Judicial Review, PIL and Judicial Activism

Prerequisites

• Supreme Court: Jurisdiction and Powers — Arts 32, 136, 141 and 142, the tools of judicial review.
• Constitutional Remedies and Writs — the origin and landmark cases of PIL, summarised (not repeated) here.
• Preamble and Salient Features of the Constitution — judicial review and the basic structure as salient features.

The Hook: Special Police Officers in Bastar

Why it matters: Prelims asks the basic structure cases in order and the articles that support judicial review. Mains asks “judicial activism vs judicial overreach” and “evaluate PIL” almost as standing questions.

Judicial Review (न्यायिक पुनरावलोकन)

Meaning: the power of the courts to examine whether laws, executive actions and constitutional amendments are consistent with the Constitution, and to declare them void (ultra vires) if they are not.

Origin: the doctrine was established in the USA in Marbury v. Madison (1803). The Indian Constitution does not use the phrase “judicial review”, but several articles give it a firm basis.

Three grounds on which a law can be struck down:

1. It violates Fundamental Rights (Part III).
2. It is outside the competence of the legislature that made it (Seventh Schedule lists).
3. It violates any other provision of the Constitution.

Judicial review of constitutional amendments: the basic structure story

timeline
    title Amending power vs judicial review
    1951 : Shankari Prasad - Parliament can amend Fundamental Rights
    1967 : Golaknath (11 judges) - Fundamental Rights cannot be amended
    1971 : 24th Amendment - Art 13(4), Art 368(3) restore power
    1973 : Kesavananda Bharati (13 judges, 7-6) - amend anything but the basic structure
    1975 : Indira Gandhi v Raj Narain - free and fair elections are basic structure
    1976 : 42nd Amendment - Art 368(4) and (5) bar review of amendments
    1980 : Minerva Mills - 368(4) and (5) struck down - judicial review and limited amending power are basic
    2007 : I.R. Coelho (9 judges) - Ninth Schedule laws after 24 Apr 1973 open to review
    2015 : NJAC case - judicial independence is basic structure

Public Interest Litigation (जनहित याचिका): The Essentials

The full origin and evaluation of PIL are in Constitutional Remedies and Writs. The points this chapter adds:

Judicial Activism, Restraint and Overreach

Judicial activism (न्यायिक सक्रियता): a proactive role of the judiciary in protecting rights and enforcing accountability, going beyond the traditional role of only settling disputes between parties. The term is usually credited to the American historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. (1947). In India it grew after the Emergency, through PIL and the expansion of Art 21.

Judicial restraint: courts defer to the legislature and executive on matters of policy and do not substitute their own judgment. Example: in BALCO Employees’ Union v. Union of India (2002) the Supreme Court refused to interfere with the disinvestment policy, holding that economic policy is for the government.

Judicial overreach: activism that crosses into the legislative or executive domain, such as framing policy, running institutions or issuing directions without legal basis. The line between activism and overreach is contested, and that contest is the heart of most Mains questions.

Tools of judicial activism

graph LR
    A["Judicial activism"] --> B["PIL and relaxed
locus standi"]
    A --> C["Suo motu
cognisance"]
    A --> D["Expansive reading
of Art 21"]
    A --> E["Guidelines to
fill legislative gaps"]
    A --> F["Continuing
mandamus"]
    A --> G["Art 142
complete justice"]

Landmark examples

Examples critics call overreach

Evaluation for Mains

Pendency and Judicial Reforms

Memory Tricks

Don’t Confuse

Common Mistakes

Practice

All questions below are original practice questions written in CGPSC style. They are not previous-year questions.

Level 1: Foundation

1. The doctrine of judicial review was established in the USA in the case of ______ (1803).
2. The basic structure doctrine was propounded by a ______-judge bench in Kesavananda Bharati (1973).
3. The option of NOTA on ballots was introduced following the Supreme Court’s 2013 judgment in ______ v. Union of India.

Level 2: Prelims MCQs

Q1. Consider the following statements:

1. The expression “judicial review” is expressly used in Article 13 of the Constitution.
2. In Minerva Mills (1980), the Supreme Court held that judicial review is a part of the basic structure of the Constitution.
3. In I.R. Coelho (2007), the Supreme Court held that laws placed in the Ninth Schedule after 24 April 1973 can be tested against the basic structure.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) 1 and 2 only
• (b) 2 only
• (c) 2 and 3 only
• (d) 1, 2 and 3

Q2. Match List I (Case) with List II (Outcome):

• (a) A-2, B-3, C-4, D-1
• (b) A-3, B-2, C-1, D-4
• (c) A-2, B-3, C-1, D-4
• (d) A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4

Q3. In which of the following cases did the Supreme Court hold that the use of tribal youth as Special Police Officers in counter-insurgency operations in Chhattisgarh was unconstitutional?

• (a) Prakash Singh v. Union of India
• (b) Nandini Sundar v. State of Chhattisgarh
• (c) T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India
• (d) D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal

Q4. Which one of the following is not usually regarded as a feature of Public Interest Litigation in India?

• (a) Relaxation of the rule of locus standi
• (b) Treating letters addressed to judges as writ petitions
• (c) Continuing mandamus to monitor compliance
• (d) A strictly adversarial procedure in which only the parties lead evidence

Q5. The Supreme Court’s 2024 judgment in Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India is associated with:

• (a) Introduction of the NOTA option
• (b) Disqualification of convicted legislators
• (c) Striking down the electoral bonds scheme
• (d) Police reforms

Level 3: Mains Answer Writing

Q1. (60 words) What is the doctrine of basic structure? Name any four features recognised as part of it.

Q2. (150–200 words) “The line between judicial activism and judicial overreach is thin.” Discuss with examples.

Quick Revision Table

Key Takeaways

What’s Next

• Judiciary — Quick Revision — the whole chapter on one page
• State Executive and Legislature — the next chapter, on the organs whose actions the courts review
• Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties — the FR-DPSP balance held to be basic structure in Minerva Mills
• Forests, Wildlife, National Parks and Sanctuaries — the Chhattisgarh forests touched by the Godavarman case