| Minerva Mills Ltd. v. Union Of India | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Court | Supreme Court of India |
| Full case name | Minerva Mills Ltd. and Ors. vs Union Of India and Ors. |
| Decided | 31 July 1980 |
| Citation | AIR 1980 SC 1789 |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | Y. V. Chandrachud (Chief Justice), P. N. Bhagwati, A. C. Gupta, N. L. Untwalia, P. S. Kailasam. |
| Case opinions | |
| Clause 5 of Article 368 transgresses the limitation on the amending power of Parliament and is hence unconstitutional. | |
| Decision by | Y. V. Chandrachud (Chief Justice) |
| Concur/dissent | P. N. Bhagwati |
Minerva Mills Ltd. and Ors. v. Union Of India and Ors. (case number: Writ Petition (Civil) 356 of 1977; case citation: AIR 1980 SC 1789)[1] is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of India[2] that applied and evolved the basic structure doctrine of the Constitution of India.[3]
In the Minerva Mills case, the Supreme Court provided key clarifications on the interpretation of the basic structure doctrine. The court ruled that the power of the parliament to amend the constitution is limited by the constitution. Hence the parliament cannot exercise this limited power to grant itself an unlimited power. In addition, a majority of the court also held that the parliament's power to amend is not a power to destroy. Hence the parliament cannot emasculate the fundamental rights of individuals, and also includes the right to liberty and equality (which is not a fundamental right but considered a basic structure of the Constitution) .[4]
The ruling struck down clause 4 and 5 of the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 enacted during the Emergency imposed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.[5]
- ^ "Judgement Copy" (PDF). Article 51A.
- ^ "Minerva Mills Ltd. and Ors. vs. Union Of India and Ors". Indian Kanoon. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ^ Raghav Sharma (16 April 2008). "Minerva Mills Ltd. & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors: A Jurisprudential Perspective". SSRN 1121817.
- ^ "Minerva Mills Ltd. & Ors. vs. Union of India & Ors". Open Archive. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ^ Hart, Henry C. (April 1980). "The Indian Constitution: Political Development and Decay". Asian Survey. 20 (4): 428–451. doi:10.2307/2643867. JSTOR 2643867.