GS2 › Amendments and Basic Structure

Revision note: Basic Structure Doctrine and Comparison with Other Constitutions


  • Shankari Prasad 1951 / Sajjan Singh 1965: FRs amendable
  • Golak Nath 1967 (11 judges): FRs not amendable; prospective overruling
  • 24th Amdt 1971 reversed Golak Nath
  • Kesavananda Bharati 1973 (13 judges, 7:6): basic structure cannot be altered
  • Indira Gandhi 1975: free & fair elections; Minerva Mills 1980: limited amending power, FR–DPSP harmony
  • Waman Rao 1981 & I.R. Coelho 2007: Ninth Schedule laws after 24 Apr 1973 reviewable
  • Bommai 1994: federalism, secularism; NJAC 2015: judicial independence; Janhit Abhiyan 2022 upheld EWS
  • Borrowed: GoI Act 1935 (largest), UK, USA, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Weimar, USSR, France, SA, Japan
Revision card summarising Basic Structure Doctrine and Comparison with Other Constitutions
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