Case Laws and Reports Leading to Constitutional Amendments in India
Constitutional amendments in India may respond to judicial decisions, administrative experience, public policy concerns, committee recommendations or reports of expert bodies. This article lists important Supreme Court decisions and reports commonly connected with particular amendments and explains the constitutional provision or issue involved.
Important cases and reports associated with amendments
| Case law or report | Constitutional amendment | Year | Issue or effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saghir Ahmad v. State of Uttar Pradesh, AIR 1954 SC 728 | 4th Amendment | 1955 | Associated with the constitutional treatment of State monopolies and restrictions on the freedom to carry on trade or business, including changes concerning Article 19. |
| State of Bombay v. United Motors (India) Ltd., AIR 1953 SC 252 | 6th Amendment | 1956 | Part of the constitutional and judicial background concerning taxation of inter-State sales and Parliament's power over inter-State trade taxation. |
| Bengal Immunity Co. Ltd. v. State of Bihar, AIR 1955 SC 661 | 6th Amendment | 1956 | Concerned State taxation of inter-State sales and the interpretation of Article 286 before the Sixth Amendment restructured the relevant constitutional framework. |
| I.C. Golak Nath v. State of Punjab, AIR 1967 SC 1643 | 24th Amendment | 1971 | The amendment expressly affirmed Parliament's constituent power to amend the Constitution and addressed the relationship between Article 13 and Article 368. |
| R.C. Cooper v. Union of India, (1970) 3 SCR 530; AIR 1970 SC 564 | 25th Amendment | 1971 | Formed part of the background to changes concerning property rights, compensation and Article 31C as originally introduced. |
| Misrilal Jain v. State of Orissa, AIR 1977 SC 1686 | 43rd Amendment | 1977 | Historically listed in connection with the post-Emergency restoration of constitutional judicial powers. The Forty-third Amendment repealed or altered several provisions inserted by the Forty-second Amendment. |
| State of Madras v. Gannon Dunkerley and Co. (Madras) Ltd., AIR 1958 SC 560 | 46th Amendment | 1982 | The Supreme Court's interpretation of "sale of goods" in works contracts was expressly discussed in the Statement of Objects and Reasons. Article 366(29A) was inserted to enlarge the constitutional concept of tax on the sale or purchase of goods for specified transactions. |
| State of Himachal Pradesh v. Associated Hotels of India Ltd., AIR 1972 SC 1131 | 46th Amendment | 1982 | One of the decisions in the line of cases concerning composite transactions and sales-tax liability that formed the background to Article 366(29A). |
| New India Sugar Mills Ltd. v. Commissioner of Sales Tax, Bihar, AIR 1963 SC 1207 | 46th Amendment | 1982 | Associated with the judicial meaning of a taxable sale and the broader constitutional response to transactions that did not fit the traditional sale concept. |
| Oil and Natural Gas Commission v. State of Bihar, AIR 1976 SC 2478 | 46th Amendment | 1982 | Part of the pre-amendment sales-tax jurisprudence concerning transactions later addressed through the expanded definition in Article 366(29A). |
| Vishnu Agencies (P) Ltd. v. Commercial Tax Officer, AIR 1978 SC 449 | 46th Amendment | 1982 | Concerned the concept of sale in controlled transactions and formed part of the jurisprudential background to the Forty-sixth Amendment. |
| Northern India Caterers (India) Ltd. v. Lt. Governor of Delhi, AIR 1978 SC 1591 | 46th Amendment | 1982 | Concerned supply of food in restaurants and the sale/service distinction. Article 366(29A) later expressly covered supply of food or drink as a deemed sale for the constitutional tax framework then in force. |
| Prabhakaran Nair v. State of Tamil Nadu, (1987) 4 SCC 238 | 75th Amendment | 1993 | The Statement of Objects and Reasons referred to the Supreme Court's observations on rent litigation. The amendment added rent, its regulation and control, and tenancy issues to Article 323B(2), enabling legislation for tribunals on those matters. |
| Indra Sawhney v. Union of India, 1992 Supp (3) SCC 217 | 76th Amendment | 1994 | The judgment stated the general 50 percent ceiling for reservations under Article 16(4), subject to the judgment's qualifications. The Tamil Nadu reservation law providing 69 percent reservation was subsequently placed in the Ninth Schedule by the Seventy-sixth Amendment. |
| Indra Sawhney v. Union of India, 1992 Supp (3) SCC 217 | 81st Amendment | 2000 | The amendment inserted Article 16(4B), permitting certain unfilled reserved vacancies carried forward to succeeding years to be treated as a separate class for applying the 50 percent ceiling to vacancies of the year. |
| S. Vinod Kumar v. Union of India, (1996) 6 SCC 580 | 82nd Amendment | 2000 | The amendment inserted a proviso to Article 335 permitting provisions for relaxation in qualifying marks or lowering standards of evaluation for SC and ST candidates in matters of reservation in promotion. |
| Indra Sawhney v. Union of India, 1992 Supp (3) SCC 217 | 82nd Amendment | 2000 | The nine-judge decision was also part of the constitutional background concerning reservation in promotion and standards under Articles 16 and 335. |
| Union of India v. Virpal Singh Chauhan, (1995) 6 SCC 684 | 85th Amendment | 2001 | Part of the reservation-in-promotion jurisprudence concerning seniority. The Eighty-fifth Amendment modified Article 16(4A) to provide for consequential seniority in specified promotion reservations for SCs and STs. |
| Ajit Singh Januja v. State of Punjab, (1996) 2 SCC 715 | 85th Amendment | 2001 | Also associated with the seniority consequences of reservation in promotion and the constitutional response through Article 16(4A). |
| Committee on Electoral Reforms (Dinesh Goswami Committee), 1990 | 91st Amendment | 2003 | One of the reform exercises associated with anti-defection and electoral reform. The Ninety-first Amendment strengthened the anti-defection framework and limited the size of Councils of Ministers. |
| Law Commission of India, 170th Report, Reform of the Electoral Laws, 1999 | 91st Amendment | 2003 | The report examined electoral reforms, including issues connected with defections and stability of governments. |
| National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC), 2002 | 91st Amendment | 2003 | The Commission's review included recommendations relevant to the anti-defection system, ministerial size and constitutional governance. |
What does "leading to an amendment" mean?
A constitutional amendment is enacted by Parliament under Article 368, subject to the constitutional requirements applicable to the particular amendment. A court judgment does not itself amend the Constitution. Rather, a judicial interpretation may identify the existing constitutional position, after which Parliament may choose to alter the text within the limits imposed by the Constitution, including the basic structure doctrine.
Key constitutional provisions referred to in this subject
Article 368 - Power and procedure for constitutional amendment
Article 368 contains the principal procedure for amendment of the Constitution. Certain amendments require passage in each House of Parliament by the prescribed special majority, while amendments affecting specified federal provisions also require ratification by at least one-half of the State Legislatures.
Article 366(29A) - Deemed sales
Inserted by the Forty-sixth Amendment, Article 366(29A) expanded the constitutional meaning of "tax on the sale or purchase of goods" to include specified transactions such as transfer of property in goods involved in works contracts and supply of food or drink in specified circumstances. This provision belongs to the pre-GST constitutional history of sales taxation and remains part of the constitutional text.
Article 16(4A), Article 16(4B) and Article 335
These provisions form part of the constitutional framework concerning reservation in public employment. Article 16(4A) concerns reservation in promotion for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the circumstances stated in the provision; Article 16(4B) addresses certain carried-forward reserved vacancies; and the proviso to Article 335 permits specified relaxation in qualifying marks or standards of evaluation for reservation in promotion.
Article 323B - Tribunals for specified matters
Article 323B authorizes the appropriate Legislature to provide by law for adjudication or trial by tribunals in specified fields. The Seventy-fifth Amendment added rent, its regulation and control, and tenancy issues to the matters listed in Article 323B(2).