Question

What is a Constitutional Amendment? Describe its procedure.

Answer 1

The Process of making an addition, deletion or alteration to the existing laws in the Constitution is called Constitutional Amendment.

• Article 368 of the Indian Constitution gives the Parliament to amend the Constitution in 3 ways-
• Simple Majority- Amendment is done by the approval of at least 51%t of the members present in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. For example- Formation of new states is done through this amendment.
• Special Majority- This refers to a majority of 2/3rd members present and approval from more than 50% of the total members of the house. For example- Fundamental rights can be amended through this procedure.
• Special Majority + Ratification by 50% States- This amendment is done when a bill passed by special majority and is approved by the 50% of the state legislatures of the country. For example- Amendments to the federal structure or centre-state relations are done through this procedure.