Constitutional Amendments

Story hook

It is 24 April 1973, a Tuesday morning in Court No. 1 of the Supreme Court of India. Chief Justice S.M. Sikri is presiding over the largest bench in the Court's history — 13 judges — a bench that will not be matched in size for the next 47 years. For 68 days over five months, this bench has heard arguments on a single question: can Parliament amend any part of the Constitution it pleases?

The case is Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalvaru v. State of Kerala. The petitioner is a Hindu monk, head of the Edneer Mutt in Kerala, challenging the Kerala government's land-ceiling laws. The actual legal issue is much larger: in the previous year, Parliament had passed the 24th, 25th, and 29th Constitutional Amendments to limit the Supreme Court's role in scrutinising constitutional amendments. The 24th had explicitly clarified that Parliament's amending power was unrestricted; the 25th had created Article 31C immunising laws giving effect to Article 39(b)/ (c) DPSPs from Articles 14, 19, 31; the 29th had inserted Kerala land reforms into the Ninth Schedule.

Chief Justice Sikri reads the judgment summary. 7 judges sign the majority opinion; 6 dissent. The conclusion: "the power to amend the Constitution under Article 368 does not enable Parliament to alter the basic structure or framework of the Constitution." The Court does not exhaustively list what the basic structure is — deliberately. Each judge mentions different features. But the constitutional ground rule has shifted: there is now a category of constitutional provisions that even Parliament's special majority cannot touch.

Fifty-two years later, the basic structure doctrine has shaped every major constitutional controversy. NJAC verdict 2015 (basic structure protected judicial independence), Article 370 abrogation upheld 2023 (basic structure debate revisited), Tamil Nadu Governor verdict 2025 (basic structure of federalism implications). For UPSC, the topic is tested every year — both as Prelims facts and as Mains-level conceptual debates.

Why this matters for UPSC

Constitutional amendments and basic structure together test the question that defines all written constitutions: how does a constitution change while remaining itself?

For UPSC, the topic is tested:

Prelims: Article 368, three types of amendment procedures, named amendments (1st, 24th, 42nd, 44th, 73rd-74th, 86th, 91st, 93rd, 101st, 104th, 105th, 106th), case names (Champakam → Golak Nath → Kesavananda → Minerva Mills → Bommai → NJAC).

Mains GS-II: Process of constitutional amendment, basic structure doctrine evolution, conflict between FRs and DPSPs, parliamentary supremacy vs constitutional supremacy debate.

Interview: Open-ended questions on whether basic structure constrains democracy, whether courts can identify basic structure, whether specific recent amendments respect it.

This file covers Article 368 mechanics, the three amendment categories, the Kesavananda case + 13 basic structure features identified through subsequent cases, the major amendments by number, and the contemporary debate.