Article 35A – A Constitutional Ambiguity

Shikhar Sarangi, National Law University, Delhi

ABSTRACT

The status of Article 35A in the Constitution of India came into question following the abrogation of Article 370, which led to the dissolution of its by-products, of which Article 35A was one of them. Prior to this, the Article remained shrouded in obscurity within the Annexure of the Constitution and its emergence into the limelight raised questions about its origins and subsequently, its validity with respect to scrutiny through the lens of the well-established legal jurisprudence surrounding the Constitution. This short article does not seek to provide a definitive answer to the question ‘Does Article 35A violate the Basic Structure Doctrine of the Indian Constitution?’, but rather attempts to bring focus to the various contours that would be traced while even attempting to answer it. The article traces the turbulent history behind the introduction of Article 35A, its nature as a subsidiary of Article 370, the Basic Structure doctrine and finally, offers a perspective on the position of Article 35A with respect to the Basic Structure Doctrine, both contextually and in isolation as a legal provision.

Keywords: Status, Obscurity, Limelight, Jurisprudence, Contours, Turbulent, Subsidiary, Contextually, Isolation