The most profound and entirely unique contribution of the Indian judiciary to constitutional jurisprudence is the development of the doctrine of basic structure. It was designed to save the essential form and spirit of the Constitution, but it also conferred unparalleled power on the Indian judiciary to strike down constitutional amendments. Ever since its invention on April 24, 1973, the question – is it a boon or a bane has been a subject matter of discussions and academic writings. How might we address this binary today? Or what kind of constitutional promise does the judicial interpretation of the basic structure doctrine hold for the future? As the doctrine completes 50 years of its existence, it is important to revisit the question and to, particularly, look at how well it worked in the past 50 years and is it still efficacious to preserve the Constitution even today when its core values are diluted not through formal constitutional amendments but through other means.
Speakers:
Prof. (Dr.) Upendra Baxi, Emeritus Professor, University of Warwick and Delhi.
Prof. (Dr.) Kamala Sankaran, Professor and Ford Foundation Chair in PIL, NLSIU, Bangalore.
Dr. P. Puneeth, Associate Professor, CSLG, JNU, New Delhi.