⚡ Topic 05 of 5 · Chapter 04 · Quick Revision

Constitutional Amendments & Key Facts Revision

Important amendments, Article 368, types of amendments, and complete quick revision with all key numbers.

📋 Amendment Procedure — Article 368

The Constitution can be amended under Article 368. There are three types of amendment procedures:

Type	Procedure	Examples
Simple Majority	More than 50% of members present and voting in each House	Admission of new states, creation of new states, abolition of Legislative Councils
Special Majority	2/3 majority of members present and voting + majority of total membership of each House	Most constitutional amendments — Fundamental Rights, DPSP, etc.
Special Majority + State Ratification	Special majority in Parliament + ratification by at least half of State Legislatures	Federal provisions — election of President, distribution of powers, representation of States in Parliament

⭐ Basic Structure Doctrine: Parliament can amend the Constitution but cannot destroy its basic structure. Established in Kesavananda Bharati case (1973). Basic structure includes: Supremacy of Constitution, Republican and Democratic form of government, Secular character, Separation of powers, Federal character, Judicial review, Free and fair elections.

📋 Most Important Constitutional Amendments

Amendment	Year	Key Changes
1st Amendment	1951	Added 9th Schedule; restricted Right to Property; added reasonable restrictions to freedom of speech
7th Amendment	1956	Reorganisation of states on linguistic basis; abolished Part B states
24th Amendment	1971	Parliament has power to amend any part of Constitution including Fundamental Rights
25th Amendment	1971	Right to property — compensation for acquisition not justiciable
42nd Amendment	1976	“Mini Constitution” — added Socialist, Secular, Integrity to Preamble; added Fundamental Duties; moved Education and Forests to Concurrent List
44th Amendment	1978	Removed Right to Property from FR; restored some provisions changed by 42nd Amendment; Articles 20 and 21 cannot be suspended during Emergency
52nd Amendment	1985	Added 10th Schedule — Anti-defection law
61st Amendment	1988	Reduced voting age from 21 to 18 years
73rd Amendment	1992	Added Part IX and 11th Schedule — Panchayati Raj
74th Amendment	1992	Added Part IXA and 12th Schedule — Municipalities
86th Amendment	2002	Added 11th Fundamental Duty; Right to Education (Article 21A) for children 6–14 years
101st Amendment	2016	Goods and Services Tax (GST)
103rd Amendment	2019	10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)

⚡ Complete Chapter Revision Checklist

✅ Largest source of Constitution: Government of India Act, 1935
✅ Parliamentary system from UK; FR from USA; DPSP from Ireland
✅ Federal with strong Centre from Canada; Concurrent List from Australia
✅ Emergency suspension of FR from Germany; FD from USSR; Procedure from Japan
✅ Originally 22 Parts → Currently 25 Parts
✅ Originally 395 Articles → Currently 470+ Articles
✅ Originally 8 Schedules → Currently 12 Schedules
✅ 7th Schedule: Union List (97), State List (66), Concurrent List (47)
✅ 8th Schedule: 22 Official Languages
✅ 9th Schedule: Laws protected from judicial review (1st Amendment, 1951)
✅ 10th Schedule: Anti-defection (52nd Amendment, 1985)
✅ 11th Schedule: 29 subjects for Panchayats (73rd Amendment, 1992)
✅ 12th Schedule: 18 subjects for Municipalities (74th Amendment, 1992)
✅ Amendment procedure: Article 368
✅ Basic Structure Doctrine: Kesavananda Bharati case (1973)
✅ 42nd Amendment (1976) = “Mini Constitution”
✅ Voting age reduced to 18 by 61st Amendment (1988)

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