Berubari case (1960)
Sir Radcliffe was in-charge of drawing the boundaries at the time of India-Pakistan partition. In order to make sure that there was no bias involved, Sir Radcliffe was given this responsibility as he didn’t know anything about Indian Geography.
He distributed thanas between India and Pakistan. These thanas would ultimately be the boundary between India and Pakistan.
While awarding the thanas, Berubari thana in Jalpaiguri (West Bengal) was awarded to India. However, it wasn’t mentioned in any written text.
This flared the malicious intent of Pakistan, and it claimed Berubari as being part of East Pakistan, as it fell in the map of Pakistan.
Post continuing disputes, the Nehru-Noon agreement was signed (1958). The agreement talked of dividing the Berubari union into two equal territories between India and Pakistan.
But after criticism of the government, it decided to refer the matter to the highest judiciary – the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court’s Judgment
- Article 3(c) gave the Parliament a power to diminish a state territory.
- However, the Parliament didn’t have the power to cede a territory to a foreign power.
- In order to do so, the Parliament had to bring an amendment using Article 3 with an ordinary majority in the Parliament. (Under Article 368, special majority is required)
- This led to enactment of 9th Constitutional Amendment of 1960, in order to give effect to the Nehru-Noon agreement.
The Judgment about the Preamble
The Berubari case also mentioned that Preamble of the Indian Constitution, even though it served as a guide for the law framers, it was not a source of all the powers given to the Government by the Indian Constitution.
