🔆 Forty-Second Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976 📍 Key Additions: ✅ Preamble: Added "socialist," "secular," and "integrity" to define India's core values. ✅ Directive Principles (Articles 39A, 43A, 48A): Introduced: 🟢 Equal justice and free legal aid. 🏭 Participation of workers in industrial management. 🌳 Protection of environment, forests, and wildlife ✅ Fundamental Duties (Article 51A): Introduced Part IV-A, listing ten Fundamental Duties for citizens. ✅ Administrative Tribunals (Part XIV-A): Added Article 323A (administrative tribunals) and Article 323B (tribunals for other matters). ✅ Article 368 (Clauses 4 & 5): Made constitutional amendments beyond judicial scrutiny. 📍 Key Changes: ✅ Directive Principles Supremacy: Amended Article 31C to give Directive Principles precedence over Fundamental Rights in certain cases. ✅ Judicial Powers Curtailed: Restricted judicial review by Supreme Court and High Courts. ✅ Executive Powers Enhanced: Made the President bound by the Cabinet's advice. ✅ Tenure of Legislatures: Extended the term of Lok Sabha and State Assemblies from 5 to 6 years. ✅ President’s Rule: Increased its duration from 6 months to 1 year. ✅ Parliamentary Procedure: Removed the requirement of quorum for parliamentary and state legislative sessions. ✅ Lok Sabha Seats Frozen: Froze representation based on the 1971 census until 2001. ✅ Seventh Schedule: Moved five subjects (education, forests, protection of wildlife, weights and measures, and administration of justice) from the State List to the Concurrent List. 📍 Significance: ✅ Strengthened the Directive Principles to emphasize socio-economic reforms. ✅ Introduced Fundamental Duties to promote civic responsibility among citizens. ✅ Enhanced centralization of powers but raised concerns about weakening the federal structure. The Forty-Second Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976, often referred to as the "Mini-Constitution", brought sweeping changes to India’s governance framework, reflecting the authoritarian tendencies of the Emergency period while emphasizing the goals of a socialist and secular state. #polity #prelims