The Amendment Procedure

The Constituent Assembly sought a ‘golden mean’ between flexibility and rigidity for the Constitution of India. This was achieved by making certain provisions easy to amend and certain others requiring a more complex procedure. Accordingly, amendments to the Constitution of India can be classified into three categories:

• Amendments effected by a simple majority: As per the provisions of Article 4, Article 169, Article 239A, Paragraph 7 of Schedule V and Paragraph 21 of Schedule VI, Parliament can amend certain, comparatively less significant, provisions of the Constitution by utilising the procedure for passing an ordinary law, viz. each House passes the Bill by a simple majority.
• Amendments effected by a special majority: As per Article 368(2), most provisions of the Constitution can be amended only through a special majority, i.e. each House passes a Constitutional Amendment Bill by a majority of the total membership of that House as well as by two-thirds of the members present and voting.
• Amendments effected by special majority and ratification by States: As per the Proviso to Article 368(2), some provisions of the Constitution — those dealing with the federal structure, the higher judiciary, and Art. 368 itself — can be amended only by special majority followed by ratification by the Legislatures of a majority of the States by resolutions before Presidential assent.