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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE
LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4448
ANSWERED ON - 02/04/2026
CONSTITUTIONAL VALIDITY OF LEGISLATIONS
4448. DR. SASMIT PATRA:
Will the Minister of Law and Justice be pleased to state:
(a) whether Government has undertaken any review or institutional mechanism to examine the
constitutional validity of proposed legislations and executive actions in light of the Basic Structure
doctrine evolved by the Supreme Court in Kesavananda Bharati vs State of Kerala;
(b) whether instances have arisen during the last five years where laws enacted or executive measures
taken by Government were subsequently struck down or read down by courts for violating
fundamental constitutional principles;
(c) the number of such cases and key constitutional grounds involved; and
(d) the steps taken to strengthen constitutional vetting of legislative and executive proposals?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF LAW AND
JUSTICE; AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS
(SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)
(a): As per the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961, the Department of Legal
Affairs has been allocated the mandate to advice Ministries/Departments on legal matters and
feasibility of proposals from legal and constitutional angle including interpretation of the
Constitution and the laws. References are also made to Ld. Attorney General for India and Ld.
Solicitor General of India for advice on matters of significant constitutional implications. In case the
vires of any law is challenged then as per the constitutional scheme, final determination of
constitutional validity lies with the judiciary. The mandate of the Department does not cover vetting
of Executive actions. However, the subordinate legislation are vetted by the Legislative Department.
As regards examination of the laws in light of the basic structure doctrine, it is relevant to
mention that the Hon'ble Supreme Court through various judicial pronouncements has held that a
statute can only be struck down or being violative of Part III or any other provision of the
Constitution or for being without legislative competence. Recently, the Hon'ble Supreme Court in
Anjum Kadari & Another vs Union of India & Others [2024 INSC 831] has observed as follows:
1"The reason is that concepts such as democracy, federalism, and secularism are undefined
concepts. Allowing courts to strike down legislation for violation of such concepts will introduce an
element of uncertainty in our constitutional adjudication".
The Bench further stated, "Recently, this Court has accepted that a challenge to the
constitutional validity of a statute for violation of the basic structure is a technical aspect because
the infraction has to be traced to the express provisions of the Constitution. "
(b) and (c): There is no database being maintained in this Department in this regard. Details of
litigations related to concerned legislation are covered within the purview of the respective
administrative Ministry/Department responsible for the specific subject matter.
(d): The officers of the Department perform the task of examining the draft legislations from a legal
and constitutional angle. The officers are also sent for capacity building training from time to time.
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