This is a brief description of the lawmaking procedure in India.
The 42nd amendment, officially known as The Constitution Act, 1976, was enacted during the Emergency by the Indian National Congress government headed by Indira Gandhi.
The Twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution Act, 1971, curtailed the fundamental right to property, and permitted the acquisition of private property by the government for public use, on the payment of compensation which would be determined by the Parliament and not the courts. The amendment also exempted any law giving effect to the article 39(b) and (c) of Directive Principles of State Policy from judicial review, even if it violated the Fundamental Rights.
Amending the Constitution of India is the process of making changes to the nation's fundamental law or supreme law. The procedure of amendment in the constitution is laid down in Part XX of the Constitution of India. This procedure ensures the sanctity of the Constitution of India and keeps a check on arbitrary power of the Parliament of India.
The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution Act, 1955, empowered the President to prescribe a time limit for a State Legislature to convey its views on proposed Central laws relating to the formation of new States and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing States. The amendment also permitted the President to extend the prescribed limit, and prohibited any such bill from being introduced in Parliament until after the expiry of the prescribed or extended period. The 5th Amendment re-enacted the proviso to Article 3 of the Constitution.
The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution Act, 1959, amended article 334 of the Constitution in order to extend the period of reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and representation of the Anglo-Indians in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies for ten years, i.e. up to 26 January 1970. Article 334 had stipulated that the reservation of seats should expire within a period of ten years from the commencement of the Constitution.
The Forty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution Act, 1980, extended the period of reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and representation of the Anglo-Indians in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies for another ten years, i.e. up to 26 January 1990.
The Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution Act, 1961, provided that the Vice-President shall be elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of the members of both Houses of Parliament, thereby dispensing with the earlier requirement of a joint meeting of members of both Houses of Parliament assembled for the said purpose. The 11th Amendment inserted a new clause (4) in article 71 of the Constitution to clarify that the election of President or Vice-President cannot be challenged on the ground of the existence of any vacancy for whatever reason in the appropriate electoral college.
The Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution Act, 1962, incorporated Goa, Daman and Diu as the eighth Union territory of India, by amending the First Schedule to the Constitution. India acquired control of Goa, Daman and Diu from Portugal in December 1961. The amendment also amended clause (1) of article 240 of the Constitution to include therein these territories in order to enable the President to "make regulations for the peace, progress and good government of the territory".
The Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution Act, 1962, incorporated Pondicherry as the ninth Union territory of India, and also gave Parliament the authority to create by law, Legislatures and Councils of Ministers for the Union territories of Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Goa, Daman and Diu and Puducherry.
The Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution Act, 1966, amended article 3 of the Constitution in order to clarify the "State" in clauses (a) to (e) of that article include "Union territories". It also added another "Explanation" that the power conferred on Parliament by clause (a) includes the power to form a new State or Union territory by uniting a part of any State or Union territory to any other State or Union territory.
The Seventy-first Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution Act, 1992, amended the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution so as to include Konkani, Meitei and Nepali languages, thereby raising the total number of languages listed in the schedule to eighteen. The Eighth Schedule lists languages that the Government of India has the responsibility to develop.
The Twenty-second Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution Act, 1969, inserted new article 244A in the Constitution to empower Parliament to enact a law for constituting an autonomous State within the State of Assam and also to provide the autonomous State with Legislature or a Council of Ministers or both with such powers and functions as may be defined by that law.
The Twenty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution Act, 1971, enables Parliament to dilute Fundamental Rights through Amendments of the Constitution. It also amended article 368 to provide expressly that Parliament has power to amend any provision of the Constitution. The amendment further made it obligatory for the President to give his assent, when a Constitution Amendment Bill was presented to him.
The Forty-first Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution Act, 1976, changed the age of retirement of the Chairman and members of the State Public Service Commissions from 60 to 62 years, by amending article 316(2) of the Constitution.
The Forty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution Act, 1984, amended the Ninth Schedule to the Constitution, and added 14 legislations relating to land reforms, enacted by the States of Assam, Bihar, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and the union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu with a view to provide that the enactments shall not be deemed to be void on the ground that they are inconsistent with any of the provisions of Part III of the Constitution relating to Fundamental Rights.
The Sixtieth Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution Act, 1988, amended article 276 of the Constitution relating to taxes on professions, trades, callings and employments. Section 2 of the Act amended Clause (2) of article 276 of the Constitution to increase the ceiling of tax on professions, trades, callings and employments from ₹250 per person per annum to ₹2500 per person per annum. The 60th Amendment also omitted the proviso to clause (2) of article 276.
The Forty-third Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as the Constitution Act, 1977, repealed six articles that had been inserted into the Constitution by the 42nd Amendment which had been enacted by the Indira Gandhi-led Indian National Congress during the Emergency. The 43rd Amendment was enacted by the newly elected Janata Party which had won the 1977 general elections campaigning on a promise to "restore the Constitution to the condition it was in before the Emergency".
The Forty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as the Constitution Act, 1978, was enacted by the Janata Party which had won the 1977 general elections campaigning on a promise to "restore the Constitution to the condition it was in before the Emergency". The Amendment aimed to undo several changes that had been made to the Constitution by the 42nd Amendment which had been enacted by the Indira Gandhi-led Indian National Congress during the Emergency.
The One Hundred and Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of India, extends the deadline for the cessation of the reservation of seats for members from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies by a period of 10 years.
