In India, which one of the following Constitutional Amendments was widely believed to be enacted to overcome the judicial interpretations of the Fundamental Rights?
Explanation
The First Amendment Act (1951) was enacted specifically to address judicial decisions that hindered the government's socio-economic agenda, particularly regarding land reforms and reservations.
1. Right to Equality (Article 15): In the case of *State of Madras v. Champakam Dorairajan (1951)*, the Supreme Court struck down a government order providing caste-based reservations in medical and engineering colleges. To overcome this, the 1st Amendment added Article 15(4), empowering the state to make special provisions for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes.
2. Right to Property (Articles 31A and 31B): Judicial challenges to various Zamindari abolition laws (such as *Kameshwar Singh v. State of Bihar*) led the government to introduce Articles 31A and 31B. It also created the Ninth Schedule to protect specific laws from being challenged in courts on the grounds of violating Fundamental Rights.
3. Freedom of Speech (Article 19): Following judgments like *Romesh Thappar v. State of Madras*, which limited the state's power to curb free speech, the amendment added three new grounds of 'reasonable restrictions': public order, friendly relations with foreign states, and incitement to an offence.
Note: While the 1st Amendment is the historically correct context for this question, UPSC dropped/deleted this specific question from the final official answer key for Prelims 2023.