SC Creates Webpage On ‘Kesavananda Bharati’ Judgment To Mark Its 50th Anniversary

The Supreme Court of India launched a website on Monday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the April 24, 1973 decision in Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala.

According to Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, the website can be used for legal research by people all over the world.

“Today is the 50th anniversary of the Kesavanada Bharathi judgment which was delivered on April 24, 1973. We have dedicated a webpage on the judgments which has case notes, written submissions etc. which the world can use for law research,” the bench stated.

The Kesavananda Bharati case was heard by a Supreme Court of India bench of 13 judges, the largest in Indian legal history.

The 13 bench judges comprised of then Chief Justice of India JM Shelat, Justice KS Hegde, Justice AN Grover, Justice AN Ray, Justice P Jaganmohan Reddy, Justice DG Palekar, Justice HR Khanna, Justice KK Mathew, Justice MH Beg, Justice SN Dwivedi, Justice BK Mukherjea, and Justice YV Chandrachud.

The bench was formed to hear a case that raised important constitutional questions about Parliament’s authority to amend the Constitution. It took six months to hear arguments and reach a decision.

The ruling established the Constitution’s fundamental structure doctrine, which states that the parliament cannot change certain fundamental features of the Constitution, such as democracy, secularism, federalism, and the rule of law.

Furthermore, the court stated that the power of judicial review is an essential part of the Constitution’s basic structure and cannot be revoked by parliament through constitutional amendments.

The judgment is available in both English and Hindi on the website.

Additionally, all thirteen judges’ individual verdicts are included. It also includes the petitioner’s, respondents’, and intervenors’ written arguments and submissions, as well as Nani Palkhivala’s brief submission on the second last day of the hearing.

The page also includes resources written by Senior Advocate Rajeev Dhavan and Advocate Ramesh D Garg.