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The Supreme Court on Monday said that secularism has always been held to be a part of the basic structure of the Constitution while hearing petitions seeking to delete the words 'secular' and 'socialist' from the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar orally observed that 'secular' and 'socialist' in the Preamble need not be looked at through the Western lens. "Socialism can also mean that there should be equality of opportunity and wealth of country should be distributed equally. Let's not take the Western meaning. It can have some different meanings as well. Same with the word secularism," the bench said. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, who is one of the petitioners, said that the two words inserted in the Preamble in 1976 cannot bear the date of the original Preamble which was framed in 1949. The bench then posted the matter for hearing in the third week of November. The apex court was hearing petitions filed by Swamy, lawyers Balram Singh, Karunesh Kumar Shukla and Ashwini Upadhyay. Swamy in his petition had said that the two words, inserted in the Preamble through the 42nd Constitution Amendment Act of 1976 during the Emergency, violated the basic structure doctrine enunciated in the famous Kesavananda Bharati judgment by 13-judge bench in 1973, by which Parliament's power to amend the Constitution was barred from tinkering with the basic features of the Constitution. The framers of the Constitution had specifically rejected the inclusion of these two words in the Constitution and alleged that these two words were thrust upon the citizens even when the framers never had intended to introduce socialist and secular concepts in democratic governance, Swamy had contended. It was contended that such insertion was beyond the amending power of the Parliament under Article 368. It was further stated that Dr BR Ambedkar had rejected the incorporation of these words as the Constitution cannot thrust upon the citizens certain political ideologies by taking away their right to choose. Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament and the Communist Party of India leader Binoy Viswam had also approached the Supreme Court opposing Swamy's plea saying that 'secularism and socialism' are inherent and basic features of the Constitution. (ANI)
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