LANDMARK CASE

Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala

(1973) 4 SCC 225 · Supreme Court of India · Constitutional law

At a glance

  • Citation: (1973) 4 SCC 225
  • Court: Supreme Court of India
  • Area of law: Constitutional law
  • In one line: By a 7 to 6 majority, Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution but cannot alter or destroy its basic structure.

1 Facts

A religious head challenged Kerala land reform laws and, with them, the constitutional amendments that limited judicial review of such laws. A thirteen judge bench heard the case.

2 Issue

Is Parliament's power to amend the Constitution under Article 368 unlimited?

3 What the court decided

By a 7 to 6 majority, Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution but cannot alter or destroy its basic structure.

4 Why it matters

It created the basic structure doctrine, which still protects judicial review, democracy, federalism and secularism from being amended away.

5 Think about it

If a two thirds majority of Parliament wants a change, why should unelected judges be able to stop it? How does the Court answer this?

6 Analyse it yourself

Read the full judgment from an official source or a law database, then brief it in seven steps: facts, issues, arguments, decision, ratio, obiter and significance. Always check the citation before you rely on it.

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