BASIC STRUCTURE DOCTRINE (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – Polity)
Context: Recently, the Defence Minister of India reaffirmed his commitment to upholding the basic structure of the Constitution during his conversation.
Basic Structure of Doctrine
- About: It is a judicial principle that was established by the Supreme Court of India to safeguard the fundamental principles enshrined in the Constitution from being amended or altered in a manner that would fundamentally change its character.
- The discussion on the extent of Parliament's authority to amend the Constitution under Article 368 began as early as 1951.
- Background
o Kerala Land Reforms Amendment Act(1969): Through this Act, the Kerala Government was empowered to acquire land owned by the Matt.
o Kesavananda Bharati Case 1973: He involved a petition filed against the Government of Kerala regarding the forced acquisition of someone's land under the provisions of this Act.
o Fundamental Rights: The petitioner argued that this act violated their Fundamental Rights as guaranteed in Articles 25, 26, and 31 of the Constitution of India.
- Current status of Article 368:
o The Parliament under Article 368 can amend any part of the Constitution including the Fundamental Rights but without affecting the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution.
o However, the Supreme Court is yet to define or clarify as to what constitutes the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution.
o ‘Basic structure’ word not mention in the Constitution.
Components of Basic Structure:
- Supremacy of the Constitution
- Sovereign, democratic and republican nature of the Indian polity
- Separation of powers between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary
- Judicial review
- Parliamentary system
- Rule of law
- Principle of equality
- Free and fair elections
- Independence of Judiciary
- Limited power of Parliament to amend the Constitution
