Question:Consider the following statements with respect to Kesavananda Bharati case :
(1) The case was primarily about the extent of Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution.
(2) This case gives birth to the legal doctrine of Basic Structure.
Which is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) None of these
Answer:(c)
- Context:
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the passing away of Kesavananda Bharati Ji.
- Facts:
- Kesavananda Bharati was the head seer of the Edneer Mutt in Kasaragod district of Kerala since 1961. He left his signature in one of the significant rulings of the Supreme Court when he challenged the Kerala land reforms legislation in 1970.
- The Kesavananda Bharati judgement, is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of India that outlined the basic structure doctrine of the Constitution.
- Justice Hans Raj Khanna asserted through the Basic Structure doctrine that the constitution possesses a basic structure of constitutional principles and values.
- The doctrine forms the basis of power of the Indian judiciary to review and override amendments to the Constitution of India enacted by the Indian parliament.
- What was the Kesavananda Bharati case about?
- The case was primarily about the extent of Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution.
- The case initially started on the challenge to the Kerala Land Reforms (Amendment) Act 1969.
- Later, the court was reviewing a 1967 decision in Golaknath vs State of Punjab which had reversed the earlier verdicts and ruled that Parliament cannot amend fundamental rights.
- The court was also deciding the constitutional validity of several amendments passed by the Government.
- What was the judgement?
- The Constitutional Bench ruled that Parliament could amend any part of the Constitution so long as it did not alter or amend the basic structure or essential features of the Constitution.
- However, the court did not define the ‘basic structure’ and has been adding new features to this concept through various SC judgments which includes: supremacy of the Constitution, rule of law, Independence of the judiciary, doctrine of separation of powers, federalism, secularism, principle of free and fair elections among others.
By:Arpit Mishra
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