Introduction
N.A.
Palkhiwala describes the preamble of our Constitution as an identity card of Constitution.
According
to K.M. Munshi, “the Preamble has been called the political horoscope of
Indian Constitution.”
Preamble,
which basically sets out the goals, the principles and the ideals for which our
country stands; is also known as summary, essence, preface or soul of the
constitution. The preamble of our Constitution is based on objective resolution;
drafted and moved by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru on 13th December, 1946 and passed by
the constituent assembly. It is termed as introductory part, which contains the
philosophy of the basic structure of our constitution. The preamble is
non-justiciable in the court of law.
Goals and objective of Preamble to
the Constitution of India
The
preamble of Indian constitution outlines the aims and objectives of the state,
which basically are: Justice, liberty, Equality, Fraternity and to maintain
unity and Integrity of the country.
Justice
In simple
words, justice means: behave fairly; as situation demands. The term justice
remains uncompleted without its three elements, which are: social, political
and economic justice.
I.
Social
Justice: Social justice means: Provide equal and fair opportunities to develop
the different sections of the society, without any discrimination. The
constitution aims to build the society where no one can be exploited on any
grounds like: caste, creed, color, race, sex and religion. It advocates for a
welfare state.
II.
Political
Justice: political justice means: equal and fair opportunities to participate
in political affairs and activities of the country. It advocates for all
political rights without any discrimination. Political rights includes: right
to vote, right to fight elections, right to form any party or organization,
right to hold any government office etc.
III.
Economic
Justice: Economic Justice means no discrimination can be done by the people on
the basis of their wealth, income, and economic status. It stands for
distribution of wealth and resources of country, in a proportional manner, so
that all the citizens have at least equal opportunity to earn their livelihood
and can develop themselves further.
LIBERTY
The word
liberty is derived from a Latin word “LIBER” which means: free or freedom.
Liberty does not denote absolute freedom, but it brings freedom with certain
restrictions. Liberty is not a license to do anything, but liberty is power to
do what is allowed by law. The preamble of the Constitution of India guarantees
liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship: which all are
essential to the development of every individual and at the same time, nation
also.
Also read: Describe special features of the Indian Constitution.
EQUALITY
Equality
means: to treat equals equally and unequal’s unequally.
According
to Laski, “equality does not mean the identity of treatment or sameness of
rewards. But implies:
I.
Absence of any special privilege and
II.
The adequate opportunities are laid open to all.
Our
preamble talks about equality of status and equality of opportunity:
Equality of
status is secured to the people of India by abolishing all distinctions,
titles, untouchability, Discriminations by the state among citizens on the grounds
of race, caste, sex and religion.
The
equality of opportunity suggests that there should be no discrimination on
matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the state.
FRATERNITY
The word
Fraternity suggests that a feeling of being children of same soil, of a same
motherland or feeling of brotherhood among all. While keeping our historical
background in mind, where many sections of our society has suffered a lot, the
concept of ‘Fraternity’ has great importance.
DIGNITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL
The word
dignity suggests that the personality of each individual should be recognized
and should be respected. Without doing so, we cannot even think to attain
democracy as way of our life. Dignity of individual in a nation is the dignity
of the nation itself.
As well
said by Dr. Ambedkar that:
"The principles of liberty, equality and fraternity are not to be treated
as separate items in a trinity. They form a union of trinity in the sense that
to divorce one from the other is to defeat the very purpose of democracy.
Liberty cannot be divorced from equality, equality cannot be divorced from
liberty, nor can liberty and equality be divorced from fraternity. Without
equality, liberty would produce the supremacy of the few over the many.
Equality without liberty, would kill individual initiative".
Whether preamble can be amended
The
milestone case of Indian polity, Keshvananda Bharti vs. State of Kerala, deals
with this issue. When the question of amendabilty to preamble of the constitution
arose in front of The Supreme Court, the honorable court decided that:
I.
The preamble is a part of the constitution, even it is better to say that it is
introductory part of constitution,
II.
It can be amended under Article 368,
III.
But it is subjected to certain restrictions, because the preamble contains the
basic structure of our constitution, and if the basic structure is amended,
then it will not be able to maintain the original identity.
The second
case was The Rajnarayan Vs. Indira Nehru Gandhi: The same question also arose
in this case. The parliament amended the preamble for the first time by the
42nd Constitutional Amendment Act. The legality of this amendment was
challenged. But the Supreme Court, while upholding its previous decision,
declared it valid.
D.G.
Palekar held that the Preamble is a part of the Constitution and, therefore, is
amendable under Article 368 of constitution.
Conclusion
In the
light of above discussed points, we can conclude that:
I.
Our
preamble contains noble features which aims to betterment of our country as
whole.
II.
It
aims to provide equality, liberty and justice even to the last man of the
society.
III.
As
preamble is declared the part of our Constitution, so it can also be amended,
by following the prescribed procedure.
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