PRECURSORS TO KESAVANANDA BHARATI JUDGEMENT

A.K. Gopalan v. The State of Madras, Sri Sankari Prasad Singh Deo v. Union of India and State of Bihar, Sajjan Singh v. State of Rajasthan, and I.C. Golak Nath & Ors. v. State of Punjab & Anrs. are all landmark cases and significant precedents in the history of Indian constitutional law.

A.K. Gopalan v. The State of Madras (1950) dealt with the constitutionality of preventive detention laws. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of such laws, holding that the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Indian Constitution, including the right to life and personal liberty, were not absolute and could be curtailed by the state for reasons of national security.

Sri Sankari Prasad Singh Deo v. Union of India and State of Bihar (1951) dealt with the power of the Parliament to amend the Constitution. The Supreme Court held that the power to amend the Constitution under Article 368 was absolute and unfettered, and that the validity of a constitutional amendment could not be questioned on the ground that it violated any fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

Sajjan Singh v. State of Rajasthan (1965) dealt with the Constitutional validity of the 17th Constitutional Amendment. The Supreme Court upholding the validity of the 17th Amendment held that the Parliament has the authority to amend any part of the Constitution including any Fundamental Rights. The Supreme Court in the Judgement even stated that if the Constitution makers intended to exclude the fundamental Right from the scope of amending power they would have made a clear provision in that behalf.

I.C. Golak Nath & Ors. v. State of Punjab & Anrs. (1967) dealt with the power of the Parliament to amend the Constitution. The Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment, held that the power to amend the Constitution under Article 368 was not unlimited and that the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution could not be abrogated or abridged by a constitutional amendment

These cases are important as they helped in shaping the interpretation of the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Indian Constitution and the power of the Parliament to amend the Constitution. They also established the groundwork for subsequent cases, including Kesavananda Bharati, which has a lasting impact on the Indian legal system.