Balance of powers

The constitutional bedrock should stay untouched

The executive and the legislative branches of the Indian state appear to be in conflict, which does not bode well for the country. A long-lasting disagreement on who gets to appoint senior judges has now expanded into a disagreement over the very separation of powers and the final word on the constitutionality of legislation. The latest salvo in this conflict was fired by Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, who declared that the “basic structure” doctrine, which limits the powers of Parliament to amend the Constitution, was itself an infringement of democracy. In 1973, in the landmark Kesavananda Bharati case, the Supreme Court