Scope of the Preamble

Unlike the Constitution of Australia, Canada or the U.S.A., the Constitution of India has an elaborate Preamble. The Preamble does not grant any power but it gives direction and purpose to the Constitution. It serves as a guiding light for holistic understanding of the Indian Constitution.

It envisages for citizen’s liberty, equality and fraternity which has to be secured and

protected along with social justice, economic empowerment and political justice.

Though Preamble is a part of the Constitution and is not enforceable in a Court of Law by itself, nonetheless it aids in the legal interpretation of the Constitution where language is found to be ambiguous. Further, the scope and utility of the Preamble has been pointed out in several decisions of the Supreme Court where it held that the Preamble defines the ‘Basic structure’ of our Constitution and imposes a limitation on the misuse of the amending power of legislatures.