No plan to remove ‘secular’, ‘socialist’ from Preamble: Centre

The Union government has no plans or intention to remove the words “secular” and “socialist” from the Preamble to the Constitution, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal told Parliament on Thursday.

Meghwal acknowledged that “certain groups” were seeking the removal of the two words from the Preamble.

“Any discussions regarding amendments to the Preamble would require thorough deliberation and broad consensus, but as of now, the government has not initiated any formal process to change these provisions,” Meghwal told Rajya Sabha.

The words “socialist” and “secular” were not part of the Constitution adopted in 1950 and were added in 1976 through the 42nd constitutional amendment.

In November, the Supreme Court dismissed petitions filed by Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Subramanian Swamy and Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, in addition to a separate plea by a man named Balram Singh, challenging the 1976 amendment.

Citing this ruling, the Union law minister said: “The court clarified that ‘socialism’ in the Indian context signifies a welfare state and does not impede private sector growth, while ‘secularism’ is integral to the Constitution’s basic structure.”

The court had said in its order that there was no legitimate justification for challenging the constitutional amendment several decades later.

The minister’s response to Samajwadi Party MP Ramji Lal Suman’s questions in the Rajya Sabha came about a month after a political row...

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