Swami Kesavananda Bharati, pontiff of the Edneer Mutt in Kasaragod district of Kerala, breathed his last in the wee hours of Sunday. He was 79. The cremation was held on the Mutt premises on the banks of River Madhu Vahini in Kasaragod.
The Swami’s name became synonymous with the Constitution of India as he had waged one of the longest legal wars against the Centre in 1971 when he was hardly 21.
The Supreme Court ruled on April 24, 1973 that the “basic structure†of the Constitution is inviolable, and cannot be amended by Parliament.
He questioned the Constitutionality of certain amendments brought in by the Government of Kerala under the Land Reforms Act which robbed the Mutt of large tracts of land.
The family-run mutt belongs to the lineage of Sri Thotakacharya, one of the first four disciples of Adi Shankaracharya.
Nani Palkhivala, the legal wizard, wrote in 1976: “It was held in Kesavananda Bharati’s case (1973) that while Parliament has the power under Art 368 to amend any part of the Constitution (including the chapter on fundamental rights) the power cannot be so exercised as to alter or destroy the basic structure or framework of the Constitution; and this ratio was reaffirmed and applied in Indira Gandhi’s case (1975) in which a Constitutional amendment to make the Prime Minister’s election to Parliament unassailable in a court of law was declared voidâ€.
Kesavananda Baharati made the apex court declare that Parliament was only a creature of the Constitution. If Parliament had the power to destroy the basic structure of the Constitution, it would cease to be a creature of the Constitution and become its master, remarked Palkhivala while explaining the judgement by the 13 judge bench which heard the case and pronounced a 7-6 verdict.
