Democracy and Constitutionalism in India: A Study of the Basic Structure Doctrine

This book presents a completely reconfigured understanding of the judicial role in Indian constitutional law. The author presents a completely reconfigured understanding of the judicial role in Indian constitutional law. He lucidly and critically examines the significance and status of the basic structure doctrine today. He addresses the question whether basic structure review is an appropriate exercise of judicial power or an abuse of it. He argues that much of the criticism against the doctrine emerges from a failure to adequately map the contours of constitutional judicial review. He assesses the legitimacy of basic structure review under three categories-legal, moral, and sociological. It critiques the views of major scholars including Seervai, Sathe, Austin, and Baxi. It also analyses the post Kesavananda Bharti cases and studies how the scope of the basic structure doctrine has been expanded by the court. He tries to develop an essential benchmark against which judicial performance may be assessed and the confusions currently inherent in the Indian debate on judicial activism finally eliminated.