SC upholds secularism as part of basic structure of Constitution

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said secularism had always been held to be part and parcel of the basic structure of the Indian Constitution.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar passed 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 words “socialist” and “secular” in the Preamble of 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 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 of 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”. During the hearing, Jain submitted that Dr B R Ambedkar had opined that the inclusion of the word “socialism” would curtail personal liberty.

He added that preamble cannot be amended through amendments. Justice Khanna said there were different meanings of socialism and one “should not take the meaning adopted in Western countries”. “Socialism can also mean that there should be equality of opportunity and the wealth of the country should be distributed equally,” the bench said.