What is Preamble?

On the 66th Republic Day, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry issued a advertisement on which row erupted. The preamble to the constitution carried the picture which appeared in the 42nd Amendment but without two basic words and term which India proud on, Secular and Socialist.

BJP and Shiv Sena leaders made vociferous demands that the two words be removed from the preamble of the Constitution as the original Preamble written by the Dr B R Ambedkar team did not contain them. There followed a huge outcry against changing the very fundamental character of the Constitution with the saffron brigade upping the ante. All the secular parties are yet to come on a common platform to strongly denounce the move to delete the two hallowed terms.

The term ‘Preamble’ refers to the introduction of preface to the Constitution. It embodies the source of the Constitution i.e., the people of India. The terms sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic, republic in the Preamble suggests the nature of the state. The ideals of justice, liberty, equality, fraternity reflect the objectives of the Constitution. It also contains November 26, 1949 as the date of adoption of the Indian Constitution.

A Gandhian ideal is aimed to be secured by the incorporation of the word ‘Socialist’ in the Preamble by the 42nd Amendment in August 1976 during the Emergency time when there was no democracy in the country. The same amendment inserted the word ‘Secular’ to reflect the secular nature of Indian society.

The word ‘Republic’ in the Preamble indicates that India has an elected head, though indirectly elected, the Indian President is the choice of the people of India. These values are further strengthened by the word ‘Democratic’ in the Preamble. In April 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution had a basic structure that could not be violated or modified under any circumstance. That means Fundamental Rights and Preamble cannot be modified. Further, in SR Bommai Case in 1994, the Supreme Court reiterated that Preamble Indicates basic structure of the Constitution.