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.
Govt says digital payments also uplift under-served communities by providing them financial footprint that can be used to assess credit worthiness in absence of traditional documents.
As Narendra Modi becomes India’s second-longest consecutively serving Prime Minister, we look at how he compares with Indira Gandhi across four key dimensions.
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