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Contents
Source: The post is based on the article “Structural strength – The basic structure of the Constitution has authority” published in the Business Standard on 25th January 2023.
Syllabus: GS 2 – Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary.
Relevance: About basic structure doctrine.
News: The Vice President of India in 83rd All-India Presiding Officer’s conference criticised the doctrine of the basic structure for undermining parliamentary sovereignty.
What are the major highlights of the Vice President’s address?
Read here: Vice-President says court can’t dilute Parliament’s sovereignty |
What is the basic structure doctrine, and how was the doctrine developed?
Read here: Basic structure Doctrine |
What are the concerns associated with the basic structure doctrine?
The apex court in Singapore, which too has a post-British legal system similar to India’s, deliberately did not adopt the basic-structure doctrine. The court also explained the reasons for not adopting the doctrine.
The court argued that the basic-structure doctrine emerged from the justifiable claim that Constitutions drafted by a Constituent Assembly held a different status in their relationship to the legislature from Constitutions drafted by a regular Parliament.
Why basic structure doctrine is not undermining parliamentary sovereignty?
Must read: Bound supremacy – Parliamentary sovereignty isn’t undone by the basic structure doctrine |
Over the years, the basic structure of the Constitution had served as the “North Star” for legal interpreters of that document. Further, the basic-structure doctrine keeps the Indian state tethered constitutionally to the norms, ideas, and values of 1950.