Secularism Held To Be Always Part Of Constitution, Says Supreme Court While Hearing Plea Against Amendment To Preamble

Secularism has always been held to be a part of the basic structure of the Constitution, orally said the Supreme Court, while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the inclusion of the words "socialist" and "secular" in the Preamble to the Constitution as per the 42nd Amendment.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar was hearing the matter.

"There are a number of judgments of this court which hold that Secularism was always part of the basic structure of the Constitution. If one looks right to equality and word fraternity used in constitution as well as the rights under Part III, there is a clear indication that secular has been held as the core feature of the Constitution," Justice Khanna orally said. The judge added that, unlike the French model of secularism, India adopted a new model of secularism.

The bench was hearing the petitions filed by Balram Singh, senior BJP leader Dr. Subramanian Swamy and Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay challenging the amendment to the Preamble.

During the hearing, Justice Khanna asked the petitioners, "You don't want the India to be secular?" "We are not saying that India is not secular. We are challenging this amendment," Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain for the petitioner Balram Singh replied. Jain further submitted that Dr. Ambedkar had opined that the inclusion of the word "socialism" would curtail personal liberty.

In response, Justice Khanna said,  "Socialism can also mean that there should be equality of opportunity and wealth of country should be distributed equally...let's not take the Western meaning." 

Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, on the other hand, asserted that India has been secular since time immemorial.

Dr. Swamy submitted that the Preamble was a declaration made as on November 26, 1949, and therefore, to add further words to it through a subsequent amendment was arbitrary. He said that it was wrong to depict that as per the present Preamble, the Indian people agreed on November 26, 1949, to make India a socialist and secular republic.

In response, Justice Khanna said that the words added by the amendment were separately marked by brackets and hence it was clear to everyone that they were added by the 1976 amendment. The judge further pointed out that words like "unity" and "integrity" of the nation were also added by the amendment.

Subsequently, Upadhyay argued that if such an amendment is approved, it can mean that in future, the Preamble can be amended to remove words like democratic.

Ultimately, the matter was listed for hearing in the week commencing on 18th November.

Cases : Balram Singh v. Union of India, W.P.(C) No. 645/2020, Dr. Subramanian Swamy v. Union of India, W.P.(C) No. 1467/2020 and Ashwini Upadhyaya v. Union of India, MA 835/2024

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