List of Major Constitutional Amendment Acts- Part 3

Constitutional Amendment Acts

Indian Constitution leaves scope for amending the Constitution in order to make sure that it stays relevant to the changing times. This is why sometimes the Indian Constitution is also called the ‘Living Document’.
Article 268 in Part XX of the Constitution: It deals with the powers of the Indian Parliament to amend the Constitution and its procedure.
- It states that the Parliament may amend the Constitution by way of addition, variation or repeals any provision in accordance with the procedure laid down for the purpose.

Sr. N.	Constitutional Amendment Act	Key Provisions
21.	36^th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1975	· Sikkim was granted status of a full-fledged state of India
22.	38^th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1975	· It made the declaration of national emergency by the President non-justiciable in any court of law. · It made the promulgation of ordinances by the President, governors and administrators of Union territories non-justiciable in any court of law. · It gave the President power to declare different proclamations of national emergency on different grounds simultaneously.
23.	39^th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1975	· Curbed Judiciaries Power: it placed the disputes relating to the president, Vice President, prime minister and Speaker beyond the scope of the judiciary. o They are to be decided by such authority as may be determined by the Parliament. · Included certain Central Acts in the 09^th Schedule
24.	40^th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976	· It empowered Parliament to specify from time to time- o The limits of the territorial waters, the continental shelf, o The exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and o The maritime zones of India.
25.	42^nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976	· This has been covered by us in detail. 42^nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976 is also referred to as the mini-constitution by many.
26.	43^rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1977	· It restored the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the High Courts in respect of judicial review and issue of writs. · It also deprived the Parliament of its special powers to make laws to deal with anti-national activities.
27.	44^th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1978	· This is also a very important constitutional amendment of the Indian constitution. · We have already discussed the 44^th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1978 in detail.
28.	50^th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1984	· It empowered the Parliament to restrict the Fundamental Rights of persons employed in- o Intelligence organizations and o Telecommunication systems set up for the armed forces or intelligence organizations.
29.	52^nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1985	· Introduced Anti-defection Provisions: It provided for disqualification of members of Parliament and state legislatures on the ground of defection and · Tenth Schedule: It also added a new Tenth Schedule containing the details regarding Anti-defection law.
30.	58^th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1987	· It provided for an authoritative text of the Constitution in Hindi language. · It also gave the same legal sanctity to the Hindi version of the Constitution.