Court caseAIR 1951 SC 458

The Constitution (First Amendment) Act 1951 inserted Articles 31A and 31B and the Ninth Schedule to protect zamindari abolition laws from challenge on the ground of fundamental rights. Zamindars affected by the Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh land reform laws petitioned under Article 32, arguing that the amendment itself was 'law' within Article 13(2) and, since it abridged fundamental rights, was void.

Patanjali Sastri J held that although 'law' must ordinarily include constitutional law, there is a clear demarcation between ordinary law made in exercise of legislative power and constitutional law made in exercise of constituent power. In the context of Article 13, 'law' means rules or regulations made in exercise of ordinary legislative power and not amendments to the Constitution. Article 368 confers a power of amendment that is unlimited in terms, and Article 13(2) does not control it. The First Amendment was accordingly valid, and the petitions were dismissed.