The Case that saved the Indian Democracy

 HOW A SEER SAVED THE DEMOCRACY AND MADE A HISTORY IN THE CONSTITUTION

The judgement in Kesavananda Bharthi v/s state of Kerala was crucial in upholding the supremacy of the constitution and preventing authoritarian rule by a single political party.

Kesavananda bharthi case  v/s state of kerala

This case is one of the milestone cases in the history of constitution, it is reffered in explaining many aspects of constitution.

( I know there are many of you ,who neither want to know about constitution nor the government ….. you will be like chal yaar woh mera cup of tea nahi yeh ……. Its fine if u don’t like to  drink tea or coffee in the cup or not …… it will be great if u know many things vaguely. Like kuch cheejhze tumko pata hotha tho accha yeh na…….soo I will not make this too complicated lets keep it simple ….. I hope you can gain little knowledge from this one, may be )

Who was Kesavananda Bharati? 

He was the head seer of the Edneer Mutt in Kasaragod district of Kerala since 1961.

He left his signature in one of the significant rulings of the Supreme Court when he challenged the Kerala land reforms legislation in 1970. (the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership). Later on , The 44th Amendment of 1978 removed the right to property from the list of fundamental rights.

What was the case about?

The case was primarily about the extent of Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution.

( like, can the parliament or the government which keeps changing every 5 year, can change the basic structure of the constitution , which was made by our founding fathers with all the satyagrahas and amid of all the difficulties in shoeing of the British )

1). First, the court was reviewing a 1967 decision in Golaknath v State of Punjab which, reversing earlier verdicts, had ruled that Parliament cannot amend fundamental rights.

( In this case supreme court had said that parliament i.e the present govt at that time which ever ruling party, had no right to touch or change basic things like fundamental rights –

  Right to equality- abolition of untouchability , equality of opportunity in public employment , prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion , race, caste, sex or place of birth.

 Right to freedom – freedom of speech and protection of life and personal liberty.

Right to freedom of religion, Right to education.

Right against exploitation i.e  prohibition of forced labour and prohibition of employment of children in factories.)

2). Second, the court was deciding the constitutional validity of several other amendments.

 Notably, the right to property had been removed as a fundamental right, and Parliament had also given itself the power to amend any part of the Constitution and passed a law that it cannot be reviewed by the courts.

( soo, that time PM Indra Gandhi , had given herself i.e her govt or her ruling party or parliament , power to change any part of the constitution which are actually are basic things ,which should not be changed . but she had made a law saying, that whatever her govt changes or any future governments which come to power can change anything in the constitution , which cannot be reviewed by the courts meaning it cannot be questioned by the people basically ).

Politically, the case represented the fight for supremacy of Parliament led by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

What happened then?

A 13-judge Bench was set up by the Supreme Court, the biggest so far, and the case was heard over 68 working days spread over six months. The basic structure doctrine was evolved in the majority judgment.

What did the court decide?

 In its majority ruling, the court held that fundamental rights cannot be taken away by amending them.

While the court said that Parliament had vast powers to amend the Constitution, it drew the line by observing that certain parts are so inherent and intrinsic to the Constitution that even Parliament cannot touch it.

However, despite the ruling that Parliament cannot breach fundamental rights, the court upheld the amendment that removed the fundamental right to property. The court ruled that in spirit, the amendment would not violate the “basic structure” of the Constitution.

Essentially, Kesavananda Bharati, lost the case. But as many legal scholars point out, the government did not win the case either.

What constitutes the basic structure?
 

The Constitutional Bench ruled by a 7-6 verdict that Parliament should be restrained from altering the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution.

The court held that under Article 368, which provides Parliament amending powers, something must remain of the original Constitution that the new amendment would change.

 

However, the court did not define the ‘basic structure’, and only listed a few principles — federalism, secularism, democracy — as being its part. Since then, the court has been adding new features to this concept.

‘Basic structure’ since Kesavananda:
 

The ‘basic structure’ doctrine has since been interpreted to include the supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law, Independence of the judiciary, doctrine of separation of powers, federalism, secularism, sovereign democratic republic, the parliamentary system of government, the principle of free and fair elections, welfare state, etc.

( At the end court mentioned few things the above given things which are basic structure of constitution which cannot be changed by the parliament or the Government ).

 

Thanks to Kesavananda Bharati  and the Judges who were in the majority, India continues to be the world’s largest democracy. The souls of Nehru, Patel, Ambedkar and all the founding fathers of our Constitution can really rest in peace.

On 6^th September 2020 ,  Kesavananda Bharathi  died in Mangalore at the age of 79, Let his soul rest in peace.

 

SOURCE- THE HINDU

(P.S – If you did read it till the end , I m soo happy that this blog did help few of you know different things and might help you improve your knowledge base).