Is the Preamble legally enforceable?
Has anybody read any article on this.....the preamble is just used for interpretation...no law can be struck down if its againsts the preamble ....then what does it means independent of other provisions
In theBerubari case, the Supreme Court agreed that the Preamble was the key to the minds of the framers of the Constitution. Where the words were found to be vague or their meaning was unclear,help of the Preamble could be taken to understand the intention of the framers and find out whether a particular word was used in wide or narrow context.Furthermore, any provisions of the Constitution could be amended under article 368 only "within the broad contours of the Preambleand the Constitution" In fact, the inalienable basic elements of the Constitution was sought to be traced from the words of the Preamble and it was held that the provisions of the Constitution could not be amended so as to alter the basic elements. Although the basic elements were not precisely defined,those mentioned in the Preamble was specifically included.Thus, it was established that the basic elements or features of the Constitution, as contained in the Preamble, could not be altered by any amendment under article 368meaning thereby if they are altered the Court can validly strike down it.
@Palakkhinvasaea The foregoing text clearly point to some kind of legal relevance of the Preamble.But yes, it doesn't have any legal effect per se, i.e., independently/on its own, because it is non-justiciable and is neither a source of any power nor a limitation thereon.
Homo Neanderthalensis ,
Yes, you are correct. In case Preamble conflicts with specific provision of the Constitution, the latter shall prevail and this is why it doesn't have any legal effect independently. The preamble would have independent legal effect had it prevailed in case of conflict with other provisions of the Constitution, which is clearly not the case.
In S. R. Bommai case the majority of nine Judges held "A proclamation under Article 356(1), which violates any of the basic features, as summarized in the Preamble of the Constitution is liable to be struck down as unconstitutional."
At a time when the above judgement of the Supreme Court exists, how can the Preamble be said to be having no legal effect whatsoever!
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