Judicial Review as A Weapon To Control Unlimited Power Of Constitutional Amendment

Abstract

Law plays an effective and important role in society. It reconciles the conflicting interest of individuals, and those of individuals and society. In a democratic state, law functions as an instrument of social justice. The Constitution of a country is the most fundamental law of the land. It is enacted for the purpose of establishing the State and a certain system for the governance of the country. The Constitution then distributes the powers of the State among different institutions and sets up certain machinery for controlling the actions of the public bodies. India is lucky enough to have a constitution in which the fundamental rights are enshrined and which has appointed an independent judiciary as guardian of the constitution and protector of the citizen's liberties against the forces of authoritarianism. In a true form of democracy, the rule of a fearless independent and impartial judiciary is indispensable and cannot be over-emphasized. It is therefore judiciary plays an important role as custodian of the rights of the citizens. In a federal Constitution it has another important role of determining the limits of the powers of the Centre and the States. It is therefore necessary that the Judiciary should be independent and free from the influence of the Executive. Judicial Review is thus the interposition of judicial restraint on the legislative as well as the executive organs of the Government. The concept has the origin in the theory of limited Government and in the theory of two laws and ordinary and supreme. From the very assumption that there is supreme law which constitutes the foundation and source of other legislative authorities in the body polity, it proceeds that any act of the ordinary law-making bodies which contravenes the provisions of the supreme law must be void and there must be some organ which is to possess the power or authority to pronounce such legislative acts void.