Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said any move to amend the Preamble needs broad consensus & thorough deliberation, adding that the government has not started any formal process so far.
In effect, the call for the removal of ‘Secular’ and ‘Socialist’ from the Preamble is against the constitutional mandate. Any attempt in that direction would lead to constitutional erosion.
In 1976, the 42nd Amendment to the Constitution not only added two words but also introduced changes in 40 Articles & the Seventh Schedule while adding 14 new Articles.
The verdict on the preamble amendments of 1976 suggests that the courts will accept flexible meanings of terms. A Constitution built of plasticine can be made to mean anything.
Speaking at an event earlier this month, Justice Pankaj Mithal had said additions of 'socialist' and 'secular' in Preamble of the Constitution narrowed 'vastness of its spiritual image'.
The Department of Justice, which falls under the Law ministry, has set up a booth at the New Delhi World Book Fair where it is awarding certificates to those who read the Preamble.
If this step even partially achieves its desired results, there will be so much dislocation in the country’s economic structure as to prove a national calamity, advocate AG Mulgaokar wrote in 1969.
Recommendations appear in Niti Aayog’s Tax Policy Working Paper Series–II. It says there is a need to shift away from fear-based enforcement to trust-based governance.
In service with the British military since 2019, it is also known as the Martlet missile. Ukrainians have also deployed these missiles against Russian troops.
Education, reservations, govt jobs are meant to bring equality and dignity. That we are a long way from that is evident in the shoe thrown at the CJI and the suicide of Haryana IPS officer. The film Homebound has a lesson too.
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