The Constitution of India: Amendments 1-25
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INDIA 2012
A REFERENCE ANNUAL
Compiled by
RESEARCH, REFERENCE AND TRAINING DIVISION
PUBLICATIONS DIVISION
MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
Amendments to the Constitution of India
<a name="_Toc364563625"></a><a name="_Toc364563586"></a><a
name="_Toc364563416">The 1st to 5th Amendments:
1950-1955</a>
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<a name="_Toc364563626">1. The
Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1950—</a>
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This amendment provided for several
new grounds of restrictions to the right to freedom of speech and expression
and the right to practise any profession or to carry
on any trade or business as contained in Article 19 of the Constitution.
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These restrictions related to
public order, friendly relations with foreign States or incitement to an
offence in relation to the right to freedom of speech, and to the prescribing
of professional or technical qualifications or the carrying on by the State,
etc., of any trade, business, industry or service in relation to the right to
carry on any trade or business.
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The amendment also inserted two new
Articles, 31A and 31B and the Ninth Schedule to give protection from challenge
to land reform laws.
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<a name="_Toc364563627">2. The
Constitution (Second Amendment) Act, 1952—</a>
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By this amendment, the scale or
representation for election to the Lok Sabha was readjusted.
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<a name="_Toc364563628">3. The
Constitution (Third Amendment) Act, 1954—</a>
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This amendment substituted entry 33
of List III (Concurrent List) of the Seventh Schedule to make it correspond to
Article 369.
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<a name="_Toc364563629">4. The
Constitution (Fourth Amendment) Act, 1955—</a>
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Article 31 (2) of the Constitution
was amended to re-state more precisely the State’s power of compulsory
acquisition and requisitioning of private property and distinguish it from
cases where the operation of regulatory or prohibitory laws of the States
results in “deprivation of property”.
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Article 31A of the Constitution was
also amended to extend its scope to cover categories of essential welfare
legislation like abolition of zamindaris, proper
planning of urban and rural areas and for effecting a full control over the
mineral and oil resources of the country, etc.
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Six Acts were also included in the
Ninth Schedule. Article 305 was also amended to save certain laws providing of
State Monopolies.
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<a name="_Toc364563630">5. The
Constitution (Fifth Amendment) Act, 1955—</a>
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This amendment made a change in
Article 3 so as to empower President to specify a time limit for state
legislatures to convey their views on the proposed Central laws affecting areas,
boundaries, etc., of their states.
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<a name="_Toc364563631"></a><a name="_Toc364563587"></a><a
name="_Toc364563417">The 6th to 10th Amendments:
1956-1961</a>
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<a name="_Toc364563632">6. The
Constitution (Sixth Amendment) Act, 1956—</a>
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This amendment made some changes in
Articles 269 and 286 relating to taxes on sale and purchase of goods in the
course of inter-state trade and commerce.
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A new entry 92 A was added to the
Union List of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution.
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<a name="_Toc364563633">7. The
Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956—</a>
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This amendment purported to give
effect to the recommendations of the State Reorganisation
Commission and the necessary consequential changes.
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Broadly, the then existing states
and territories were changed to have two-fold classification of states and
union territories. The amendment also provided for composition of the House of
the People, readjustment after every census, provisions regarding the
establishment of new High Courts, High Court Judges, etc.
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<a name="_Toc364563634">8. The
Constitution (Eighth Amendment) Act, 1960—</a>
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Article 334 was amended with a view
to extending the period of reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes and to the Anglo-Indian community by nomination in Parliament
and in the State Legislatures for a further period of ten years.
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<a name="_Toc364563635">9. The
Constitution (Ninth Amendment) Act, 1960—</a>
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The purpose of this amendment is to
give effect to the transfer of certain territories to Pakistan in pursuance of
the agreement entered into between Governments of India and Pakistan. This
amendment was necessitated in view of the Judgement
of Supreme Court in In Re Berubari Union by which it
was held that any agreement to cede a territory to another country could not be
implemented by a law made under Article 3 but would only be implemented by an
amendment of the Constitution.
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<a name="_Toc364563636">10. The
Constitution (Tenth Amendment) Act, 1961—</a>
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This Act amended Article 240 and
the First Schedule in order to include areas of Dadra and Nagar Haveli as a
Union Territory and to provide for its administration under the regulation
making powers of President.
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<a name="_Toc364563637"></a><a name="_Toc364563588"></a><a
name="_Toc364563418">The 11th to 15th
Amendments: 1961-1963</a>
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<a name="_Toc364563638">11. The
Constitution (Eleventh Amendment) Act, 1961—</a>
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The purpose of this amendment was
to amend Articles 66 and 71 of the Constitution to provide that the election of
President or Vice President could not be challenged on the ground of any
vacancy in the appropriate electoral college.
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<a name="_Toc364563639">12. The
Constitution (Twelfth Amendment) Act, 1962—</a>
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This amendment sought to include
Goa, Daman and Diu as a Union Territory and to amend Article 240 for the
purpose.
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<a name="_Toc364563640">13. The
Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act, 1962—</a>
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By this amendment, a new Article
371A was added to make special provisions with respect to state of Nagaland in
pursuance of an agreement between Government of India and Naga People’s
Convention.
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<a name="_Toc364563641">14. The
Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment) Act, 1962—</a>
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By this Act, Pondicherry was
included in the First Schedule as a Union Territory, and this Act has also
enabled the creation of Legislature by Parliamentary law for Himachal Pradesh,
Manipur, Tripura, Goa, Daman and Diu and Pondicherry.
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<a name="_Toc364563642">15. The Constitution
(Fifteenth Amendment) Act, 1963—</a>
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This amendment provided for
increase in the age of retirement of High Court Judges and for the provision of
compensatory allowance to judges who are transferred from one High Court to
another. The Act also provided for appointment of retired judges to act as
judges of High Court.
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Article 226 was also enlarged to
empower High Court to issue direction, orders or writs to any Government
authority, etc., if the cause of action for the exercise of such power arose in
the territories wherein the High Court exercise jurisdiction notwithstanding
that seat of such Government authority is not within those territories. The Act
also provided for the exercise of powers of Chairman of the Service
Commissions, in their absence, by one of their Members.
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<a name="_Toc364563643"></a><a name="_Toc364563589"></a><a
name="_Toc364563419">The 16th to 20th
Amendments: 1963-66</a>
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<a name="_Toc364563644">16. The
Constitution (Sixteenth Amendment) Act, 1963—</a>
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Article 19 was amended by this Act
to impose further restriction on the rights to freedom of speech and
expression, to assemble peaceably and without arms and to form associations in
the interests of sovereignty and integrity of India. The oath of affirmation to
be subscribed by candidates seeking election to Parliament and State
Legislatures have been amended to include as one of the conditions that they
will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India. The amendments are intended
to promote national integration.
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<a name="_Toc364563645">17. The
Constitution (Seventeenth Amendment) Act, 1964—</a>
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Article 31A was further amended to
prohibit the acquisition of land under personal cultivation unless the market
value of the land is paid as compensation and the definition of “estate” as
contained in that Article had also been enlarged with retrospective effect.
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The Ninth Schedule had also been
amended to include 44 more Acts.
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<a name="_Toc364563646">18. The
Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act, 1966—</a>
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Article 3 was amended by this Act
to specify that the expression “State” will include a union territory also and
to make it clear that the power to form a new state under this Article includes
a power to form a new state or union territory by uniting a part of a state or
a union territory to another state or union territory.
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<a name="_Toc364563647">19. The
Constitution (Nineteenth Amendment) Act, 1966—</a>
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Article 324 was amended to effect a
consequential change as a result of the decision to abolish Election Tribunals
and to hear election petitions by High Courts.
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<a name="_Toc364563648">20. The Constitution (Twentieth Amendment) Act, 1966—</a>
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This amendment was necessitated by
the decision of the Supreme Courts in Chandramohan vs.
State of Uttar Pradesh in which certain appointments of District Judges in
State of Uttar Pradesh were declared void by Supreme Court. A new Article 233A
was added and the appointments made by Governor were validated.
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<a name="_Toc364563649"></a><a name="_Toc364563590"></a><a name="_Toc364563420">The
21st to 25th Amendments: 1967-1971</a>
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<a name="_Toc364563650">21. The
Constitution (Twenty-first Amendment) Act, 1967—</a>
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By this amendment, Sindhi Language
was included in the Eighth Schedule.
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<a name="_Toc364563651">22. The
Constitution (Twenty-second Amendment) Act, 1969—</a>
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This act was enacted to facilitate
the formation of a new autonomous state of Meghalaya within state of Assam.
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<a name="_Toc364563652">23. The
Constitution (Twenty-third Amendment) Act, 1969—</a>
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Article 334 was amended so as to
extend the safeguards in respect of reservation of seats in Parliament and
State Legislatures for Schedules Castes and Scheduled Tribes as well as for
Anglo-Indians for a further period of ten years.
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<a name="_Toc364563653">24. The
Constitution (Twenty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1971—</a>
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This amendment was passed in the
context of a situation that emerged with the verdict in Golaknath’s
case by Supreme Court. Accordingly, this Act amended Article 13 and Article 368
to remove all doubts regarding the power of Parliament to amend the
Constitution including the Fundamental Rights.
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<a name="_Toc364563654">25. The
Constitution (Twenty-fifth Amendment) Act, 1971—</a>
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This amendment further amended Article 31 in the wake of the Bank Nationalisation case. The word ‘amount’ was substituted in place of ‘compensation’ in the light of the judicial interpretation of the word ‘compensation’ meaning ‘adequate compensation’.