UPSC Prelims 2019 Question:

With reference to the Constitution of India

consider the following statements:

1. No High Court shall have the jurisdiction to declare any central law to be constitutionally invalid.
2. An amendment to the Constitution of India cannot be called into question by the Supreme Court of India.
   
   

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Explanation:

• The provisions of Article 13 and Article 226 of the Constitution of India explicitly confer the power of judicial review on the High Court. Though the phrase ‘Judicial Review’ has nowhere been used in the Constitution, under these provisions High Court can examine the constitutional validity of legislative enactments and executive orders of both the Central and State governments. On examination, if High Court found them violative of the Constitution (ultra-vires), then they can be declared illegal, unconstitutional, and invalid (null and void) by the high court. So, statement 1 is not correct.
  
  
• Supreme Court held in the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973) that if a Constitutional amendment violates the fundamental right that forms a part of the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution, then that amendment to the Constitution can be declared void by the Supreme Court through the power of judicial review under Article 32 of the Constitution. So, statement 2 is not correct.
  
  

Therefore, option (4) is the correct answer.

Subject: Polity | Judiciary