Secularism always held to be part of Constitution's basic structure: Supreme Court
PTI
The Supreme Court on Monday said secularism has always been held to be part and parcel of the basic structure of the Indian Constitution, and the terms "socialist" and "secular" need not be considered like a western concept.
The words "socialist" and "secular" were inserted into the Preamble to the Constitution under the 42nd constitutional amendment moved by the Indira Gandhi government in 1976.
The amendment changed the description of India in the Preamble from a "sovereign, democratic republic" to a "sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic". A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar made the remark while hearing a batch of petitions filed by former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain and others, who have challenged the inclusion of the words "socialist" and "secular" in the Preamble to the Constitution.
"This court has, in a number of judgments, held that secularism was always part of the basic structure of the Constitution. If one looks at the right to equality and the word 'fraternity' used in the Constitution, there is a clear indication that secularism has been held as the core feature of the Constitution," the bench said.
The words "socialist" and "secular" were inserted into the Preamble to the Constitution under the 42nd constitutional amendment moved by the Indira Gandhi government in 1976.
The amendment changed the description of India in the Preamble from a "sovereign, democratic republic" to a "sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic". A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar made the remark while hearing a batch of petitions filed by former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain and others, who have challenged the inclusion of the words "socialist" and "secular" in the Preamble to the Constitution.
"This court has, in a number of judgments, held that secularism was always part of the basic structure of the Constitution. If one looks at the right to equality and the word 'fraternity' used in the Constitution, there is a clear indication that secularism has been held as the core feature of the Constitution," the bench said.