Amendment of the Constitution

Introduction

• As per Article 368, the Parliament may exercise its constituent power to revise via expansion, variety, or nullification of any arrangement of this Constitution as per the technique set down in this article
• A Constitution that can be effortlessly changed or adjusted is frequently called adaptable
• A constitution which are extremely challenging to revise and portrayed as unbending

The Indian Constitution combines both of these characteristics

• Balance among adaptable and inflexible: The Constitution should be altered assuming this is the case required, yet it should be shielded from pointless and regular changes
• Not liberated from blunders: The Constitution producers knew that there might be a few blames or slip-ups in the Constitution. They needed the Constitution to be effortlessly revised to eliminate them
• Some transitory arrangements: It was concluded that these could be changed later once the new Parliament was chosen
• About government powers: They couldn’t be changed without the assent of the States
• Some different elements were so fundamental to the soul of the Constitution that the Constitution producers were restless to shield these from change. These arrangements must be made inflexible
• These contemplations prompted various methods of correcting the Constitution

Amendment Procedure in Constitution

• There are many articles in the Constitution, which notice that these Articles can be changed by a basic law of the Parliament 
• Adaptable Parts of the Constitution: No uncommon system for revision is needed in such cases, and there is no distinction at all between a correction and a common law. For instance
• Article 2: Parliament may by law concede into the Union, or set up, new States based on such conditions and conditions as it might suspect fit
• Article 3: Parliament may by law structure another State by a detachment of an area from any State or by joining at least two States or portions of States or by joining any region to a piece of any State; increment the space of any State; decrease the space of any State; change the limits of any State or adjust the name of any State

In the above cases, the phrasing by law demonstrates that these articles can be altered by the Parliament without response to the technique set down in Article 368. Numerous different articles of the Constitution can be altered by the Parliament in this straightforward way.

• Article 368 accommodates correcting the leftover pieces of the Constitution. Here there are two techniques for changing the Constitution, and they apply to two distinct arrangements of articles of the Constitution
• Changes can be made by an exceptional greater part of the two Houses of Parliament
• It requires an uncommonly larger part of the Parliament and assent of half of the State councils

Important points regarding amendments to the Constitution

• Other than the exceptional part in the Parliament, no external organization like a constitution commission or a different body is needed for changing the Constitution
• After entry in the Parliament and, at times, in State governing bodies, no mandate is needed for sanction of the revision
• The Constitutional Amendment Bill goes to the President for his consent, and here the President has no ability to send it back for reexamination

Special Majority

Amendment to the Constitution requires two different kinds of special majorities: 

• Simple majority: with more than half of the total strength of the Parliament
• Special majority: with more than half of the total strength of the Parliament, i.e. with simple majority along with the assent of two-thirds of the members present and voting 
• The two Houses of Parliament should pass the Amendment Bill independently in this equivalent way (there is no arrangement for a joint meeting)

Ratification by States

For some articles, a special majority is not sufficient and in the following circumstances it is required to be ratified by the States:

• When an amendment aims to modify an article related to distribution of powers between the States and the central government, or articles related to representation
• Consent of half the States is required by way of a simple majority

Conclusion

The Constitution of India can be amended by way of simple majority as well as special majority. Also, in some cases, it has to be ratified by the States. The idea behind this is to ensure that the basic structure of the Constitution is not subject to amendment. And yet, it gives the flexibility to amend and modify according to the needs and requirements of the changing times.