PYQ Vault · Paper 1 · Indian Constitution

‘Article 368 does not enable Parliament to alter the basic structure or framework of the Constitution’

How the answer moves

The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.

Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes

Route 1 Art 368 = constituent power to amend → wide but not unlimited

Route 2 statement settles the debate → amendment ≠ destruction of identity

Body flow

Shankari Prasad / Sajjan Singh (FRs amendable) → Mudholkar’s “basic features” hint → Golaknath (FRs barred) → Kesavananda Bharati 1973 (any part, not basic structure) → Minerva Mills (limited amending power itself basic) → Chandrachud (donee can’t make limited power unlimited) → elements: supremacy, democracy, secularism, federalism, judicial review

Counter-view

Austin: judicial statesmanship guarding the spirit → Sathe: judicial rewriting without textual basis

Conclusion routes

Route 1 Art 368 authorizes amendment, not abrogation of identity

Route 2 doctrine preserves constitutional identity against majoritarian amendment

Model answer

Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.

Handwritten model answer — UPSC PSIR 2016, Indian Constitution