Constitutional Law of India
Constitutional Law of India tests the text of the Constitution, the doctrines built around it and the writ jurisdiction of the High Court and Supreme Court. The paper rewards precise article citation and a clear grasp of when judicial review is available.
Rights and remedies
- Article 12 defines the State; Article 13 makes pre-constitutional and post-constitutional laws inconsistent with Part III void.
- Article 14 forbids arbitrary classification; Article 19 freedoms are subject to reasonable restrictions; Article 21 protects life and personal liberty with the expanded due-process reading.
- Article 32 is the Supreme Court's writ jurisdiction; Article 226 is the High Court's, wider because it covers legal rights and is discretionary; Article 136 is special leave.
Structure and amendment
- Article 368 permits amendment but the basic structure cannot be destroyed; Article 141 makes Supreme Court law binding; Article 142 supplies complete justice.
- Article 300A protects property as a constitutional right; Articles 311 and 309 govern civil servants.
Worked example
A state law reserves seats in a professional course only for residents of one district. Issue: Article 14. Reasoning: the classification must rest on intelligible differentia with a rational nexus to the object. Residence in a district is not a rational marker of merit or deprivation, and the law is struck down as arbitrary. If the reservation were for a backward class identified by quantifiable data, the test would be satisfied.
Traps
- Invoking Article 32 against a private body not performing a public function.
- Treating Article 226 as a substitute for Article 32 rather than recognising its wider but discretionary scope.
- Confusing 'procedure established by law' with the American 'due process' without noting the post-Maneka expansion.