India 2018

General Information 705
31. The Constitution (Thirty-first Amendment) Act, 1973—This Act, inter alia, raises the upper
limit for the representation of states in the Lok Sabha from 500 to 525 and reducing the upper limit
for the representation of union territories from 25 members to 20.
32. The Constitution (Thirty-second Amendment) Act, 1973—This Act provided the necessary
constitutional authority for giving effect to the provision of equal opportunities to different areas
of the State of Andhra Pradesh and for the constitution of an Administrative Tribunal with
jurisdiction to deal with grievances relating to public services. It also empowered Parliament to
legislate for the establishment of a Central University in the State.
33. The Constitution (Thirty-third Amendment) Act, 1974—By this amendment, Articles 101 and
190 were amended in order to streamline the procedure for resignation of Members of Parliament
and State Legislatures.
34. The Constitution (Thirty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1974—By this Act, twenty more land tenure
and land reforms laws enacted by various State Legislatures were included in the Ninth Schedule.
35. The Constitution (Thirty-fifth Amendment) Act, 1974—By this Act a new Article 2A was added
thereby conferring on Sikkim the status of an associate State of Indian Union. Consequent
amendments were made to Articles 80 and 81. A new schedule, i.e., Tenth Schedule, was added
laying down terms and conditions of association of Sikkim with the Union.
36. The Constitution (Thirty-sixth Amendment) Act, 1975—This was enacted to make Sikkim a
full-fledged State of Indian Union and to include it in the First Schedule to the Constitution and to
allot to Sikkim one seat each in the Council of States and in the House of the People. Article 2A and
the Tenth Schedule inserted by the Constitution (Thirty-fifth Amendment) Act were omitted and
Articles 80 and 81 were suitably amended.
37. The Constitution (Thirty-seventh Amendment) Act, 1975—By this Act, Union Territory of
Arunachal Pradesh was provided with a Legislative Assembly. Article 240 of the Constitution was
also amended to provide that as in the case of other union territories with Legislatures, the power
of President to make regulations for the Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh may be exercised
only when the assembly is either dissolved or its functions remain suspended.
38. The Constitution (Thirty-eighth Amendment) Act, 1975—This Act amended Articles 123, 213
and 352 of the Constitution to provide that the satisfaction of President or Governor contained in
these Articles would be called in question in any court of law.
39. The Constitution (Thirty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1975—By this Act, disputes relating to the
election of President, Vice-President, Prime Minister and Speaker are to be determined by such
authority as may be determined by Parliamentary Law. Certain Central enactments were also
included in the Ninth Schedule by this Act.
40. The Constitution (Fortieth Amendment) Act, 1976—This act provided for vesting in the Union
of all mines, minerals and other things of value lying in the ocean within the territorial waters or
the continental shelf or the exclusive economic zone of India. It further provided that all other
resources of the exclusive economic zone of India shall also vest in the Union. This act also provided
that the limits of the territorial waters, the continental shelf, the exclusive economic zone and the
maritime zones of India shall be as specified from time to time by or under any law made by
Parliament. Also some more Acts were added to the Ninth Schedule.
41. The Constitution (Forty-first Amendment) Act, 1976—By this Act, Article 316 was amended to
raise the retirement age of Members of State Public Service Commissions and Joint Public Service
Commissions from 60 to 62 years.
42. The Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976—This act made a number of important
amendments in the Constitution. These amendments were mainly for purpose of giving effect to
the recommendations of Swaran Singh Committee.
Some of the important amendments made are for the purpose of spelling out expressly the
high ideals of socialism, secularism and the integrity of the nation, to make the Directive Principles
more comprehensive and giving them precedence over those Fundamental Rights which have