Question

The ____ amendment allowed the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to declare emergency in the country.
1. 42^nd
2. 43^rd
3. 44^th
4. 45^th

Answer 1

"Correct Answer - Option 1 : 42^nd

The correct answer is option 1 i.e. 42^nd.

• The 42nd amendment to the Constitution of India, officially called The Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976, was enacted during the Emergency (25 June 1975 – 21 March 1977) by the Indian National Congress government headed by Indira Gandhi.
• Most provisions came into effect on 3rd January, 1977, while others came into effect on 1st February and 1st April 1977 respectively.
• It amended/ introduced various provisions given below:

1. Attempted to reduce the power of the Supreme Court and High Courts.
2. Laid down Fundamental Duties for citizens.
3. The terms, Socialist, Secular, and Integrity were added to the Preamble.

• It was controversially called as ""mini-Constitution"" or the ""Constitution of Indira"".
• Given below is the list of all provisions of the amendment:

Changes in Provisions by 42nd Amendment Act	Details of the Amendment
Preamble	Words ‘Socialist’, ‘Secular’ and ‘Integrity’ added
7th Schedule	Transferred five subjects from the state list to the concurrent list: Education Forests Weights & Measures Protection of Wild Animals and Birds Administration of Justice
Article 51A	10 Fundamental Duties added for the citizens. (The Fundamental Duties of citizens were added upon the recommendations of the Swaran Singh Committee that was constituted by the government in 1976)
Parliament	Made President bound to the advice of the cabinet Allowed Centre to deploy central forces in State to deal with the conflicting situations of law and order (Article 257A) Gave special discriminatory powers to the speaker of Lok Sabha and Prime Minister (Article 329A) Directive Principles were given precedence over Fundamental Rights and any law made to this effect by the Parliament was kept beyond the scope of judicial review by the Court
Judicial Powers of HC	Curtailed the judicial review power of the high courts
Articles 323A and 323B, Part XIV-A	Part XIV-A added entitled as ‘Tribunals dealing with Administrative matters’ and ‘Tribunals for other matters’
DPSPs	Four new DPSPs were added to the existing list of DPSPs: To secure opportunities for the healthy development of children (Article 39) To promote equal justice and to provide free legal aid to the poor (Article 39 A) To take steps to secure the participation of workers in the management of industries (Article 43 A) To protect and improve the environment and to safeguard forests and wildlife (Article 48 A)

 

• In the Minerva Mills v. Union of India, the Supreme Court of India declared it unconstitutional.

• The emergency also resulted in the Congress party losing the 1977 Lok Sabha elections.

• The 43^rd Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially called the Constitution (Forty-third Amendment) Act, 1977, repealed six articles that had been inserted into the Constitution by the 42^nd Amendment which had been enacted by the Indira Gandhi-led Indian National Congress during the Emergency.

• In 2020, India observed the 45^th anniversary of the event.

• In July 2020, the Himachal Pradesh government announced to give pension to people who incarcerated during this period.

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