Forty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution of India

The Forty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution of India (1980), officially titled The Constitution (Forty-fifth Amendment) Act, 1980, extended for a further decade the constitutional provisions relating to reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies, and the nomination of Anglo-Indians to these legislative bodies. Enacted during the presidency of Neelam Sanjiva Reddy and the tenure of the Indira Gandhi government, the Amendment renewed Article 334’s operation for ten additional years—from 26 January 1980 to 26 January 1990.

Constitutional and Historical Context

When the Constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950, it contained temporary provisions under Article 334 providing special representation for historically disadvantaged groups. The framers expected that after twenty years, the need for such reservation would diminish as social equality progressed. Hence, Article 334 originally stipulated that these provisions would cease to operate after twenty years—i.e., on 26 January 1970.
However, given persistent socio-economic disparities, Parliament has repeatedly extended this period:

• Eighth Amendment (1959) extended it to 1970.
• Twenty-third Amendment (1969) extended it to 1980.
• Forty-fifth Amendment (1980) extended it to 1990.Later, similar extensions were carried out by the Sixty-second (1990), Seventy-ninth (1999), Ninety-fifth (2009), and One Hundred and Fourth (2020) Amendments, which currently preserve these arrangements up to 2030.

The rationale for continued reservation lay in the recognition that despite constitutional guarantees and socio-political reforms, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes remained under-represented in legislative and administrative structures. Moreover, the Anglo-Indian community, being numerically small, was still deemed to require nominated representation to safeguard its cultural and educational interests.

Legislative History and Enactment

The Constitution (Forty-fifth Amendment) Bill, 1980 (Bill No. 1 of 1980) was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 23 January 1980 by Zail Singh, then Minister of Home Affairs in the Indira Gandhi cabinet. It sought to amend Article 334 by substituting the words “thirty years” with “forty years”.
The Statement of Objects and Reasons accompanying the Bill noted that although “the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have made considerable progress in the last thirty years, the reasons which weighed with the Constituent Assembly… have not ceased to exist.” Therefore, continuation of reservation and representation for another ten years was necessary.

• The Bill was debated and passed by the Lok Sabha on 24 January 1980 in its original form.
• The Rajya Sabha approved it on 25 January 1980.
• It received Presidential assent on 14 April 1980 and was deemed to have come into force retroactively from 25 January 1980, ensuring no constitutional discontinuity.

Although a constitutional amendment under Article 368, it required ratification by more than half of the State legislatures, since it affected provisions related to State representation.

Ratification by States

The Amendment was duly ratified by the following State Legislatures:
Ratified: Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, and West Bengal.
Did not ratify: Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh.
Despite partial ratification, the requisite majority was achieved, and the Amendment was constitutionally validated.

Constitutional Text and Change Introduced

The Amendment modified Article 334 of the Constitution, which appears in Part XVI (Special Provisions Relating to Certain Classes).
Before amendment, Article 334 read that such reservations and nominations would cease to have effect on the expiration of thirty years from the commencement of the Constitution. The Forty-fifth Amendment replaced the words “thirty years” with “forty years”, thereby extending the operation of reservation and special representation to 26 January 1990.
The amended clause read:

334. Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Part, the provisions of this Constitution relating to—(a) the reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People and in the Legislative Assemblies of the States; and(b) the representation of the Anglo-Indian community in the House of the People and in the Legislative Assemblies of the States by nomination,shall cease to have effect on the expiration of a period of forty years from the commencement of this Constitution.

A proviso further ensured that any such representation already existing would continue until the dissolution of the concerned House or Assembly.

Social and Political Significance

The Forty-fifth Amendment reaffirmed the Indian state’s long-term commitment to social justice and inclusive democracy. The continued reservation of seats and nominations ensured:

• Representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in legislative decision-making bodies, thereby strengthening the principle of political equality.
• Safeguarding the Anglo-Indian community, allowing their continued cultural and educational representation through nominated members under Articles 331 and 333.
• Consistency in affirmative action, reinforcing the constitutional mandate of equality of opportunity under Articles 15 and 16 and the vision of social transformation embodied in the Directive Principles of State Policy (Part IV).

The extension also reflected Parliament’s practical recognition that social hierarchies and economic inequalities could not be overcome within a fixed timeframe and required sustained constitutional protection.

Broader Constitutional Context

The pattern of successive extensions—from the Eighth to the Forty-fifth Amendment, and later through the Sixty-second, Seventy-ninth, Ninety-fifth, and One Hundred and Fourth Amendments—demonstrates Parliament’s consistent approach toward progressive realisation of equality rather than abrupt withdrawal of constitutional safeguards.
The Anglo-Indian nomination provision, though now discontinued by the 104th Amendment (2020), remained a vital mechanism of minority inclusion for seven decades. Meanwhile, the reservation of SC and ST seats continues to be viewed as an essential corrective to historical exclusion, operating as a constitutional instrument of substantive democracy.

Key Features Summarised

Evaluation and Legacy

The Forty-fifth Amendment exemplifies the Constitution’s capacity for adaptive continuity, ensuring that temporary measures addressing entrenched social disparities evolve with the nation’s development trajectory. Though conceived as interim, the repeated renewals of Article 334 underscore the enduring relevance of representational justice in India’s plural democracy.
By prolonging the special representation of marginalised communities, the Amendment reaffirmed the constitutional ethos of equality, fraternity, and inclusion, bridging the gap between formal political rights and substantive social empowerment. While its provisions have since expired, its spirit continues to shape India’s affirmative action framework and the constitutional commitment to an equitable political order.