KESAVANANDA BHARATI AND ANR. VS. STATE OF KERALA 1973 4 SCC 225

The present case originated from a challenge to the Kerala Land Reforms Act of 1963, which threatened the property of a Hindu Monastery. This issue raised a local dispute, which later escalated into a major constitutional battle over the extent of the Indian Parliament’s power to amend the constitution. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Kerala State government initiated land reforms to redistribute land from large landowners to the landless and poor. The Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963, placed a ceiling on the amount of land a person or institution could hold and allowed the government to acquire the surplus. Sri Kesavananda Bharati, who was the head (Pontiff) of the Endeer Mutt, a Hindu religious institution in Kasaragod District of Kerala, which owned considerable land. The application of the land reforms meant the Mutt would lose a significant portion of its property. However, in February 1970, His Holiness Kesavananda Bharati, represented by the eminent jurist Nani Palkhivala, filed a writ petition in the Hon’ble Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution. The petition argued that the Kerala government’s actions and relevant land reform amendments violated his fundamental rights, specifically the right to equality (Article 14), the right to freedom of religion (Article 25), the right to manage religious affairs (Article 26), and the right to property as enshrined under Article 19(1)(f) and Article 31). While the case was pending, the parliament passed the 24th, 25th, and 29th Constitutional amendments to assert its supremacy and power to amend any part of the constitution, including fundamental rights. This was a reaction to the previous Supreme Court rulings, as in the case of Golaknath vs. State of Punjab1967, which had restricted the parliament’s ability to amend fundamental rights.