Constitutional and Parliamentary Developments: July 2024 to June 2026
Constitutional Amendments
| Amendment | Year | Key Provision | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 106th Amendment (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam) | 2023 | 33% reservation for women in Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies. Implementation after the next delimitation (post-Census 2026) | Enacted. Awaiting implementation trigger |
| 128th Amendment | 2024 | Technical amendment to the Union List and State List to facilitate GST on petroleum products (when the GST Council agrees). Does not automatically bring petrol and diesel under GST | Enacted. Awaiting GST Council decision |
| 129th Amendment | 2025 | 33% reservation for women in State Legislative Assemblies. Extends the 106th Amendment to state assemblies | Enacted. Awaiting implementation trigger |
| Proposed: Simultaneous Elections | Introduced December 2024 | Two Constitution Amendment Bills. One for simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections (requires ratification by half the states). One for synchronised local body elections (requires ratification by half the states). Referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee | Pending before JPC |
Amendment procedure (Article 368) : Know the three types. Simple majority: amendments not under Article 368 (changing state names, citizenship provisions). Special majority: most amendments (two-thirds of members present and voting, plus a majority of total membership). Special majority plus state ratification: amendments affecting federal provisions (distribution of legislative powers, representation of states in Parliament, amendment procedure itself). The simultaneous elections amendments require state ratification because they affect the tenure of state legislatures.
Parliamentary Committee Reports
Parliamentary committees are the engine of legislative scrutiny. Key reports in this period:
| Committee | Report | Key Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Public Accounts Committee (PAC) | PM CARES Fund audit (2025) | The PAC recommended that the PM CARES Fund (established 2020 as a public charitable trust) be audited by the CAG. The government's position: PM CARES is a trust, not a government fund, and is not subject to CAG audit. The PAC's recommendation has not been implemented |
| Estimates Committee | National High-Speed Rail Corporation (2025) | The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project (MAHSR): cost overrun of ₹1.1 lakh crore (original estimate: ₹1.08 lakh crore; revised: ₹2.2 lakh crore). Delay of 5 years (original target: 2023; revised: 2028). Recommended cost-sharing revision and annual CAG audit |
| Committee on External Affairs | India-China Border Infrastructure (2024) | Recommended accelerated construction of roads, tunnels, and airstrips along the LAC. Noted that China has constructed dual-use infrastructure (civilian-military) within 50 km of the LAC at a pace 3-5 times faster than India. Recommended a single-window clearance for strategic border projects |
| Committee on Energy | Renewable Energy Targets and Grid Integration (2025) | Recommended: (a) faster transmission infrastructure for renewable energy (green energy corridors), (b) grid-scale battery storage to address intermittency of solar and wind, (c) reform of DISCOMs to enable them to purchase and distribute renewable energy. Noted that DISCOM debt (approximately ₹6 lakh crore) is the single largest barrier to renewable energy expansion |
| JPC on Personal Data Protection | DPDP Act, 2023 , implementation review (2025) | Recommended: (a) faster notification of rules under the DPDP Act (many rules were pending at the time of the report), (b) strengthening the Data Protection Board's independence (the JPC's recommendation prefigured the Supreme Court's DPDP Act review judgment of May 2026), (c) sector-specific data protection rules for health, finance, and children's data |
CAG Reports
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India is a constitutional authority (Article 148) independent of the executive. Key CAG reports:
| Report | Key Finding |
|---|---|
| CAG report on MGNREGA (2024) | Only 48% of job cards were linked to Aadhaar (target: 100%). Delays in wage payments: 52% of payments were delayed beyond 15 days (the legally mandated period). Material-liability ratio was breached in 12 states (the 60:40 wage-to-material ratio is a statutory requirement) |
| CAG report on PM Awas Yojana (2025) | 1.2 crore houses sanctioned; 85% completed. 22% of beneficiaries were ineligible (income above the EWS threshold, or already owned a pucca house). Beneficiary identification relied on SECC 2011 data (the SECC is outdated). Recommended updating the SECC |
| CAG report on GST (2025) | Input Tax Credit (ITC) fraud of approximately ₹28,000 crore detected over three years. The CAG recommended: (a) AI-based ITC verification, (b) mandatory Aadhaar authentication for new GST registrations, (c) integration of the GSTN (Goods and Services Tax Network) with the Income Tax Department's database. The GST Council accepted the recommendations |
| CAG report on Defence Procurement (2025) | Delays in procurement: 62% of capital acquisition projects were delayed beyond the contracted timeline. The average delay was 4.5 years. The CAG attributed delays to: (a) protracted trial and evaluation processes, (b) the blacklisting of foreign defence manufacturers (imposed after corruption allegations, but also reducing the supplier base), (c) the lack of a dedicated procurement cadre in the Ministry of Defence. Recommended a dedicated Defence Procurement Organisation (DPO) |
Legislative Developments
Three New Criminal Laws: Two-Year Review
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) came into force on July 1, 2024. By 2026, some implementation challenges have emerged:
- Training: All police officers, prosecutors, and judges require training on the new laws. The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) estimated that 22 lakh police personnel and 25,000 judicial officers require training. As of June 2026, approximately 60% have been trained
- Forensic infrastructure: The BNSS mandates forensic investigation for offences punishable with imprisonment of 7 years or more. This requires a massive expansion of forensic laboratory capacity. India has 7 Central Forensic Science Laboratories (CFSLs) and 32 State FSLs , inadequate for the volume of cases. The government has sanctioned ₹2,254 crore for forensic infrastructure expansion
- Sedition: Section 152 BNS (replacing Section 124A IPC) was upheld by the Supreme Court in December 2025. The Court read safeguards into the provision: peaceful protest is not covered, mere possession of material is not an offence, and the burden of proof is on the prosecution
- Zero FIR and e-FIR: The BNSS mandates that police must register an FIR irrespective of jurisdiction (Zero FIR) and within 3 days for complaints received electronically. Implementation is incomplete: only 15 states and UTs have operationalised e-FIR registration
Criminal Law Reforms: Key Changes
| IPC/BNS Change | Details |
|---|---|
| Sedition (Section 124A IPC) | Replaced by Section 152 BNS: "acts endangering sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India." Narrower: requires a specific act, intent, and uses constitutional language |
| Mob lynching | A new offence: Section 103(2) BNS. Punishment: death penalty or life imprisonment. This is the first time mob lynching is defined in Indian criminal law |
| Organised crime | Defined for the first time in general criminal law (Section 109 BNS). Previously, organised crime was defined only in state-specific laws (MCOCA in Maharashtra, GUJCOCA in Gujarat) |
| Community service | Introduced as a punishment for petty offences (Section 4(f) BNS). First used by the Delhi High Court in a 2025 judgment (a traffic violator was directed to perform community service at a government hospital for one week) |
| Trial timelines | The BNSS mandates: investigation to be completed within 90 days (extendable to 180 days). Trial to be completed within 1 year of framing charges. Judgment to be delivered within 45 days of the conclusion of arguments |
Other Significant Legislative Developments
Simultaneous Elections (One Nation One Election) : The Kovind Committee (High-Level Committee, chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind) submitted its report in March 2024. Key recommendations: (a) simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies as the first step, (b) synchronised local body elections within 100 days of the general election, (c) 18 constitutional amendments required, (d) a "unity government" or "constructive vote of no-confidence" to ensure stability in case of a premature dissolution. Two Constitution Amendment Bills were introduced in December 2024 and referred to a JPC. The JPC report is pending.
The Forest Conservation Amendment Act, 2023: Came into force in 2024. Key provisions: (a) exempts strategic linear projects (roads, railways near international borders) from forest clearance, (b) exempts land within 100 km of international borders from the Act's provisions, (c) the amendment was challenged in the Supreme Court. The Court refused to stay it but agreed to examine its constitutionality.
The Biological Diversity Amendment Act, 2023: Came into force in 2024. Decriminalises offences under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. Reduces the regulatory burden on AYUSH practitioners. Criticised for weakening biodiversity protection.
The Telecommunications Act, 2025: Replaces the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (a colonial-era law), the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933, and the TRAI Act, 1997. Key feature: OTT platforms (WhatsApp, Telegram) brought under telecom regulation for the first time.
The Press and Registration of Periodicals Act, 2025: Replaces the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 (a colonial-era law). Simplifies registration. Decriminalises several offences. Online single-window registration.
Judiciary-Legislature-Executive Relations
The relationship between the three branches remained a central theme. Key developments:
- Collegium vs NJAC: The Supreme Court's dismissal of the NJAC review petition (August 2025) reaffirmed judicial primacy in appointments. The government has criticised the collegium system as opaque and unaccountable but has not legislated an alternative
- Ordinance-making: The government used the ordinance route for 12 ordinances during this period. The Supreme Court, in the D.C. Wadhwa judgment (1987) and the Krishna Kumar Singh judgment (2017), has held that re-promulgation of ordinances without legislative approval is unconstitutional. No ordinance was re-promulgated
- Governor's powers: The Supreme Court's judgments on gubernatorial powers: (a) Governors cannot indefinitely sit on bills passed by state legislatures (2023, Punjab and Telangana cases), (b) the Maharashtra political crisis (2022) led to the Court clarifying that the Governor's discretion in inviting parties to form a government is limited, (c) the Governor must return a bill "as soon as possible" with reasons if assent is withheld. The relationship between elected state governments and appointed Governors remains contentious
- Tribunal reform: The Supreme Court's direction in the Madras Bar Association case (2021) , that tribunals must have judicial members and judicial working conditions , is being implemented. The Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 (which gave the government wide powers over tribunal composition, tenure, and removal) was partially struck down. The government has reformed the tribunal appointment process to include judicial members on selection committees