progressively expanded:
Amendments have produced:
Both centralisation and decentralisation.
42nd.
101st.
73rd/74th.
105th.
Examples:
Constitutional evolution balances:
Liberty
with:
Social justice.
Examples:
→ Expansion of State power.
→ Correction.
→ Structural safeguard.
If revision time is limited, prioritise:
Then add:
86th, 91st, 97th, 102nd, 103rd, 104th, 105th and 106th.
1st → Social Justice/Land Reform.
7th → States.
24th → Amendment Power.
25th → 31C.
26th → Privy Purses.
42nd → Mini-Constitution.
44th → Emergency Safeguards.
52nd → Anti-Defection.
61st → Voting Age 18.
69th → Delhi.
73rd → Panchayats.
74th → Municipalities.
86th → Education.
91st → Anti-Defection Strengthening.
97th → Cooperatives.
101st → GST.
102nd → NCBC.
103rd → EWS.
104th → SC/ST Political Reservation.
105th → State SEBC Lists.
106th → Women's Reservation.
Constitutional amendments reflect the dynamic character of the Indian Constitution. They have been used to accommodate territorial reorganisation, strengthen social justice, deepen democracy, reorganise fiscal federalism and respond to changing governance needs, while judicial review has imposed substantive limits through the Basic Structure Doctrine.
Constitutional amendments have enabled:
Adaptability.
But excessive amendment power can threaten:
Constitutional identity and institutional checks.
The trajectory of Indian constitutional amendments demonstrates a continuing balance among constitutional stability, social transformation, democratic inclusion and federal accommodation, with the Basic Structure Doctrine serving as the ultimate safeguard against destruction of the Constitution's core identity.
