Structural strength – The basic structure of the Constitution has authority

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?

What is the basic structure doctrine, and how was the doctrine developed?

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?

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.