---
title: "Amendment Process & Basic Structure Doctrine"
description: "Learn the Article 368 amendment procedure and the judicially-evolved basic structure doctrine, from Shankari Prasad to Kesavananda Bharati and its later"
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/lessons/upsc-indian-polity-amendment-process-basic-structure-doctrine"
---

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Amendment process & basic structure doctrine

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# Amendment process & basic structure doctrine

Article 368 amendment procedure and the judicially-evolved basic structure doctrine—from Shankari Prasad to Kesavananda Bharati and beyond.

## The constitutional text: Article 368

The power to amend the Constitution is conferred exclusively by **Article 368**, located in Part XX. It prescribes both the procedure and a partial classification of amendments. An amendment may be initiated **only by introducing a Bill in either House of Parliament**—not in a State legislature. The Bill must be passed in *each House* by a **majority of the total membership of that House** (an absolute majority) **and** by a **majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting** (a special majority). There is no provision for a joint sitting under Article 108 to resolve a deadlock; each House must pass it separately. On passage, it is presented to the President, who—after the **24th Amendment Act, 1971**—is *bound* to give assent (Article 368(2) proviso).

## Three categories of amendment

The Constitution is neither wholly rigid nor wholly flexible; it blends both methods.

1. **Simple majority** — Provisions amendable by an ordinary law outside Article 368: creation/abolition of States and alteration of boundaries (**Articles 2, 3, 4**), abolition or creation of Legislative Councils (**Article 169**), salaries of judges, citizenship, and the Fifth and Sixth Schedules. These are expressly excluded from being treated as 'amendments' for Article 368 purposes.

2. **Special majority** — The bulk of the Constitution, including Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles, requires only the Article 368 special majority described above.

3. **Special majority plus State ratification** — Provisions affecting the **federal structure** require the special majority *and* ratification by the **legislatures of not less than one-half of the States** by a simple majority, *before* the Bill is presented to the President. The entrenched list includes: election of the President (Articles 54, 55), extent of executive power of Union and States (Articles 73, 162), the Supreme Court and High Courts (Articles 124, 214), distribution of legislative powers (Chapter I of Part XI and the Seventh Schedule), representation of States in Parliament, and **Article 368 itself**.

## The First Amendment and the early trajectory

The **Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951**—enacted by the Provisional Parliament under Nehru—inserted **Articles 31A and 31B and the Ninth Schedule** to immunise land-reform laws from judicial review, and added reasonable restrictions on free speech in Article 19(2). Its validity was upheld in **Shankari Prasad v. Union of India (1951)**, where the Supreme Court held that the word 'law' in **Article 13(2)** means ordinary legislation, not a constitutional amendment, so Parliament could amend Fundamental Rights. This reasoning was reaffirmed in **Sajjan Singh v. State of Rajasthan (1965)**, setting the stage for the doctrinal battle that followed.

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