A. Basic Structure Doctrine & Constitutional Amendment Power
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| Case | Year | Bench | Holding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shankari Prasad v. Union of India | 1951 | 5-judge | Upheld Parliament's power under Art. 368 to amend any part of the Constitution, including Fundamental Rights; a constitutional amendment is not "law" under Art. 13(2). |
| Sajjan Singh v. State of Rajasthan | 1965 | 5-judge | Reaffirmed Shankari Prasad; Fundamental Rights can be amended under Art. 368 — but two dissenting judges first flagged that unlimited amending power was troubling, seeding Golak Nath. |
| A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras | 1950 | — | "Law" in Art. 21 meant validly enacted law, not natural justice — Fundamental Rights read as watertight, unconnected compartments. |
| I.C. Golak Nath v. State of Punjab | 1967 | 11-judge | Reversed Shankari Prasad/Sajjan Singh — Parliament cannot amend Part III at all under Art. 368 (6:5); a constitutional amendment is "law" under Art. 13(2). Introduced "prospective overruling" to Indian law, so past amendments stayed valid. |
| Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala | 1973 | 13-judge (largest ever) | By 7:6, Parliament's Art. 368 power is wide — it can amend Fundamental Rights — but cannot alter the Basic Structure of the Constitution. Overruled Golak Nath's absolute bar while rejecting unlimited amending power too. |
| Indira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj Narain | 1975 | 5-judge | Struck down the 39th Amendment clause placing the PM's election dispute beyond judicial review — held free & fair elections and judicial review are themselves Basic Structure; first practical application of Kesavananda. |
| Minerva Mills v. Union of India | 1980 | 5-judge | Struck down clauses of the 42nd Amendment giving DPSPs unconditional primacy over Fundamental Rights, and clauses barring judicial review of amendments; held the FR–DPSP balance and limited (not unlimited) amending power are themselves Basic Structure. |
| Waman Rao v. Union of India | 1981 | 5-judge | Ninth Schedule laws added before 24 April 1973 (the date of the Kesavananda judgment) are immune from Basic Structure challenge; those added after are open to it — the "prospective cut-off" rule. |
| R.C. Cooper v. Union of India (Bank Nationalisation case) | 1970 | 11-judge | Struck down the Banking Companies (Acquisition) Act, 1969 nationalising 14 major banks — compensation fixed was illusory, violating Art. 31 (then a Fundamental Right); pioneered the "effect test": a law's effect on rights matters, not just its object, cutting across the old Gopalan-style compartmentalisation. |
Notes. This is the single most important lineage in the book: Shankari Prasad → Sajjan Singh → Golak Nath → Kesavananda Bharati → Indira Gandhi v. Raj Narain → Minerva Mills → Waman Rao. Each case answers "how much of the Constitution can Parliament amend?" a little differently, and Kesavananda's 7:6 "basic structure but no fixed list" compromise is why later cases (Indira Gandhi, Minerva Mills, Coelho) keep having to work out what actually counts as basic structure — judicial review, federalism, secularism, free and fair elections, and the balance of FRs and DPSPs have all been so held. R.C. Cooper, though about property rights, matters here because its "effect test" reasoning directly fed into Maneka Gandhi's rejection of Gopalan eight years later — read them as one continuous argument against watertight compartments.
Mnemonic. "Some Sane Goats Kept Indira's Minerva Waiting" → Shankari Prasad → Sajjan Singh → Golak Nath → Kesavananda Bharati → Indira Gandhi v. Raj Narain → Minerva Mills → Waman Rao, in that chronological order (1951→1965→1967→1973→1975→1980→1981). Picture: a herd of goats blocking a temple gate while Indira's statue and Minerva's owl are both kept waiting outside.
Practice Recall. Before reading on: name, in chronological order, the seven cases in the Basic Structure lineage (Shankari Prasad → … → Waman Rao). Say each nickname and its year out loud, then check against the table above.
Answer: Shankari Prasad (1951) → Sajjan Singh (1965) → Golak Nath (1967) → Kesavananda Bharati (1973) → Indira Gandhi v. Raj Narain (1975) → Minerva Mills (1980) → Waman Rao (1981).