Articles 31A, 31B, 31C: Safeguarding Socio-Economic Laws

• Articles 31A, 31B, and 31C offer specific protections to laws, especially concerning land reforms and socio-economic legislation, shielding them from challenges based on Fundamental Rights.

Article 31A

• Protects laws concerning land reforms, abolition of zamindari systems, and estate acquisitions from being challenged under Article 14 (Right to Equality) and Article 19 (Right to Property, which has been repealed).
• Ensures laws designed to redistribute land and resources for social justice are shielded from invalidation by courts.

Article 31B

• States that laws listed under the Ninth Schedule are immune from challenges citing violations of Fundamental Rights.
• The Ninth Schedule was introduced via the First Amendment in 1951.
• Initially, laws under the Ninth Schedule had absolute immunity.
• The Kesavananda Bharati case in 1973 and the I.R. Coelho case in 2007 established that laws in the Ninth Schedule could be reviewed if they violated the Constitution's basic structure.

Article 31C

• Protects laws enacted to implement Article 39(b) and (c) of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) from being challenged under Article 14 (Equality) and Article 19 (Freedom of Speech, Trade, etc.).
• Article 39(b) and (c) relate to socialistic principles, particularly the equitable distribution of wealth.
• The 42nd Amendment in 1976 attempted to extend this protection to all DPSPs.
• In the Minerva Mills case of 1980, the Supreme Court limited the protection to laws implementing Article 39(b) and (c), striking down the broader extension.