Forty-Fourth Amendment Act, 1978

• Restored the original term of the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies.
• Omitted the reference to the British House of Commons in the provisions pertaining to the parliamentary privileges.  Gave constitutional protection to publication in newspaper of true reports of the proceedings of the Parliament and the state legislatures.
• Empowered the president to send back once the advice of cabinet for reconsideration. But the reconsidered advice is to be binding on the president.
• Deleted the provision which made the satisfaction of the president, governor and administrators final in issuing ordinances.
• Replaced the term “internal disturbance” by “armed rebellion” in respect of national emergency.
• Made the President to declare a national emergency only on the written recommendation of the cabinet.
• Made certain procedural safeguards with respect to national emergency and President’s rule.
• Deleted the right to property from the list of Fundamental Rights and made it only a legal right.
• Provided that the fundamental rights guaranteed by Articles 20 and 21 cannot be suspended during a national emergency.
•  Omitted the provisions which took away the power of the court to decide the election disputes of the president, the vice-president, the prime minister and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

NOTE:

• Enacted by the Janata Government mainly to nullify some of the other distortions introduced by the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976.