Constitutional Amendment Procedure

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Article 368 lays out how the Constitution itself can be amended, offering different procedures depending on how significant the change is.

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Polity0062 · Indian Polity & Constitution

Amending the Constitution

Article 368’s tiered procedure, traced through four landmark amendments

1951

The First Amendment

Restricts certain Fundamental Rights, especially around property and free speech.

44th Amendment

Property Right steps down

Removes the Right to Property from Fundamental Rights, making it only a legal right.

101st Amendment

GST is introduced

A major tax reform reshapes India’s indirect tax structure.

103rd Amendment

Economic reservation arrives

Provides for reservation based on economic criteria.

A Careful Balance

Article 368’s tiered majority requirements strike a careful balance: easy enough to allow genuine constitutional evolution, hard enough to prevent casual, unstable change.

📑 Contents

1Must Know
2Good to Know
3Test Yourself
4Great to Know
5Current Affairs
6Previous Year Question

🏛️ Must Know

Procedure and Basics

Article 368 Article 368 lays down the procedure for amending the Constitution, and can be initiated by a Bill in either House of Parliament.
A Constitutional Amendment A Constitutional Amendment Bill must be passed by each House separately by a special majority.
Amendments affecting federal Amendments affecting federal provisions also require ratification by at least half the State Legislatures.
What Needs Ratification The entrenched list covers changes to any Seventh Schedule List, plus the extent of Union/State executive power (Articles 73/162). It also covers the Supreme Court and High Courts, election of the President, and Article 368 itself. Conditions of the Governor’s office (Article 158) are notably not on this list.
The President cannot The President cannot veto a Constitutional Amendment Bill once passed by both Houses in the required manner.
The First Amendment The First Amendment (1951) was primarily concerned with restricting certain Fundamental Rights, especially around property and free speech.
Text of Article 368 Article 368 lets Parliament amend any constitutional provision by way of addition, variation, or repeal. All three modes are constitutionally valid, not just one or two of them.

🏘️ Good to Know

Amendments and Their Limits

The Ninth Schedule The Ninth Schedule was designed to shield specified laws from judicial review, though the Basic Structure doctrine later limited this protection.
The 44th Amendment The 44th Amendment removed the Right to Property from the list of Fundamental Rights, making it only a legal right instead.
Recent major amendments Recent major amendments include the 101st Amendment introducing GST, and the 103rd Amendment providing for economic reservation.

Test Yourself

⚡ Great to Know

Why the Balance Matters

Article 368’s tiered Article 368’s tiered majority requirements strike a careful balance: easy enough to allow genuine constitutional evolution, hard enough to prevent casual, unstable change.
Requiring State ratification Requiring State ratification for federal amendments protects India’s federal structure from being unilaterally altered by Parliament alone.
Tracking major amendments Tracking major amendments over time offers a useful lens on India’s evolving priorities. Early ones dealt with property-rights disputes; recent ones cover tax reform and social justice measures.

📰 Current Affairs

Eight Amendments in Twelve Years

On 25 July 2026, the Law Ministry told the Lok Sabha that the Constitution has been amended eight times in the last twelve years.

Two of the eight are already covered above: the 101st Amendment (GST) and the 103rd Amendment (EWS reservation).
The 99th Amendment (2014) created the National Judicial Appointments Commission, to replace the judges’ collegium system. The Supreme Court later struck this down.
The 100th Amendment (2015) settled the India-Bangladesh land boundary agreement. The 102nd Amendment (2018) gave the National Commission for Backward Classes constitutional status.
The 104th Amendment (2019) extended SC/ST reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. This extension runs for another ten years, until 25 January 2030.
The 105th Amendment (2021) restored States’ power to identify their own Socially and Educationally Backward Classes, including OBCs, under Article 342A. This reversed a 2021 Supreme Court ruling.
The 106th Amendment (2023) is the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. It provides for reservation of seats for women, in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.