UPSC Previous Year Question | Prelims GS | 2018

Consider the following statements: 1. The Parliament of India can place a particular law in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution of India. 2. The validity of a law placed in the Ninth Schedule cannot be examined by any court and no judgement can be made on it. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer

Correct Answer

1 only

Explanation

Parliament can add laws to the Ninth Schedule through a constitutional amendment (Article 31B, inserted by the First Amendment, 1951). But in I.R. Coelho v. State of Tamil Nadu (2007), the Supreme Court held that laws placed in the Ninth Schedule after 24 April 1973 are open to judicial review if they violate fundamental rights or the basic structure. So statement 2 is wrong.

Topics: constitution, ninth schedule and judicial review, polity, schedules of the constitution