AIR 1951 SUPREME COURT 458 ::(1951) 88 Cal LJ 281 ::1964 MadLW 1005

Supreme Court Of India

Hon'ble Judge(s): M. H. Kania, M. Patanjali Sastri, B. K. Mukherjea, S. R. Das, N. Chandrasekhara Aiyar , JJJ

(A) Constitution of India , Art.368— Constitution of India , Art.31A, Art.31B— (as amended by First Amendment) Act (1951) - Validity of. The Constitution (First Amendment) Act 1951, passed by the present provisional Parliament purporting to insert, inter alia, Arts. 31A and 31B in the Constitution of India is intra vires and constitutional.(Para 1) (B) Constitution of India , Art.368, Art.4, Art.169, Art.240— Three classes of amendments contemplated by Constitution of India-Procedural difference between -Agency which can effect amendment of Constitution. The Constitution provides for three classes of amendments of its provisions. First, those that can be effected by a bare majority such as that required for the passing of any ordinary law. The amendments contemplated in Arts. 4, 169 and 240 fall within this class, and they are specifically excluded from the purview of Art. 368. Secondly, those that can be effected by a special majority as laid down in Art. 368. All Constitutional amendments other than those referred to above come within this category and must be effected by a majority of the total membership of each House as well as by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting; and thirdly, those t....