Constitution bench (India)

Constitution bench is the name given to the benches of the Supreme Court of India which consist of at least five judges of the court which sit to decide any case “involving a substantial question of law as to the interpretation” of the Constitution of India or "for the purpose of hearing any reference" made by the President of India under Article 143.[1] This provision has been mandated by Article 145 (3) of the Constitution of India.[2][3] Also, matters related to the Amendment of an Act of the Indian Parliament are referred to the Constitution Bench by the Supreme Court under the same act.[4] The Chief Justice of India has the power to constitute a Constitution Bench and refer cases to it.[5]

Constitution benches[6] have decided many of India's best-known and most important Supreme Court cases: A. K. Gopalan v. State of Madras, Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (basic structure doctrine), Ashoka Kumar Thakur v. Union of India (OBC reservations), Kharak Singh vs The State of Uttar Pradesh and Others, McDowell & Company Limited. vs CTOetc.[3]

  1. ^ "Article 145(3) in the Constitution of India 1949". indiankanoon.org. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  2. ^ "Constitution of India, as on 29 July 2008" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 September 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Interpreting the Constitution: Supreme Court Constitution Benches since Independence" (PDF). Economic and Political Weekly. XLVI (9). Sameeksha Trust. ISSN 0012-9976. Archived from the original (Magazine) on 19 July 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  4. ^ "We adopted parliamentary democracy based on the British model, but how does our model differ from that model?1. As regards legislation, the British Parliament is supreme or sovereign but in India, the power of the Parliament to legislate is limited. 2. In India, matters related to the Amendment of an Act of the Parliament are referred to the Constitution Bench by the Supreme Court. Select the correct answer using the code given below". ForumIAS Blog. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  5. ^ S., Rukmini (14 November 2013). "Cases decided by Constitution Benches dropping". The Hindu. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  6. ^ "What is a Constitution bench?". 12 January 2020.