The Basic Structure Doctrine Vis-À-Vis The Written Constitution: A Journey Of Five Decades

Ms. Ana Sisodia, Assistant Professor, Sardar Patel Subharti Institute of Law, Swami Vivekanand Subharti University, Meerut.

Prof. (Dr.) Vaibhav Goel Bhartiya, Dean, Sardar Patel Subharti Institute of Law, Swami Vivekanand Subharti University, Meerut.

ABSTRACT

The Constitution of India is a written document with a provision of amendment, if needed. The face of the Indian Constitution i.e. the Preamble has set our identity as a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic, which is mandatory for the rudimentary functioning of the nation. But time and again it has been observed that for political motive the existence of the Constitution was distorted and even the Courts were not allowed to exercise its power of judicial review. That essentially implied that the written Constitution will have paramount importance and will have no impact on its originality due to judicial pronouncements .But in the case of Kesavananda Bharati, the doctrine of Basic Structure was propounded to settle down the relationship between fundamental rights and directive principles of State Policy. Even it was concluded that Constitution cannot be amended if it violates the Basic Structure. However, even after almost 5 decades of its foundation it has been observed that it surpass the written Constitution which may sometimes hinder the constitutional development and disrupts the federal pattern of the nation. In other words, this can be considered as a hindrance over dynamism and living nature of the Constitution. Therefore, this Article is an attempt to analyse the doctrine of Basic Structure in present perspective and to examine the issues and challenges which are annexed to this much debatable doctrine.

Keywords: Amendment, Basic Structure, Constitution, Kesavananda Bharati, Preamble.