Consider the following and arrange these in chronological order :
I. Golak Nath Case
II. Keshawanand Bharti Case
III. 24th Constitution Amendment Act
IV. 42nd Constitution Amendment Act
Select the cor

Question

Consider the following and arrange these in chronological order :
I. Golak Nath Case
II. Keshawanand Bharti Case
III. 24th Constitution Amendment Act
IV. 42nd Constitution Amendment Act
Select the correct answer from the codes given below.
Codes :

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — A, I, III, II, IV. Order the four by year: I. Golak Nath case — 1967, in which the Supreme Court held that Parliament could NOT amend or abridge Fundamental Rights; III. 24th Constitution Amendment Act — 1971, Parliament's response, which explicitly empowered it to amend any part of the Constitution, including Fundamental Rights, under Article 368; II. Kesavananda Bharati case — 1973, in which the Court upheld Parliament's amending power but propounded the 'Basic Structure' doctrine, overruling Golak Nath; IV. 42nd Constitution Amendment Act — 1976, the so-called 'Mini-Constitution', which among other things tried to bar judicial review of amendments. So the sequence is 1967 → 1971 → 1973 → 1976 = I, III, II, IV.

Why the other options are wrong — (b) Wrong — it places the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973) before the 24th Amendment (1971). The 24th Amendment actually came first, as Parliament's direct reply to the Golak Nath verdict.  (c) Wrong — it begins with the 24th Amendment (1971) before the Golak Nath case (1967), reversing the true cause-and-effect order (the case provoked the amendment, not the other way round).  (d) Wrong — besides wrongly starting with the 24th Amendment, it ends with Kesavananda (1973) placed after the 42nd Amendment (1976), which is chronologically impossible.

Concept: These four items are the spine of the 'Basic Structure' story. Golak Nath (1967) barred amendment of Fundamental Rights; the 24th Amendment (1971) overturned that by asserting Parliament's power to amend any part of the Constitution; Kesavananda Bharati (1973) accepted that power but limited it with the Basic Structure doctrine; and the 42nd Amendment (1976) tried to place amendments beyond judicial review — a move later checked by Minerva Mills (1980).

State PCS 2021 Q59 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2021 Q59 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer