Q. Consider the following statements:
1. The Parliament of India can place a particular law in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution of India.
2. The validity of a law placed in the Ninth Schedule cannot be examined by any court and no judgement can be made on it.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer: A
Notes:
The Ninth Schedule was added to the Constitution by the first amendment in 1951 along with Article 31-B with a view to provide a “protective umbrella” to land reforms laws to save them from being challenged in courts on the ground of violation of fundamental rights. The SC upheld the validity of Article 31-B and Parliament’s power to place a particular law in the Ninth Schedule.
The Supreme Court has said that laws placed in the Ninth Schedule are open to judicial scrutiny and that such laws do not enjoy blanket protection. Laws placed in the Ninth Schedule after the Keshwanand Bharti Judgment on April 24, 1973, when it propounded the “basic structure” doctrine, were open to challenge.
Source: CSP, 2018