Previous Year Question
Consider the following statements:
The Parliament of India can place a particular law in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution of India.
The validity of a law placed in the Ninth Schedule cannot be examined by any court and no judgment can be made on it.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Only 1
Only 2
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2
Correct Answer: A
Detailed Solution
Statement 1 is correct. Parliament may place a law in the Ninth Schedule by enacting a constitutional amendment. The Ninth Schedule and Article 31B were inserted by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951. Its original principal purpose was to protect laws concerning land reforms and the abolition of zamindari from being invalidated for violating Fundamental Rights.
Placing a law in the Ninth Schedule is not an ordinary legislative act of Parliament; it involves amending the Constitution. Therefore, a constitutional amendment must be passed under Article 368. This constituent power is itself subject to the limitation imposed by the basic structure of the Constitution.
Statement 2 is incorrect. Article 31B protects laws included in the Ninth Schedule against invalidation for inconsistency with Fundamental Rights, but that protection is no longer absolute.
In I. R. Coelho v. State of Tamil Nadu (2007), the Supreme Court held that laws placed in the Ninth Schedule after 24 April 1973 are open to judicial review. This is the date of the judgment in Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, which propounded the basic-structure doctrine.
If a law included in the Ninth Schedule affects Fundamental Rights—particularly Articles 14, 19 and 21—in a manner that damages the basic structure of the Constitution, the Court may declare it unconstitutional. Judicial review is itself a component of the basic structure.