Basic Structure doctrine
#GS-02 Judiciary
For Prelims
Basic Structure doctrine
- Constitution under Article 368 grants power to the Parliament to amend the constitution in case of a necessity.
- The doctrine of basic structure is an Indian judicial innovation to maintain the integrity of the constitution and to ensure that the power of amendment is not misused by Parliament.
- Basic Structure doctrine acts as a limitation on the power of the Parliament to prevent it from turning India into a totalitarian state.
- The doctrine does not have a textual basis and is purely a judicial innovation.
- The origins of the basic structure doctrine can be found in the post-Nazi German Constitution which was amended to protect some basic laws.
- Supreme Court reaffirmed the Basic Structure doctrine in the Minerva mills case.
- The basic structure has not yet been fully defined by the Supreme Court as it has continued to enhance it with some new contents from time-to-time.
Some of which are
- Supremacy of the constitution
- Rule of law
- Sovereignty, liberty and republic nature of Indian polity.
- Judicial review
- Harmony and Balance between fundamental rights and directive principles.
- Separation of power.
- Federal character.
- Parliamentary system.
- Rule of equality.
- Unity and integrity of the nation.
For Mains
The Validity of Basic Structure Doctrine
- The Parliament cannot cease to be a creation of the Constitution and become its master.
- The basic structure or framework of the Constitution is its living spirit or soul of the Constitution, holding up the body of its text.
- Y. Chandrachud, the Chief Justice of India compared the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution to the North Star, deeming it an unfailing guide which shows the way when the path appears convoluted.
- The basic structure of the constitution is inextricably linked to the values enshrined in the Preamble, without which the document and the ideas that make it sacred would collapse.
- Granville Austin in his book “Working of a Democratic Constitution” calls the basic structure doctrine as “the bedrock of constitutional interpretation in India”.
Source “The basic structure of the Constitution”
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