Basic Structure Doctrine

The basic structure doctrine is a legal doctrine that amends the overall structure of the sovereign constitution and its characteristics that its legislature cannot override. This doctrine is recognised in India, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Uganda and Kenya. According to the basic structure doctrine, there are no valid amendments that can change the basic structure doctrine of the Indian Constitution. This is an important topic and can be searched with basic structure doctrine UPSC for information on the laws and the evolution on the internet. The idea of the doctrine is to protect the right and liberties of the citizens. 

The Doctrine of Basic Structure 

The Indian constitution is a vital record that can be altered according to society’s needs. Article 368 gives the power to the parliament to alter the constitution according to the necessity;  it has also laid down the procedure to amend the constitution in detail. The basic structure doctrine is a judicial innovation that ensures that the parliament is not misusing its power to amend the constitution. The basic idea of judicial innovation is the essence of the constitution should not be altered; it can evolve according to society’s need, but it should not completely change. If the basic structure is completely changed, the constitution will lose its identity. 

Any amendments by the parliament cannot change the governing principles of the parliament; this is the given legal law of the doctrine of the basic structure. 

Basic Structure Doctrine of Indian Constitution

There is no such basic structure of the Indian constitution; the only idea is to protect the citizens’ rights, liberty, and the democratic nature of our constitution. The basic structure doctrine helps to preserve this essence of our constitution. The constitution of India was amended early in  1951, which introduced articles like 31A and 31B. These two articles were much debated, and article 31B stated that any law under it could not be challenged to violate fundamental rights as per article 13(2) of the Indian constitution. So this led to debates, and articles 31A and 31B were challenged in court as they took the rights mentioned in article 13(2) to declare the newly amended articles void. Many such amendments raised debates, and petitions were filed. It was until the Kesavananda Bharati case that brought the limelight on the basic structure doctrine. Kesavananda Bharati challenged the Kerala land reform legislation in 1970. The Kerala land reform legislation imposed restrictions on the management of religious properties. The legislation was challenged under article 26, which gave full rights to manage religious property without government interference. This led to the biggest 13 judges benched supreme court hearing. The judgement set down the seven basic structures of the constitution. The structures were the supremacy of the constitution, individual freedom, separation of power, secular character of the constitution, unity and sovereignty of India, federal character of the constitution and democratic and republican form of government. 

With time many more features were added to the basic structure doctrine; they are the rule of law, the rule of equality, parliamentary system, judicial review, free and fair elections, power of the high court under articles 226 and 227, harmony and balance between the fundamental rights and DPSP, power of the supreme court under the articles 32, 136, 142 and 147 and last. Still, the most important limited power of the parliament to alter the constitution. 

These are the basic structure doctrine of the Indian constitution. 

Evolution of Basic Structure Doctrine

The basic structure doctrine evolved with time and with the help of some landmark judgements. Some petitions and cases helped the doctrine of basic structure evolve, like the Sankari Prasad case in 1951. In this case, the supreme court held parliament’s potential to alter the constitution under article 368. In the Sajjan Singh case in 1965, the supreme court again mentioned that the parliament could amend any part of the constitution, including the fundamental rights. But it should be mentioned that in this case, two of the judges pointed out that fundamental rights can become a plaything for the parliament.

Many such cases, like the Kesavananda Bharati case in 1973 and the Golaknath case in 1967, were the start point where evolution began. 

Indira Gandhi Vs Raj Narain case in 1975, Waman Rao case in 1981, S. The R. Bommai case in 1994 are important cases that helped evolve the basic structure of doctrine. In all the above petitions supreme court played an essential part in preserving the basic structure of doctrine and thereby keeping the essence of our constitution. In the Minerva mill case in 1980, the supreme court ruled out that the limited amending power is an essential feature of the constitution. Thus the judgement made clear that the constitution is supreme, not the parliament.

Conclusion

The basic structure doctrine is a judicial principle connected to the Indian constitution. It holds the basic structure of the Indian Constitution and ensures that the parliament cannot amend its basic features. This doctrine was brought into the limelight after several petitions. One of the most critical petitions is the Kesavananda Bharati case. The judgement of this case gave the basic structure doctrine of our constitution, which has evolved with the supreme court’s judgement.