How Constitutional Amendments Work in India

The Constitution of India has been amended 106 times since it came into force in January 1950. This is the frequency that reflects both the framers' design choice to make amendment possible without the extreme rigidity of some constitutional systems, and the political realities of a large, diverse democracy where governance needs have evolved substantially over seven decades. 

Unlike the United States Constitution, which has been formally amended only 27 times in 236 years, or the United Kingdom, which has no codified constitution to amend, India's Parliament has used constitutional amendment as a regular legislative tool — to expand the lists of laws in the Ninth Schedule, to introduce reservations in educational institutions, to reorganise states, to create new rights like the right to education, and to restructure the relationship between Parliament and the courts following judicial decisions that Parliament disagreed with.

Representational Image: How Constitutional Amendments Work in India

The amendment procedure is set out in Article 368 of the Constitution, under Part XX titled "Power of Parliament to Amend the Constitution and Procedure Therefor." Not all provisions are amended by the same procedure: some can be amended by a simple majority of Parliament in ordinary legislative session; others require a special majority — a majority of the total membership of each House and at least two-thirds of the members of each House present and voting; and certain provisions additionally require ratification by legislatures of at least half of India's states. 

No amendment may violate the basic structure of the Constitution — a judicially established limit that prevents Parliament from destroying the Constitution's fundamental features even through constitutionally valid procedures.

What You Need to Know

• Article 368 provides three types of amendment procedures: simple majority (ordinary legislative session — used for matters like admission of new states, creation of new states, and alteration of state boundaries); special majority (majority of total membership + two-thirds of members present and voting in each House — used for most substantial constitutional changes); and special majority plus state ratification (required for provisions relating to the federal structure including the election of the President, Supreme Court and High Court jurisdiction, distribution of legislative powers, and representation of states in Parliament).
• A constitutional amendment bill must be passed separately by each House of Parliament with the required majority; unlike ordinary bills, there is no provision for a joint sitting of the two Houses to resolve disagreements on a constitutional amendment — both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha must independently pass the bill with the required majority.
• The basic structure doctrine — established in Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973) by a 7:6 majority of a 13-judge bench — holds that Parliament's amending power under Article 368 cannot be used to destroy or abrogate the basic structure of the Constitution; examples of basic structure features include judicial review, free and fair elections, the supremacy of the Constitution, federalism, the rule of law, and separation of powers.
• The 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976, passed during the Emergency, added clause (4) to Article 368 stating that Parliament's amending power was "unlimited and unrestricted"; the Supreme Court in Minerva Mills v. Union of India (1980) struck down this clause as itself violating the basic structure, confirming that even an attempt to remove the basic structure doctrine through amendment is unconstitutional.
• The 106th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023 mandated 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, but with a deferred commencement — the reservation takes effect only after the next census and delimitation exercise following the amendment, likely in the 2030s.

How It Works in Practice

1. Introduction and passage: A constitutional amendment bill may be introduced in either House of Parliament — unlike ordinary Money Bills, which must originate in Lok Sabha. The bill undergoes the same reading procedure as other bills. Crucially, for special majority purposes, the "majority of total membership" requirement means absent or abstaining members work against the amendment — 50%+1 of total strength must vote in favour, not merely 50%+1 of those voting.

2. State ratification: Where required, the bill must be sent to state legislatures after Parliament passes it. There is no specific time limit within which states must ratify; if a state legislature does not act, the amendment does not take effect (for those provisions). In practice, ratification has generally followed within months for amendments where it has been sought, though the Congress-era land reform amendments encountered difficulties.

3. Presidential assent: After parliamentary passage and, where required, state ratification, the bill is presented to the President for assent. For constitutional amendment bills, the President cannot withhold assent — unlike with ordinary bills, where the President may return a bill for reconsideration. Presidential assent to a constitutional amendment is mandatory.

4. Judicial review of amendments: Following Kesavananda Bharati, any constitutional amendment may be challenged in the Supreme Court as violating the basic structure. The court has struck down the 39th Amendment (which shielded the Prime Minister's election from judicial scrutiny), parts of the 42nd Amendment, and the 99th Amendment (NJAC) on this basis. The basic structure test is the most significant substantive constraint on Parliament's power to redesign constitutional architecture.

5. Ninth Schedule and judicial review: The Ninth Schedule, added by the First Amendment in 1951, was intended to shield land reform laws from fundamental rights challenges. In I.R. Coelho v. State of Tamil Nadu (2007), the Supreme Court held that laws inserted into the Ninth Schedule after April 24, 1973 (the date of Kesavananda Bharati) are subject to judicial review for violation of basic structure — closing the Ninth Schedule's utility as an unlimited shield for potentially unconstitutional legislation.

What People Often Misunderstand

• Not all constitutional changes require Article 368 procedure: Many changes that affect constitutional functioning — like the reorganisation of states — can be made by ordinary parliamentary legislation under the procedures of Part I (which can be amended by simple majority); the distinction between simple majority and special majority amendments is constitutionally significant.
• The basic structure doctrine is uniquely Indian: Most constitutional democracies allow amendments to be challenged only for procedural irregularities, not for substantive violation of constitutional principles; India's basic structure doctrine, which allows the court to strike down amendments passed by the highest constitutional procedures, has no close comparative parallel.
• The 106th Amendment on women's reservation is not yet operative: The 33% women's reservation in Lok Sabha and state assemblies requires delimitation to precede implementation; the next delimitation exercise awaits the post-2021 census; implementation is likely in the 2030s, not immediately following the amendment.
• The basic structure list is not exhaustively defined: The Supreme Court has never provided a definitive list of basic structure features; it identifies features as basic structure on a case-by-case basis, creating ongoing doctrinal uncertainty about what Parliament can and cannot amend.
• Constitutional amendments and ordinary laws have the same legislative process up to the special majority requirement: A constitutional amendment bill goes through readings, committee consideration (where referred), and floor debate like any other bill; the difference is in the voting threshold required for passage, not in the legislative procedure as a whole.

What Changes Over Time

India has amended its Constitution 106 times as of 2025, compared to 27 amendments to the US Constitution in more than twice the period. The most recent significant amendments are the 106th (women's reservation, 2023) and the 105th (extension of reservation for SCs and STs in legislative bodies, 2021). A proposed 131st Constitutional Amendment introduced in April 2026 to increase Lok Sabha seats to 850 (from the current cap of 550) has been introduced for consideration in the extended Budget Session, triggering renewed discussion about delimitation and state representation.

Sources and Further Reading

• Vajiramandravi — Part 20 of Indian Constitution: Article 368: https://vajiramandravi.com/current-affairs/part-20-of-indian-constitution/
• Vajiramandravi — Kesavananda Bharati Case: https://vajiramandravi.com/upsc-exam/kesavananda-bharati-case/
• E-courts.gov.in — Kesavananda Bharati Judgment: https://judgments.ecourts.gov.in/KBJ/?p=home%2Fintro
• iPleaders — Kesavananda Bharati Case Analysis: https://blog.ipleaders.in/kbharatikerala/
• PRS Legislative Research — Home: https://prsindia.org

(This series is part of a long-term editorial project to explain the structures, institutions, contradictions, and operating logic of constitutional governance, courts, and the rule of law in India for a global audience. Designed as a 25-article briefing cluster on the Constitution, Courts & Rule of Law in India, this vertical examines how constitutional power functions in practice — from judicial review, Public Interest Litigation, constitutional amendments, and High Courts to pendency, compliance gaps, constitutional morality, and the everyday operation of India’s justice system. Written in accessible format for diplomats, investors, researchers, NGOs, civil society actors, students, academics, policymakers, and international observers, the series seeks to explain both how India’s constitutional and judicial architecture is designed to function on paper and how the rule of law actually operates on the ground. This is Vertical 3 of a larger 20-vertical knowledge architecture being developed by IndianRepublic.in under the editorial direction of Saket Suman. All articles are protected under applicable copyright laws. All Rights Reserved.)