India 2018

General Information 709
Assembly of such States in existence on the date of coming into force of this constitution amendment
act are held by the members of Scheduled Tribes, all the seats except one shall be reserved for
scheduled tribes and in any other case such number of seats as bears to the total number of seats a
proportion not less than the number of members belonging to Scheduled Tribes in the existing
assembly bears to the total number of seats in the existing assembly. The Act achieves these
objectives.
58. The Constitution (Fifty-eighth Amendment) Act, 1987—There has been general demand for the
publication of authoritative text of the Constitution in Hindi. It is imperative to have an authoritative
text of the Constitution for facilitating its use in the legal process. Any Hindi version of the
Constitution should not only conform to the Hindi translation published by the Constituent
Assembly, but should be in conformity, with the language style and terminology adopted in the
authoritative texts of Central Acts in Hindi. The Constitution has been amended to empower
President of India to publish under his authority the translation of the Constitution in Hindi signed
by the Members of the Constituent Assembly with such modification as may be necessary to bring
it in conformity with the language, style and terminology adopted in the authoritative texts of
Central Acts in Hindi language. President has also been authorised to publish the translation in
Hindi of every amendment of the Constitution made in English.
59. The Constitution (Fifty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1988—The Act amends Article 365 (5) of the
Constitution so as to facilitate the extension of a Presidential Proclamation issued under clause (1)
of Article 356 beyond a period of one year, if necessary upto a period of three years, as permissible
under clause (4) of Article 356 with respect to the State of Punjab because of the continued disturbed
situation there. The Act also amends Article 352 of the Constitution pertaining to the Proclamation
of Emergency in its application to the State of Punjab and includes internal disturbance as one of
the grounds for making a Proclamation in respect of the State of Punjab only. As a consequence of
amendment in Article 352, Articles 358 and 359 in relation to the State of Punjab will be operative
only for a period of two years from 30 March 1988, which is the date of commencement of the
amendment.
60. The Constitution (Sixtieth Amendment) Act, 1988—The Act amends clause (2) of Article 276 of
the Constitution so as to increase the ceiling of taxes on professions, trades, callings and employment
from Rs 250 per annum to Rs 2,500 per annum. The upward revision of this tax will help state
governments in raising additional resources. The proviso to clause (2) has been omitted.
61. The Constitution (Sixty-first Amendment) Act, 1989—The Act provides for reducing voting
age from 21 to 18 years by amending Article 326 of the Constitution to provide to the unrepresented
youth of the country an opportunity to give vent to their feelings and help them become a part of
political process.
62. The Constitution (Sixty-second Amendment) Act, 1989—Article 334 of the Constitution lays
down that the provisions of the Constitution relating to the reservation of seats for the Scheduled
Castes and the Scheduled Tribes and the representation of the Anglo-Indian community by
nomination in the Lok Sabha and in the Legislative Assemblies of the States shall cease to have
effect on the expiry of a period of 40 years from the commencement of the Constitution. Although
the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes have made considerable progress in the last 40
years, the reasons which weighed with the Constituent Assembly in making provisions with regard
to the aforesaid reservation of seats and nomination of members, have not ceased to exist. The Act
amends Article 334 of the Constitution to continue the reservation for the Scheduled Castes and
the Scheduled Tribes and the representation of the Anglo-Indians by nomination for a further
period of 10 years.
63. The Constitution (Sixty-third Amendment) Act, 1989—The Constitution (Fifty-ninth
Amendment) Act, 1988 was enacted in March 1988 making certain changes in regard to making a
Proclamation of Emergency in Punjab and to the duration of President’s rule in State. On
reconsideration, the Government decided that the special powers in regard to the Proclamation of
Emergency in Punjab as envisaged in the said amendment is no longer required. Accordingly the
provision to clause (5) of Article 356 and Article 359A of the Constitution have been omitted.
64. The Constitution (Sixty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1990—This Act amends clauses (4) and (5) of