Today, the Supreme Court raised doubts about the possibility of amending the Preamble of the Constitution while retaining its original adoption date of November 26, 1949.

Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, presiding over the bench, directed a query to former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy and lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who have petitioned for the removal of the terms "Socialist" and "Secular" from the Preamble of the Constitution.

"For the academic purpose, can a Preamble that has the date mentioned, be changed without altering the date of adoption. Otherwise, yes the Preamble can be amended. There is no problem with that," Justice Datta said.

Mr. Swamy replied, "That's precisely the question in the matter."

Justice Datta further said, "this is perhaps the only preamble I have seen that comes with a date. We give this Constitution to us on so and so date ... originally these two words (socialist and secular) were not there."

Mr. Jain said that the Preamble of Constitution of India comes with a specific date, therefore it cannot be amended without discussion.

Justice Khanna, in the beginning, informed Mr. Swamy that the judges had received the case files early in the morning and due to time constraints, they had not had the opportunity to review them thoroughly.

The bench said that the matter required detailed discussion and posted the hearing on the two petitions to April 29.

On September 2, 2022, the Supreme Court had combined Mr. Swamy's plea with another ongoing case, filed by Balram Singh and others, for joint consideration. Both Mr. Swamy and Mr. Singh have petitioned for the removal of the terms "Socialist" and "Secular" from the Preamble.

The terms "Socialist" and "Secular" were added to the Preamble of the Constitution through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment, which was proposed by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1976.

The amendment changed the description of India in the Preamble from a "sovereign, democratic republic" to a "sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic." Mr Swamy, in his petition, has contended that Preamble cannot be altered, varied, or repealed.

In his petition, he asserted that the Preamble not only indicated the fundamental principles of the Constitution but also embodies the foundational principles upon which it was adopted to foster a cohesive and integrated society.