INTRODUCTION
There are many cases which changes the face of law. And this supreme court judgement named Kesavanand Bharati v. State of Kerala, 1973 also played a very important role. It is a historic and landmark judgement in India. In this case Supreme court introduced the concept of Basic structure doctrine.
Do you know why it is called the historic judgement in Indian Constitution? Let’s discuss.
This case is longest case in India (approx. 68 days). More than 100 cases were cited in this case. To know what is wrong and what is right, more than 70 constitution were compared. The largest judges bench was constituted in this case. And the judgement of this case is approx. 700 pages long.
Now, let’s see about this case in more detail.
Court
Supreme Court of India.
Full case name
Kesavanand Bharati Sripadagalvaru and Ors. V. State of Kerala, 1973
Citation
(1973) 4 SCC 225
Petitioner
Swami Kesavanand Bharati
Respondent
State of Kerala.
Judges involved
J. S.M. Sikri,
J. K.S. Hegde,
J. A.K. Mukherjee,
J. J.M. Shelat,
J. A.N. Grover,
J. P Jagmohan Reddy,
J. H.R. Khanna,
J. A.N. Ray,
J. K.K. Mathew,
J. M.H. Beg,
J. S.N. Dwivedi,
J. Y.V Chandrachud.
Ratio
7:6
Date of judgement
24th April, 1973
BACKGROUND
After the independence, each state started to improve their economic and social conditions. And for that they focuses on many sectors, in which land resources was also involved, and maximum land was acquired by zamindars at that time, to maintain equality and for development purpose government started to acquire lands from them.
And unlike other state government, State Government of Kerala also introduced a law named Land Reform Act,1963. This act restricts the property right of people. Now, the question arises is how this act effect Kesavanand Bharati, which we will discuss in following.
FACTS OF THE CASE
Edneer Mutt, a religious institution in Kasaragod district, Kerala, in which Swami Kesavanand Bharati, the chief head of Mutt, was the owner of some land of the Mutt.
According to the land reform act, the state government of Kerala was authorized to acquire the land of Mutt and this leads to some financial difficulties faced by Mutt, which causes problems in proper working of Mutt.
Kesavanand Bharati with his lead lawyer, Nani Palkhiwala, filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court of India, on the violation of fundamental rights:
➢ Article 25 - Right to practice and propagate religion
➢ Article 26 - Right to manage religious affairs
➢ Article 14 - Right to Equality
➢ Article 31 - Compulsory acquisition of property
➢ Article 19(1)(f) - Freedom to acquire property
ISSUE RAISED
• Is the 24th Constitutional (Amendment) Act 1971 Constitutionally valid?
• Is the 25th Constitutional (Amendment) Act 1972 constitutionally valid or not?
• The extent to which the Parliament can exercise its power to amend the Constitution.
ARGUMENTS
Petitioner:-
Kesavanand Bharati challenges Article 368 of the Constitution ( amending power of parliament), 24th Amendment (parliament has power to amend any provision of the Constitution), 25th Amendment (right to property can be curtailed) and 29th Amendment (Land Reform Act under 9th schedule, which put restriction on judicial review).
They argued that:
• Power under Article 368 is limited not absolute. Parliament cannot amend any provision of the Constitution, which is the basic structure of the Constitution. It shows the arbitrary power of the parliament.
• Fundamental rights protects citizens freedom, changing fundamental rights will be invalid and ultra vires.
Respondent:-
The state argued that:
• Parliament has unlimited and absolute power to amend Constitution under Article 368. They have power to amend Constitution without any limitations.
• Parliament also have power to amend fundamental rights if they find it necessary by exercising constituent power.
JUDGEMENT
This case has the largest bench of 13 judges with the ratio of 7:6. In this case the decision of Golakhnath v. State of Punjab was overruled which states that parliament cannot amend the fundamental rights.
24th Amendment Act held valid which gives power to the parliament to amend any provision of the Constitution.
And also said that, parliament has power to amend the constitution but they can use their amending power in a way so that the basis features of the Constitution cannot be interfere, which is also known as Basic Structure Doctrine.
25th and 29th Amendment Act also held valid, but if any law violates the basis features of the Constitution that law will be held eligible for judicial review.
On 24th April,1973, this case introduced BASIC STRUCTURE DOCTRINE. This doctrine did not give the exhaustive list but it gives the indicative list of basic features which are-
▪ Supremacy of the Constitution
▪ Rule of law
▪ Separation of Powers
▪ Judicial review
▪ Federalism
▪ Secularism
▪ Independence of the judiciary
▪ The sovereign, democratic and republican structure
▪ Freedom and dignity
And it was also stated that over the time many more features were also included on the basis of the relevancy of that feature.
CONCLUSION
Kesavanand Bharti case the historic judgement in the legal field. The landmark case has held the amending power of parliament valid but with some restriction which is, it the amendment should not violates the basis features of the Constitution and it has profoundly proved that the Supreme Court has the power to review and strike down any amendments that violate the basic structure of Constitution.
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