Kesavananda Bharati

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KESAVANANDA BHARATI NEWS

Why India’s Constitution has survived the test of the time, even as those of its neighbours failed

November 27, 2025 12:34 pm

The Constitution has been neither rigid nor flexible. It is a blend of both and paved the way for political leaders to alter the rule book according to the current needs of society, without changing the basic framework

The Article – granting the apex court the power to pass any order necessary to ensure “complete justice” in any case pending before it – “has become a nuclear missile against democratic forces, available to the judiciary 24×7”, V-P Jagdeep Dhankhar said. (Express Archive Photo by Partha Paul)

Art 142: Dubbed ‘nuclear missile’ by V-P Dhankhar, deployed by SC in cases from Ayodhya to Bhopal to Visakha

April 24, 2025 7:34 am

Article 142, which grants the apex court the power to pass any order necessary to ensure “complete justice”, was used sparingly until there was a spike in the 1990s amidst much political upheaval in country.

The thesis titled, “The Judicial Role in Constitutional Protection: Examining the Legitimacy of Basic Structure Review in India”, provides strong support to the jurisprudential foundations and doctrinal validity of the doctrine in a rather interesting manner (Illustration by C R Sasikumar)

Protecting Basic Structure from judicial arbitrariness

December 11, 2023 1:57 pm

While in the past, it was the efficacy of its judgments that earned the judiciary public trust, today that trust can be sustained only through a demonstration of the legitimacy of its judgments.

apurva vishwanath writes on how the history of the basic structure doctrine is entwined with that of the supreme court collegium

From basic structure to collegium: A shared thread

May 07, 2023 9:09 am

The 99th Constitution Amendment Act, commonly called the NJAC Act, gave the executive a foot in the door on judges’ appointment.

50 years of Kesavanada Bharathi judgment: Supreme Court dedicates web page containing details of case verdict

April 25, 2023 3:47 am

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud announced the launch in his courtroom Monday morning.

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Kesavananda Bharati case: How a divided courtroom set Parliament-Constitution rules of engagement

April 25, 2023 8:42 am

Fifty years ago, by the narrowest possible margin of 7-6, a 13-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court ruled that the “basic structure” of the Constitution is inviolable and cannot be amended by Parliament.

50 years of Kesavananda Bharati case and its legacy: How Supreme Court has invoked the basic structure doctrine over the years

April 25, 2023 8:41 am

Over the decades, the basic structure doctrine has been criticised repeatedly — for diluting the principle of separation of powers and undermining the sovereignty of Parliament, and as a vague and subjective form of judicial review.

Basic structure doctrine is vague, open to interpretations of individual judges

September 22, 2020 8:46 am

In the quest to protect democracy from the hands of elected parliamentary representatives, it is unacceptable to place it entirely in the hands of an unelected judiciary.

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Launching vicious campaign against judges in the event of an adverse verdict threatens judiciary’s independence

August 13, 2022 11:03 am

Ravi Shankar Prasad writes: Those who have been defeated repeatedly by the people of India through a popular mandate cannot and should not control the polity and governance through collusive cases from the corridors of the Supreme Court and other courts. This is unacceptable.