Correct Option
The Ninth Schedule was incorporated into the Constitution of India through the First Constitutional Amendment Act, 1951. This amendment was enacted during the prime ministership of Jawaharlal Nehru. The primary objective of introducing the Ninth Schedule was to protect laws, particularly those concerning land reforms and the abolition of the zamindari system, from judicial scrutiny on the grounds of violating Fundamental Rights, specifically Articles 14 and 19. It was introduced concurrently with Article 31B, which stipulated that laws placed within the Ninth Schedule could not be challenged in courts for infringing Fundamental Rights.
Incorrect Options
Option (b) Lal Bahadur Shastri: He served as the Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966. The Ninth Schedule was introduced in 1951, prior to his tenure.
Option (c) Indira Gandhi: She assumed the office of Prime Minister in 1966. Although her government extensively utilized the Ninth Schedule, particularly during the Emergency period, she was not the Prime Minister at the time of its original introduction.
Option (d) Morarji Desai: He served as the Prime Minister from 1977 to 1979. This period is significantly later than the introduction of the Ninth Schedule in 1951.