Basic structure doctrine: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Common law legal doctrine}}

{{Indian Constitution TOC}}

The '''basic structure doctrine''' is a [[common law]] [[legal doctrine]] that the constitution of a sovereign state has certain characteristics that cannot be erased by its legislature. The doctrine is recognised in [[India]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Pakistan]], and [[Uganda]]. It was developed by the [[Supreme Court of India]] in a series of [[constitutional law]] cases in the 1960s and 1970s that culminated in ''[[Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala]]'', where the doctrine was formally adopted. Bangladesh is perhaps the only legal system in the world whichthat recognizes this doctrine within an expressed, written and rigid constitutional manner through articleArticle 7B of its [[Constitution of Bangladesh|Constitution]].

In ''Kesavananda'', Justice [[Hans Raj Khanna]] propounded that the [[Constitution of India]] has certain ''basic features'' that cannot be altered or destroyed through [[amendments to the Constitution of India|amendments]] by the [[Parliament of India]].<ref name=hindu-basic-features>{{cite news|url=http://hindu.com/2004/09/26/stories/2004092600491600.htm|title=The basic features|date=2004-09-26|access-date=2012-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725005100/http://hindu.com/2004/09/26/stories/2004092600491600.htm|archive-date=2012-07-25|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|url-status=dead}}</ref> Key among these "basic features", as expounded by Justice Khanna, are the [[Fundamental rights in India|fundamental rights]] guaranteed to individuals by the constitution.<ref name=hindu-basic-features/><ref name=ik-257876>{{cite web|url=http://www.indiankanoon.org/doc/257876/|title=Kesavananda Bharati .... vs State Of Kerala And Anr on 24 April, 1973|publisher=Indian Kanoon|access-date=2012-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214053355/http://indiankanoon.org/doc/257876/|archive-date=2014-12-14|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=frontline-revisiting>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl2901/stories/20120127290107100.htm|title=Revisiting a verdict|publisher=Frontline|date=Jan 14–27, 2012|volume=29|issue=1|access-date=2012-07-09|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203063934/http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl2901/stories/20120127290107100.htm|archive-date=2013-12-03}}</ref> The doctrine thus forms the basis of the power of the Supreme Court of India to review and strike down constitutional amendments and acts enacted by the Parliament which conflict with or seek to alter this "basic structure" of the Constitution. The basic features of the Constitution have not been explicitly defined by the Judiciary, and the claim of any particular feature of the Constitution to be a "basic" feature is determined by the Court in each case that comes before it.