97th Constitutional Amendment Act 2011
Topic: Amendment of the Constitution and the Basic Structure · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The 97th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2011 gave cooperative societies a place in the Constitution. It:
- made forming cooperatives a fundamental right under Art. 19(1)(c);
- added Art. 43B, a directive (a guiding goal for the state) to promote cooperatives;
- added Part IXB on how cooperatives are run.
Its fate shows why state ratification (approval by half the state legislatures) matters.
Example
In Rajendra N. Shah (2021), the Supreme Court held Part IXB void for state cooperatives. Cooperatives are a State List subject. An amendment that touches the State List needs ratification by half the states, and this one was never ratified. So Part IXB now applies only to multi-state cooperatives.
Don't confuse with
- Kihoto Hollohan (1992): this is a different case on the same principle. There, the Court struck down para 7 of the Tenth Schedule, which barred the courts, because it too was not ratified by the states.
Related concepts
- Amendment of the Constitution
- Constituent power
- Amendment by simple majority
- Amendment by special majority and state ratification