Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala
[1973] Supp SCR 1 · Supreme Court of India · Decision date: 1973-04-24
Key issue
Does Article 368 permit Parliament to alter every part of the Constitution without substantive limits?
Facts
A religious institution's head challenged Kerala land-reform legislation. Constitutional amendments expanding Parliament's amending power and protecting legislation also came under challenge. Case number: W.P. (C) 135/1970 and connected matters
Holding
By 7:6, the Court held that Parliament's amending power cannot damage or destroy the Constitution's basic structure. An amendment may change constitutional provisions, including fundamental rights, while preserving the Constitution's essential identity. The opinions do not supply a single exhaustive list of basic features. The Twenty-fourth Amendment was upheld; the Twenty-fifth Amendment was upheld in part, with the exclusion of judicial review in the latter part of Article 31C rejected. Multiple separate opinions; the 7:6 division concerns the substantive limitation on amendment and should not be applied indiscriminately to every issue. Provisions considered at judgment date: Constitution: Articles 13, 31C and 368; Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth and Twenty-ninth Amendments.
Pinpoints
PDF p. 1005 — Majority conclusions; PDF p. 1006 — Remittal and final orders. PDF page numbers are 1-based and may differ from printed reporter pages.
Verification status
Source checked
Source note
Original TLG research note based on the linked official judgment, not an official court summary. Source identity and selected holding passages checked on 4 November 2026.
Current treatment
The privacy judgment in this collection discusses and applies basic-structure reasoning. An exhaustive later-treatment search has not been completed. Historical case note; exhaustive subsequent treatment and current statutory application have not been checked.