Is the preamble an integral part of the constitution?
The preamble in the Constitution of India was inspired by the American Constitution. The preamble to the Constitution of India is based on the principle of the objective resolution, formulated by Pandit Nehru on 13th December 1946 and acquired 22nd January 1947 by the Constituent Assembly. The Supreme Court of India declared much judgements on whether Preamble is a part of the constituion or not.
Berubari Case
It was used as a reference under Article 143(1) of the Constitution which was on the implementation of the Indo-Pakistan Agreement related to the Berubari Union and in exchanging the enclaves which were decided for consideration by the bench consisting of eight judges.
Kesavananda Bharati Case
In this case, for the first time, a bench of 13 judges was assembled to hear a writ petition. The Court held that:
Amendment of the Preamble
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42nd Amendment Act, 1976: After the judgment of the Kesavanand Bharati case, it was accepted that the preamble is part of the Constitution.
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As a part of the Constitution, preamble can be amended under Article 368 of the Constitution, but the basic structure of the preamble can not be amended.
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As of now, the preamble is only amended once through the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976.
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The term ‘Socialist’, ‘Secular’, and ‘Integrity’ were added to the preamble through 42nd Amendment Act, 1976.
In the LIC of India case, the Supreme Court continued with its judgment on declaring preamble as part of the Constitution. Hence it can be said that, the preamble of the Constitution is a beautiful preface to the document as it contains all the basic information like the objective and philosophy of the Constitution.
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