Ninth Schedule of the Constitution

Why in the News?

Recently, the Jharkhand Assembly outlined that its two bills will come into effect after the center included them in the Ninth Schedule of the constitution.

Key Points:

What are the two bills passed by Jharkhand Assembly?

• The first bill proposes increasing reservations in vacant government posts in the state to 77 percent.
• The second bill has been introduced to determine domicile status the definition of ‘local residents.

Ninth Schedule

• 1st Constitutional Amendment (1951) added the Ninth Schedule.
• It contains a list of central and state laws which cannot be challenged in courts or are beyond judicial review. 
• Most of the laws protected under the Schedule concern agriculture/land issues.
• Retrospective in nature: If a law is added to the Ninth Schedule after it is declared unconstitutional, it will be considered valid and part of the schedule from the date of its commencement.
• In the IR Coelho v State of Tamil Nadu case, the Supreme Court ruled that laws cannot escape the “basic structure” test if inserted into Ninth Schedule after 1973. 

News Source: The Indian Express