By which Amendment Act were the words ‘socialist’, ‘secular’, and ‘integrity’ added to the Preamble of the Indian Constitution?

Question

By which Amendment Act were the words ‘socialist’, ‘secular’, and ‘integrity’ added to the Preamble of the Indian Constitution?

1. A. 42nd Amendment Act (Correct answer)
2. B. 52nd Amendment Act
3. C. 32nd Amendment Act
4. D. 62nd Amendment Act

Correct Answer

Option A — 42nd Amendment Act

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is 42nd Amendment Act.

Key Points

• The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 inserted the words 'Socialist', 'Secular' and 'Integrity' into the Preamble of the Constitution.
• The Preamble's description of India changed from *"Sovereign Democratic Republic"* to "Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic", and *"unity of the Nation"* became *"unity and integrity of the Nation"*.
• Enacted during the Emergency (1975–77) under the Indira Gandhi government, it is the most extensive amendment ever made and is widely called the "Mini-Constitution".

Additional Information

• The 42nd Amendment also added Fundamental Duties (Article 51A, Part IVA) on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee, and moved five subjects — education, forests, weights and measures, protection of wild animals and birds, and administration of justice — from the State List to the Concurrent List.
• Much of it was reversed by the 44th Amendment Act, 1978, which among other things removed the right to property from Fundamental Rights and made it a legal right under Article 300A.
• In Kesavananda Bharati (1973) the Supreme Court held the Preamble to be part of the Constitution and amendable, but not so as to damage its basic structure — the doctrine under which parts of the 42nd Amendment were later struck down in *Minerva Mills* (1980).
• The Preamble has been amended only once in the Constitution's history, by this Act.