GUARDIANS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COVENANT: THE BASIC STRUCTURE DOCTRINE AND TRANSFORMATIVE CONSTITUTIONALISM IN INDIA

Abstract

The doctrine of basic structure, crystallised by the Supreme Court of India in Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalvaru v. State of Kerala (1973), represents one of the most consequential jurisprudential innovations in the annals of comparative constitutional law. By holding that Parliament, though possessed of a wide power of constitutional amendment under Article 368, cannot abrogate or destroy the fundamental features of the Constitution, the Supreme Court forged an enduring covenant between the founding document and succeeding generations of citizens. This article undertakes a critical examination of the genesis, evolution and contemporary relevance of the basic structure doctrine, situating it within the broader discourse of transformative constitutionalism. The study traces the doctrinal lineage from Shankari Prasad (1951) through Golak Nath (1967) to the landmark Kesavananda Bharati verdict and its subsequent affirmations in Minerva Mills (1980), the NJAC judgment (2016), and K.S. Puttaswamy (2017). It analyses the philosophical underpinnings of constitutionalism, the principle that governmental authority is both derived from and constrained by the Constitution, and demonstrates the structural convergence between the basic structure doctrine and the ideals of transformative constitutionalism. The article concludes that, far from representing judicial overreach, the basic structure doctrine embodies the organic conception of the Constitution as a living instrument whose essential character must endure across the shifting tides of political power.