NCERT Series Political Science / Polity / Civics - Class 6 to 12 - NCERT Class 11 Political Science Constitution Chapter 9: Constitution as a Living Document | CBSE

Exam preparation @ https://www.doorsteptutor.com/Exams/ Masters or Postgraduate Level Science, Social Studies and Humanities @ https://www.youtube.com/c/TestPrep/ Hindi lectures by Examrace @ https://www.youtube.com/c/ExamraceHindi/ Videos from nursery to Class 5 @ https://www.youtube.com/c/FunProf/ NEET, JEE, BITSAT, KVPY, Class 11-12 Science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics) @ https://www.youtube.com/c/DoorstepTutor/ Also visit Lectures, Notes, Questions @ https://www.doorsteptutor.com/ ICSE, NCERT, NIOS @ https://www.flexiprep.com/ IGCSE, A & AS Level @ https://www.examtestprep.com/ the Indian Constitution can be amended according to the needs of the time; though many such amendments have already taken place, the Constitution has remained intact and its basic premises have not changed; the judiciary has played an important role in protecting the Constitution and also in interpreting the Constitution; and the Constitution is a document that keeps evolving and responding to changing situations our Constitution accepts the necessity of modifications according to changing needs of the society in the actual working of the Constitution, there has been enough flexibility of interpretations political practice and judicial rulings have shown maturity and flexibility in implementing the Constitution provisions of the constitution would naturally reflect efforts to tackle the problems that the society is facing at the time of making of the constitution constitution is not a frozen and unalterable document. It is a document made by human beings and may need revisions, changes and reexamination. It is true that the constitution reflects the dreams and aspirations of the concerned society - it is an instrument that societies create for themselves Whenever society would veer toward any particular opinion, a change in the constitutional provisions would be required. Indian Constitution is a combination of both the approaches mentioned above: that the constitution is a sacred document and that it is an instrument that may require changes from time to time Article 368: …Parliament may in exercise of its constituent power amend by way of addition, variation or repeal any provision of this Constitution in accordance with the procedure laid down in this article Constitution to be ‘flexible’ and at the same time ‘rigid’. Flexible means open to changes and rigid means resistant to changes. A constitution that can be very easily changed or modified is often called flexible. In the case of constitutions, which are very difficult to amend, they are described as rigid some provisions in the Constitution that were of temporary nature and it was decided that these could be altered later on once the new Parliament was elected There are many articles in the Constitution, which mention that these articles can be amended by a simple law of the Parliament. No special procedure for amendment is required in such cases and there is no difference at all between an amendment and an ordinary law. These parts of the Constitution are very flexible. Article 2: Parliament may by law admit into the union …..new states…. Article 3: Parliament may by law… b) increase the area of any state For amending the remaining parts of the Constitution, provision has been made in Article 368 of the Constitution. In this article, there are two methods of amending the Constitution and they apply to two different sets of articles of the Constitution. One method is that amendment can be made by special majority of the two houses of the Parliament. The other method is more difficult: it requires special majority of the Parliament and consent of half of the State legislatures Similarly, after the passage in the Parliament and in some cases, in State legislatures, no referendum is required for ratification of the amendment An amendment bill, like all other bills, goes to the President for his assent, but in this case, the President has no powers to send it back for reconsideration. These details show how rigid and complicated the amending process could have been. Only elected representatives of the people are empowered to consider and take final decisions on the question of amendments. Thus, sovereignty of elected representatives (parliamentary sovereignty) is the basis of the amendment procedure. #examrace #upsc #ugcnet