Importance Of Basic Structure Doctrine

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The Basic Structure doctrine still has a very nebulous meaning and what forms part of it is determined on a case-by-case basis. Judicial review, separation of powers and federalism have been previously been held by the Supreme Court to be part of the Basic Structure. It is however used only when testing constitutional amendments and not for ordinary laws. The court in the current case however applied the doctrine to examine an executive action of the judiciary. The court further made the remarkable statement that,
Any law that abrogates or abridges such rights would be violative of the basic structure doctrine. The actual effect and impact of the law on the rights guaranteed under Part III has to be taken into account in determining whether or not it destroys the basic structure.
The court made this observation at the conclusion of the case without either examining the previous case law in this regard (the more accepted position in law being that the Basic Structure doctrine is to be applied only for constitutional amendments) or providing detailed reasoning for the statement. ...

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