Abstract
Article 31B, and, correspondingly, the Ninth Schedule, was inserted by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951 as a measure to protect land reform laws from potential challenges on the touchstone of Fundamental Rights. The Supreme Court in I.R. Coelho v. State of TN. qualified this protection by subjecting such laws to judicial review on the ground of abrogation of the Basic Structure. While Coelho has led to several inadvertent consequences which have been analyzed in this paper, its subsequent clarification in Glanrock Estate (P) Ltd. v. State of TN., I submit, has resolved the debate with respect to determining the validity of the Ninth Schedule laws by toeing the line of the text of Article 31B while ensuring conformity with the Basic Structure. I further argue for the irrelevance of the Ninth Schedule today in light of its meandering focus and potential for abuse. Finally, I propose two alternatives to contain the deleterious effects of Article 31B.
Recommended Citation
Dodeja, Karishma D.
(2016)
"Belling the Cat: The Curious Case of the Ninth Schedule in the Indian Constitution,"
National Law School of India Review: Vol. 28:
Iss.
1, Article 1.
Available at:
https://repository.nls.ac.in/nlsir/vol28/iss1/1
