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Constitutional Design & Basic Structure
GS-II: Constitution, Governance, Social Justice & IR
Useful for: UPSC Civil Services
Overview
India’s Constitution combines a flexible amendment process with judicial limits; the basic structure doctrine evolved through a series of landmark cases.
Key points
- Golaknath (1967) held that Parliament cannot amend Fundamental Rights.
- The 24th Amendment (1971) reasserted Parliament’s power to amend any part.
- Kesavananda Bharati (1973) allowed amendment but not destruction of the basic structure.
- Indira Gandhi v. Raj Narain (1975) treated free and fair elections as part of the basic structure.
- Minerva Mills (1980) held that limited amending power and judicial review are basic features.
- I. R. Coelho (2007) held that laws placed in the Ninth Schedule after 24 April 1973 can be reviewed for violating the basic structure.
Practice MCQs
From the perspective of definition and scope, which one of the following statements about Constitutional Design & Basic Structure is correct?
- The Constitution distributes public power while limiting it through rights, institutions, procedures and judicial review.
- A constitutional amendment is valid merely because the required voting majority was obtained.
- Constitutional Design & Basic Structure is unrelated to institutions, processes or real-world applications.
- Constitutional Design & Basic Structure has no exceptions or limitations in exam analysis.
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Answer: (a) The Constitution distributes public power while limiting it through rights, institutions, procedures and judicial review.. The Constitution distributes public power while limiting it through rights, institutions, procedures and judicial review.
Consider the following statements on Constitutional Design & Basic Structure and Bilateral, Regional & Global Groupings, focusing on definition and scope: 1. A constitutional amendment is valid merely because the required voting majority was obtained. 2. Membership in one international grouping permanently determines a country’s position on all other issues. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
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Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2. Neither statement is correct; both are common misconceptions.
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