Supreme Court Dismisses Petition Against Constitutional Provisions, Imposes Rs 10,000 Cost

The Supreme Court has dismissed with a cost of Rs 10,000 a petition which sought declaring as unconstitutional certain provisions of the Constitution and section 149 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Section 149 of the BNS deals with punishment for collecting arms or ammunition with the intention of waging war against the Government of India.

A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti passed the order while dealing with the plea which sought declaring several Articles of the Constitution, including 52, 53, 246, 361 and 368, the oath taken by the armed forces, and section 149 of BNS unconstitutional.

'We see no merit in the writ petition and the same is accordingly dismissed, imposing a cost of Rs 10,000 on the petitioner. The cost amount be deposited with Supreme Court Legal Services Committee within one week from today,' the bench said in its Aug. 9 order.

While Article 52 of the Constitution says that there shall be a President of India, Article 53 pertains to executive powers of the Union. Article 246 of the Constitution pertains to the subject matter of laws made by Parliament and by state legislatures.

While Article 361 of the Constitution deals with protection of President, Governors and Rajpramukhs, Article 368 pertains to power of Parliament to amend the Constitution and procedure therefor.