GUWAHATI: Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President and Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal has said that the basic structure of the Indian Constitution is being violated daily, not through amendments but via ordinary legislation.
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Speaking at the launch of former Supreme Court judge Rohinton Nariman's book, The Basic Structure Doctrine, Sibal stated on Monday, April 14, that while the basic structure doctrine, established in the Kesavananda Bharati judgment, is constitutionally protected and cannot be altered by Parliament, it is being eroded through laws that are inconsistent with its principles.
According to a BarandBench report, these laws, he specified, do not require a constitutional amendment and thus cannot be directly challenged on the grounds of violating the basic structure. “The real challenge is that you don’t need to change the basic structure by amending the Constitution,” Sibal said. “You can violate it through ordinary legislation that undermines the Constitution’s core values. And since such laws cannot be struck down solely on the basis of basic structure, they often go unchecked.”
He further noted that while the doctrine is meant to apply to the Constituent power of Parliament, violations are now occurring through statutory laws. Sibal argued that this has led to a gradual erosion of constitutional principles such as federalism and secularism.
Additionally, Sibal remarked that courts are unwilling to strike down such laws even when they violate fundamental rights under Part III of the Constitution. He said that these laws must be challenged under Article 13 for contravening fundamental rights, but judicial reluctance has allowed them to stand.
