Amendment & the Basic Structure Doctrine — KSLU Constitutional Law 2 Notes

Amendment & the Basic Structure Doctrine

Article 368 lets Parliament amend the Constitution by a special majority (and, for federal provisions, ratification by half the States).

The arc of the cases:

• Shankari Prasad (1951) & Sajjan Singh (1965): Parliament could amend even fundamental rights.
• Golak Nath (1967): fundamental rights are beyond the amending power.
• Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973): the landmark synthesis — Parliament may amend any provision but cannot damage or destroy the “basic structure” of the Constitution.
• Minerva Mills (1980) and Waman Rao (1981): applied and confirmed the doctrine; judicial review and the FR–DPSP balance are part of the basic structure.

Basic features held inviolable include the supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law, judicial review, federalism, secularism, democracy, separation of powers, and free and fair elections.

The Schedules are the Constitution’s twelve detailed appendices (the Seventh — division of powers; the Tenth — anti-defection). The NCRWC (Venkatachaliah Commission, 2000–02) reviewed the working of the Constitution, expressly preserving the basic structure.