The Supreme Court of India enunciated the doctrine of “Basic Structure of the Constitution” in

The correct answer is D, Kesavananda Bharati case, 1973. A 13-judge bench, by a 7:6 majority, held that Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution under Article 368 but cannot alter its basic structure. The doctrine is not written in the text; the Court read it into the constitutional scheme.

• A (Golaknath, 1967): The Court held that Parliament could not amend Fundamental Rights at all. This was overruled by Kesavananda Bharati, so it is the wrong case for the doctrine.
• B (Sajjan Singh, 1965): The Court upheld the amendment power, and the year is 1965, not 1967. It did not enunciate basic structure.
• C (Shankari Prasad, 1951): The Court upheld the First Amendment and held that Part III could be amended. Basic structure came much later.

The doctrine checks the amending power of Parliament and protects features such as democracy, secularism, federalism, judicial review and the rule of law. It was reaffirmed in Minerva Mills (1980) and Waman Rao (1981). For Mains, it is central to debates on judicial review, the NJAC verdict and the balance between Parliament and the judiciary.

Trap: Candidates pick Golaknath because it is the famous 1967 case on fundamental rights. Remember that Golaknath denied amendability, and Kesavananda Bharati is the case that laid down the basic structure doctrine.