The Supreme Court upheld the insertion of the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ in the Preamble of the founding document.
These words are inserted through the Constitution (Forty-Second Amendment) Act, 1976 (42nd Amendment) by Parliament during the Emergency period.
42nd Amendment is often referred to as a ‘mini-constitution’.
It is because of the sheer number of changes introduced, also this Amendment greatly expanded the powers of the Centre.
In July 2020, a Supreme Court advocate by the name of Dr. Balram Singh filed a petition challenging the inclusion of the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ in the Preamble of the Constitution.