Kesavananda Bharati Case

Context:

51 years of Kesavananda Bharati judgement.

Kesavananda Bharati Case:

• Challenged the Kerala land reforms legislation in 1970, which imposed restrictions on the management of religious property.
• The law challenged under Article 26, concerning the right to manage religiously owned property without government interference.
• A 13-judge Bench was set up by the Supreme Court, the biggest so far, to hear the case.
• Verdict – Court upheld the validity of the 24^th Constitutional Amendment Act (1971) saying any provision of the Indian Constitution can be amended by the Parliament including the Fundamental Rights.
• As per 24^th Amendment, Constitutional Amendments were not considered laws under Article 13.
• However, the Court laid down a new doctrine of the ‘basic structure’ saying any such amendment cannot change Constitution’s basic structure.

Background:

• Shankari Prasad case (1951) and Sajjan Singh case (1965) – The Supreme Court conceded absolute power to Parliament in amending the Constitution
• Golaknath case (1967) – Supreme Court took a U-turn from its earlier verdict and held that an amendment under Article 368 is “law” within the meaning of Article 13 and therefore, Parliament could not amend Fundamental Rights.
• 24^th Constitutional (Amendment) Act, 1971 – To dis-effect the judgment of the Supreme Court, the government enacted 24^th Amendment giving Parliament the power to amend any part of the Constitution.
• 25^th Constitutional (Amendment) Act, 1972– The right to property had been removed as a fundamental right.

Basic Structure Doctrine:

• The term is not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution.
• Supreme Court is yet to define or clarify as to what constitutes the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution.
• Some important elements of the ‘basic structure’, as evolved from various judgements –
  • Supremacy of the Constitution
  • Secularism – SR Bommai case (1994)
  • Judicial review – Minerva Mills case (1980)
  • Parliamentary system
  • Rule of law
  • Independence of Judiciary
  • Limited power of Parliament to amend the Constitution

Source: The Indian Express

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Previous Year Question

The Ninth Schedule was introduced in the Constitution of India during the prime ministership of:

[UPSC Civil Service Exam – 2019 Prelims]

(a) Jawaharlal Nehru
(b) Lal Bahadur Shastri
(c) Indira Gandhi
(d) Morarji Desai

Answer: (a)

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