Constitution Amendment: An Analysis of Amendment Process

Abstract

Our Constitution is a dynamic document. Although this Constitution is as strong and enduring as we want it to be, there is no longevity. What we can do today might not be entirely applicable tomorrow. Government pattern must change, and the constitution must adapt itself to the economic and social development of the nation. The proposed constitution abolished complex and daunting processes such as a convention or referendum decision. Amendment powers are left to the central and provincial legislature. It is the approval of the state legislatures that are needed for modifications to particular matters and there are very few. The other clauses of the Constitution are left to the Parliament to amend. The main restriction is that it is made by a vote of not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting in each House and by a vote of the overall membership of each house. The world is not static; it goes on changing. The social, economic and political circumstances of the people go on changing and the constitutional law of the nation must, therefore, adapt in order to the changing needs, changing the lives of the people. If no arrangements were made for modification of the constitution, the people would have recourse to extra-constitutional processes including insurrection to reform the constitution. The Indian constitution’s framers were keen to create a text that could evolve with a rising population, adapting itself to a rising people’s shifting circumstances. The Constitution needs to be updated in every period. No-one may say this is the finish.