Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution of India

The Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution of India, enacted on 10 August 1975, placed the election of the President, the Vice President, the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha beyond the scrutiny of the Indian courts. It was passed during the Emergency of 1975-1977.[1] It was moved by the Congress government headed by Indira Gandhi to preempt a hearing by Supreme Court of India concerning the setting aside of Gandhi's election by the Allahabad High Court on the grounds of corrupt electoral practices.

Background

Indira Gandhi was accused by Raj Narain for misusing the state machinery during her election polls.

After that, the Allahabad High court did find her guilty and barred her from contesting in future elections and demanded her removal from the Lok Sabha. But Indira Gandhi moved ahead to declare a state of emergency and began her rule by decree.

During this time period, Indira Gandhi pushed for the thirty ninth amendment act to secure her position and prevent her removal from Indian politics. She also went ahead bringing about the forty second amendment act that introduced clause four and five of the article 368 to remove all restriction regarding the amendment power of the parliament and for such amendments not to be contestable in any court of law in India.

Later on in the Minerva Mills v. Union of India case, this amendment was removed and the doctrine of basic structure was reinforced from the Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala case.

References

  1. "THE CONSTITUTION (THIRTY-NINTH AMENDMENT) ACT, 1975". india.gov.in. Retrieved 7 May 2012.


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