The Constitution of India has a unique provision to
make the Constitution relevant to changing conditions and needs but without
changing the basic structure. Article 368 deals with the amendment of the
Constitution. As per this article, the Parliament has the supreme power to
initiate the amendment process. The procedures for amendment of the
constitution are as follows:
1. Parliament may amend the constitution through by
way of addition, variation or repeal any provision of this Constitution in
accordance with the procedure laid down in this article.
2. An amendment of this Constitution may be
initiated through the introduction of a Bill in either House of Parliament, and
when the Bill is passed in each House by a majority of the total membership of
that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that
House present and voting, it shall be presented to the President who shall give
his assent to the Bill.
3. The bill must be passed in each house by a
special majority, that is, majority by more than 50 percent of the total
membership of the house and a majority of two-thirds of the members of the
house present and voting. Each house must pass the bill separately. In case of
a disagreement between the two houses, on issues concerning amendment there is
no provision for holding a joint -sitting of the two houses. If the bill seeks
to amend the federal provisions of the constitution, it must also be ratified
by the legislatures of half of the states by a simple majority, that is, a
majority of the members present and voting in such legislatures.
4. After duly passed by both the houses of
parliament and ratified by the state legislatures wherever necessary, the bill
is forwarded to the President for assent. The President must give his assent to
the bill. He can neither withhold his assent to the bill nor return the bill
for reconsideration of the Parliament. After President’s assent, the bill
becomes an Act (i.e., A Constitutional Amendment Act) and the constitution
stands amended in accordance with the terms of the Act.
The constitution can be amended in three ways:
1. Simple majority of the parliament,
2. Special majority of the parliament, and
3. Special majority of the parliament and the
ratification of half of the state legislatures.
According to Article 368 a number of provisions in
the constitution can be amended by a simple majority of the two houses of
parliament. These provisions include
o Admission or
establishment of new states, formation of new
States and alteration of areas, boundaries, or names of existing states.
o Abolition or creation of
legislative councils in states.
o Second schedule -
emoluments, allowances, privileges
and so on of the President, the Governors, the Speakers, judges, etc.
o Quorum in parliament.
o Salaries and allowances
of the members of parliament.
o Rules of procedure in
parliament.
o Privileges of the
parliament, its members and its members
and its Committees.
o Use of English language
in parliament.
o Number of judges in the
Supreme Court.
o Conformant more
jurisdiction on the Supreme Court.
o Use of official
languages.
o Citizenship – acquisition and termination.
o Elections to parliament
and state legislatures.
o Delimitation of
constituencies.
o Union territories.
o Fifth schedule – administration
of schedule areas and scheduledtribes
o Sixth schedule – administration
of tribal areas.
The majority of the provisions in the constitution
need to be amended by a special majority of the parliament, that is, a majority
(i.e., more than 50 per cent) of the total membership of each house and a
majority of two-thirds of the members of each house present and voting. The
expression total membership of the house is irrespective of fact whether there
are vacancies or absentees. The special majority is required only for voting at
the third reading stage of the bill. The constitution’s clauses which can be
amended in this way include:
(i) fundamental rights (ii) directive principles of
state policy: and (iii) all other provisions which are not covered by the first
and third categories.
The basic structures of the constitution which are
related to the federal structure of the polity can be amended by a special
majority of the parliament and also with the consent of half of the state
legislatures by a simple majority. There is no time limit within which the
states should give their consent to the bill. The following provisions can be
amended in this way:
o Election of the
President and its manner.
o Extent of the executive
power of the union and the states.
o Supreme Court and high
courts.
o Distribution of
legislative powers between the union and
the states.
o Any of the list in the seventh
schedule.
o Representation of states in
parliament.
o Power of parliament to amend the
constitution and its procedure (Article 368).
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