The doctrine of 'basic structure' in the context of Indian Constitution was propounded in which of the following cases for the first time?

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Correct — D, Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973). A 13-judge bench, the largest ever assembled by the Supreme Court of India, held by a 7:6 majority that Parliament's power to amend the Constitution under Article 368 is wide but not unlimited: it may amend any part, including Fundamental Rights, but it cannot damage or destroy the 'basic structure' of the Constitution. That is the first time the doctrine was laid down. The case overruled Golaknath (1967) and upheld the 24th Amendment, while making every future amendment testable against the basic structure. The petitioner was Swami Kesavananda Bharati, head of the Edneer Mutt in Kerala, who had challenged the Kerala land reform legislation affecting the Mutt's property.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Sankari Prasad (1951) was the first challenge to the First Constitutional Amendment. The Supreme Court upheld it, holding that 'law' in Article 13 does not include a constitutional amendment — so Parliament could amend Fundamental Rights. It imposed no limit at all, let alone a basic-structure limit.  (b) Champakam Dorairajan (1951) dealt with the clash between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles in the context of caste-based reservation in college admissions; the Court held Fundamental Rights prevail. It provoked the First Amendment, but it is not about Parliament's amending power or the basic structure.  (c) Golaknath (1967) swung to the opposite extreme of the basic-structure position: an 11-judge bench held, 6:5, that Parliament cannot abridge or take away Fundamental Rights at all. That is a blanket bar, not a 'basic structure' test — and it was overruled by Kesavananda Bharati six years later.

Concept: The basic structure doctrine is judge-made law about the limits of the amending power. Article 368 gives Parliament the power to amend the Constitution; Kesavananda Bharati (1973) read into it an implied limitation — the amendment must not destroy the Constitution's essential identity. The Constitution itself nowhere defines what the basic structure is; the courts have built the list case by case (supremacy of the Constitution, rule of law, judicial review, separation of powers, federalism, secularism, free and fair elections, the balance between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles, and more).

State PCS 2025 Q73 — Indian Polity PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2025 Q73 — Indian Polity PYQ with Answer