Consider the following statements:

1. The Parliament of India can place a particular law in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution of India. 

2. The validity of a law placed in the Ninth Schedule cannot be examined by any court and no judgement can be made on it. 

Which of the statements given above is/are correct? 

a) 1 only 

b) 2 only 

c) Both 1 and 2 

d) Neither 1 nor 2 

Solution: 

• The Ninth Schedule contains a list of central and state laws which cannot be challenged in courts. Currently, 284 such laws are shielded from judicial review. 
• The Schedule became a part of the Constitution in 1951, when the document was amended for the first time. The Parliament has the power to place a particular law in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution of India.
• The mandate of ninth schedule is to prevent judicial scrutiny but in a landmark ruling in IR Coelho versus State of Tamil Nadu, 2007, the Supreme Court of India ruled that all laws (including those in the Ninth Schedule) would be open to Judicial Review if they violated the basic structure of the constitution. 
• The Supreme Court judgment laid that the laws placed under Ninth Schedule after April 24, 1973 shall be open to challenge in court if they violated fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 14, 19, 20 and 21 of the Constitution. 

Ans: (a)