Can Preamble of Constitution be amended without altering the date? asks SC
On former MP's plea to scrap 'Socialist', 'Secular'
New Delhi, Feb 9: The Supreme Court on Friday questioned whether the Preamble of the Constitution could be amended while keeping the date of adoption, November 26, 1949 intact.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta posed the question to former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy and lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who have sought deletion of the words "Socialist" and "Secular" from the Preamble of the Constitution.
"For the academic purpose, can a Preamble that has the date mentioned, be changed without altering the date of adoption. Otherwise, yes the Preamble can be amended. There is no problem with that," Justice Datta said.
Swamy replied, "That's precisely the question in the matter."
Justice Datta further said, "this is perhaps the only Preamble I have seen which comes with a date. We give this Constitution to us on so and so date originally these two words (Socialist and Secular) were not there."
Jain said that the Preamble of Constitution of India comes with a specific date, therefore it cannot be amended without discussion.
Swamy intervened and said that the 42nd Amendment Act was passed during the Emergency (1975-77).
Justice Khanna at the outset told Swamy that the judges had received the case files early in the morning and due to the paucity in time, they had not gone through them.
The bench said that the matter required detailed discussion and posted the hearing on the two petitions to April 29.
On September 2, 2022, the top court had tagged Swamy's plea with other pending matter -- filed by one Balram Singh and others -- for hearing.
Both Swamy and Singh has sought deletion of words "Socialist" and "Secular" from the Preamble.
The words 'Socialist' and 'Secular' were inserted in 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."
Swamy in his plea has contended that Preamble cannot be altered, varied, or repealed.
He said in his plea that the Preamble not only indicated the essential features of the Constitution but also the fundamental conditions based on which it was adopted to create a unified integrated community.
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2 men dragged for 300 metres by truck in Agra; locals save their lives
Agra, Dec 23: A truck driver dragged two people for about 300 metres in Agra under his vehicle, police on Monday said.
Some locals forced the driver to stop the truck and extricated the men from under the vehicle.
Police arrested the driver and seized the truck.
The two men, both residents of Nunhai in Agra, were going towards Rambagh from Waterworks when they met with an accident around 11 pm Sunday.
The driver, instead of stopping the truck sped up, trapping both of them underneath, police said.
"In the accident, two youths were dragged by a canter driver for about 300 metres. Later, some residents saved the youths by stopping the driver using force," Chhatta Police Station Inspector Pramod Kumar told PTI.
"The youths were sent for treatment at a nearby hospital and are still being treated, but are in stable condition. The youths were from Agra. The canter driver was arrested and the canter seized after the incident," he said.
A video of the incident that surfaced on social media showed the men shouting for help.
The video was purported to have been shot by a person passing by on a two-wheeler.
“पिछली पोस्ट में वीडियो में युवकों को मोटर साइकल सहित ट्रक वाला कई मीटर तक घसीटता हुआ ले जाता गया देखा था,
— Umashankar Singh उमाशंकर सिंह (@umashankarsingh) December 23, 2024
अब जनता द्वारा उस ट्रक ड्राइवर की ठुकाई पिटाई का समारोह देखिए।”#Agra@madanjournalist
pic.twitter.com/Qh5ncyWtEa
HORRIFYING!
— Sanjay Kishore (@saintkishore) December 23, 2024
In Agra, a truck driver dragged two men for 300 meters. Locals intervened, stopping the truck and saving the men. Both are stable but continue receiving treatment. The driver has been arrested and the truck seized.
pic.twitter.com/1ply5wemfX
