Question

The Supreme Court of India enjoys the power of 'Judicial review' which implies that it can:
1. Review the working of the subordinate courts
2. Review its own judgements
3. Initiate cases at its own discretion
4. Declare the laws passed by the legislature and orders issued by the executive as unconstitutional if they contravene any provision of the Constitution

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 4 : Declare the laws passed by the legislature and orders issued by the executive as unconstitutional if they contravene any provision of the Constitution

The correct answer is Declare the laws passed by the legislature and orders issued by the executive as unconstitutional if they contravene any provision of the Constitution.

• Judicial Review
  • It means that the Judiciary has the power to examine the order passed by both the Legislative and Executive of the Central and State governments. If the orders are found to violate the Constitution (ultra vires), they can be declared as illegal, unconstitutional, and invalid (null and void) by the judiciary. 
  • The Supreme Court of India has declared 'Judicial Review' as one of the features of the basic structure of the Constitution. Hence, the power of judicial review cannot be curtailed even by a constitutional amendment.
  • The term 'Judicial Review' is nowhere found written in the Constitution, but the provisions of several Articles (eg. Article 13, 32, 131, 132, 133, etc.) explicitly confer the power of judicial review on the Supreme Court and the High Courts.
  •  The former Supreme Court judge Justice Syed Shah Mohamed Quadri classified the judicial review into the following three categories
    • Judicial review of constitutional amendments.
    • Judicial review of legislation of the Parliament and State Legislatures and subordinate legislations.
    • Judicial review of administrative action of the Union and State and authorities under the state.

• Some of the cases, where the Supreme Court has used its power of Judicial Review, are given below
  • Golaknath case (1967)
  • Bank Nationalisation case (1970)
  • Privy Purses Abolition case (1971)
  • Kesavananda Bharati case (1973)
  • Minerva Mills case (1980)
• The 99th Constitutional Amendment, 2014 and the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, 2014, were declared unconstitutional, null, and void by the Supreme Court in 2015.