Also: saving of laws giving effect to certain Directive Principles
Definition
The provision, inserted in 1971, that shields laws giving effect to the Directive Principles in Article 39(b) and (c) from being struck down for violating Articles 14 or 19; its wider 1976 version was struck down in Minerva Mills, leaving the original form in force.
In the late 1960s, the government's socialist programme, including bank nationalisation and abolition of privy purses, met resistance in the Supreme Court. In R. C. Cooper (1970), the Court struck down the bank nationalisation law in part, and in Golak Nath (1967) it had held that Parliament could not amend Fundamental Rights. After winning a large majority in 1971, Indira Gandhi's government passed the 24th, 25th and 26th Amendments to restore parliamentary supremacy over the Constitution in economic matters.
The 25th Amendment did two things: it replaced the word "compensation" with "amount" in Article 31(2), and it added Article 31C. The new article said that no law giving effect to the policy of securing the principles in Article 39(b) (distribution of ownership and control of material resources to subserve the common good) and 39(c) (preventing concentration of wealth and means of production) could be declared void for being inconsistent with Articles 14, 19 or 31. It also said that no such law containing a declaration that it gives effect to such policy could be questioned in court on the ground that it does not.
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