The Ninth Schedule, to protect land reform laws from being challenged in courts on the ground of violation of Fundamental Rights, was added to the Constitution by the:

The 1st Constitutional Amendment Act, 1951, added the Ninth Schedule to the Constitution, along with Articles 31A and 31B, to protect land reform laws from being challenged in the courts.

Background:

• After Independence, many states passed laws to abolish the zamindari system and to carry out land reforms.
• The zamindars challenged these laws in the courts, on the ground that they violated their Fundamental Rights, especially the right to property.
• The government of Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to protect the land reforms, which were essential for social justice.
• The Provisional Parliament passed the 1st Amendment in June 1951.

Main provisions of the 1st Amendment:

• It added Article 31A, which saved laws providing for the acquisition of estates.
• It added Article 31B and the Ninth Schedule; laws included in the Ninth Schedule were protected from being challenged on the ground of violation of Fundamental Rights.
• It added "reasonable restrictions" on the freedom of speech and expression in the interest of public order, friendly relations with foreign states, and incitement to an offence.
• It added Article 15(4), which allowed the State to make special provisions for the advancement of the socially and educationally backward classes and the SCs and STs (after the Champakam Dorairajan case).
• Originally, 13 laws were placed in the Ninth Schedule.

Growth of the Ninth Schedule:

Over time, many laws were added to the Ninth Schedule, including laws that had nothing to do with land reform; it now contains more than 280 laws.

The I. R. Coelho case (2007):

A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court held that laws placed in the Ninth Schedule after 24 April 1973 (the date of the Kesavananda Bharati judgment) can be challenged if they violate the basic structure of the Constitution, including the Fundamental Rights that form part of it.

Why not the other options?

• ✗The 4th, 17th and 24th Amendments made other changes, including some relating to property and land reforms, but the Ninth Schedule was added by the 1st Amendment.