Book on Kesavananda Bharati case will be released on Tuesday
A 13-judge Bench of the Supreme Court, the largest so
far, decided the Kesavananda Bharati case after hearing arguments by
eminent lawyers spread over 66 days. The judgment, delivered by a
majority of 7:6 on April 24, 1973, held that Parliament could not alter
the basic structure of the Constitution by an amendment.
Chief
Justice of India S.H. Kapadia will release a book dealing with this
case at a function here on October 18. The senior advocate and former
Solicitor- General, T.R. Andhyarujina, has written the book, explaining
the culmination of a struggle for supremacy over the power to amend the
Constitution between Parliament and the government on the one hand, and
the Supreme Court on the other.
Mr. Andhyarujina
says: “This book is a gripping story of the conflict and tensions in the
Kesavananda Bharati case and its aftermath, which has not been
disclosed so far. It is based on the author's recollection and [the]
detailed notes maintained by him as counsel in the case, and on later
interviews by him with some of the judges in the case.”
The
book reveals that prior to the hearing, the government attempted to
influence the court by appointing judges who it expected would decide in
its favour. It shows the preconceived views of some of the judges on
Parliament's power to amend the Constitution, the internal conflicts and
factions among the judges, and the charged atmosphere in the court till
the delivery of their judgments.
In the words of Mr.
Andhyarujina, the battle began when the Supreme Court, in the Golak
Nath case in 1967, held that fundamental rights could not be amended by
Parliament. Parliament and the government were not reconciled to the
‘view by majority' in the Kesavananda case and were determined to get it
overruled. On the day of the judgment (April 24, 1973), the government
superseded three senior-most judges, who had decided against the
government and appointed Justice A.N. Ray as the next Chief Justice on
the retirement of Chief Justice S.M. Sikri. In 1975, with the help of
Mr. Ray, the government tried in vain to reverse the majority view in
the Kesavananda case by another Bench of 13 judges.
However,
during the emergency, the government nullified the Kesavananda case
judgment by the 42nd amendment, but this was overruled in the Minerva
Mills case in 1980, when Y.V. Chandrachud was the Chief Justice.
Mr.
Andhyarujina says the purpose of the book, coming as it does after 38
years of the event, was “an interaction of constitutional law with the
politics of the day; the story of the Kesavananda case requires to be
widely known.” Though such an exercise is being done in the United
States, it has not been done in respect of any leading case in India,
hence his attempt.
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