The power of Parliament to
legislate and amend provisions of the
Constitution came up for Judicial review in
many cases; most important of them being
Kesavananda Bharati Vs State of Kerala, the
famous decision of 13 judges' Bench in 1973.
The majority in this case held that the power of
amendment under Article 368 of the
Constitution is not absolute, but subject to
various implied and inherent restrictions
imposed by the basic structure of the frame-work
of the Constitution. The Parliament in its efforts
to regain the 'supremacy' in amending the
Constitution, added clauses (4) and (5) to Article
368, trying to make the amending power of
Parliament unlimited and to limit the judicial
review over such amendments. However, this
amendment was also struck down by Supreme
Court in Minerva Mills Vs Union of India (1980)
case. While there is no judicial unanimity on
what constitutes the basic features of Indian
Constitution, different Benches of the Supreme
Court have declared different aspects as Its basic
features. A perusal of these decisions would tell
us that the following are the established basic
features of the Indian. Constitution: Supremacy
of Constitution; Republican and Democratic
form of government; Secular character;
Separation of Powers; Judicial review;
Independence of Judiciary; Harmony between
Fundamental rights and Directive principles; etc.