Pakistan’s contribution to Indian Constitutional interpretation

The observations of Justice A.R. Cornelius in the Pakistani Supreme Court's Fazlul Quader Chowdhry judgment were relied upon by Justice J.R. Mudholkar in the Sajjan Singh case to sow the seed of the basic structure doctrine.

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When in Indian constitutional jurisprudence did the basic structure theory originate?

LAW grows, as does the Constitution. The doctrine of unamendability of the basic structure of the Constitution saw the light in the Supreme Court's Kesavananda Bharati judgment in 1973, and grew in strength with the passage of time. Though as it is ageing, signs of senility are visible. (For instance, see the Supreme Court's judgment in the Fourth Judges case in 2015).

The seed of this hallowed principle was sown by Justice J.R. Mudholkar in Sajjan Singh versus State of Rajasthan (1964). Though he dismissed the challenge to the 17th Constitutional Amendment, he observed that:

• The Supreme Court's decision in Sankari Prasad Singh Deo versus Union of India (1951) may not be the last word for the reasons mentioned by Justice M. Hidayatullah in his opinion in Sajjan Singh, and for some other reasons;
• Whether changing the basic features of the Constitution would be rewriting a part of the Constitution, and if it could be within the purview of Article 368 of the Constitution, is an open question;
• The members' oath of allegiance to the Constitution might be harmonised by excluding the power to amend basic features of the Constitution.