Which among the following statements about the power to change the basic structure of the Constitution of India is/are correct? 1. It falls outside the scope of the amending powers of the Parliament. 2. It can be exercised by the people though representat

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Q: (CDS-I/2019)
Which among the following statements about the power to change the basic structure of the Constitution of India is/are correct?
1. It falls outside the scope of the amending powers of the Parliament.
2. It can be exercised by the people though representatives in a Constituent Assembly.
3. It falls within the constituent powers of the Parliament.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.

question_subject: 

Polity

question_exam: 

CDS-I

stats: 

0,10,56,12,6,42,6

keywords: 

{'constituent powers': [0, 0, 0, 1], 'constitution': [39, 3, 11, 39], 'constituent assembly': [9, 1, 4, 11], 'basic structure': [0, 0, 0, 1], 'powers': [0, 0, 0, 1], 'parliament': [15, 1, 3, 8], 'power': [24, 3, 21, 61], 'scope': [2, 0, 0, 4], 'representatives': [0, 0, 1, 0]}

Statement 1 is correct - the power to change the basic structure of the Constitution of India falls outside the scope of the amending powers of the Parliament.

Statement 2 is also correct - the power to change the basic structure of the Constitution can be exercised by the people through representatives in a Constituent Assembly.

Statement 3 is incorrect - the power to change the basic structure of the Constitution does not fall within the constituent powers of the Parliament.

Therefore, the correct answer is: 1 and 2.

Yes, statement 2 is correct. The power to change the basic structure of the Constitution of India can be exercised by the people through their representatives in a Constituent Assembly. This was demonstrated in the past when the Constitution was amended by the Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978, to insert a new article, Article 368(4), which declared that "no Constitutional amendment can be questioned in any court on any ground." This provision was subsequently struck down by the Supreme Court in the case of Minerva Mills v. Union of India (1980), where it was held that the power to amend the Constitution is not unlimited and that the basic structure of the Constitution cannot be altered. The judgment of the Supreme Court in this case effectively confirmed that the power to change the basic structure of the Constitution lies with the people through their representatives in a Constituent Assembly.

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