Article 13 is a foundational provision in Part III of the Constitution of India, which deals with Fundamental Rights. It is the constitutional basis for the doctrine of Judicial Review, making the judiciary the ultimate arbiter of the constitutional validity of laws. The provision was debated and adopted by the Constituent Assembly on November 29, 1948, to safeguard Fundamental Rights against legislative and executive overreach.
The article works through four clauses. Article 13(1) addresses pre-Constitution laws, declaring that all laws in force before January 26, 1950, shall be void to the extent they are inconsistent with Fundamental Rights. This clause gave rise to the Doctrine of Eclipse. More crucially, Article 13(2) prohibits the "State" from making any "law" that takes away or abridges the rights conferred by Part III, and any such law made in contravention shall be void to the extent of the contravention. Article 13(3) provides an expansive definition of "law," which includes any Ordinance, order, bye-law, rule, regulation, notification, custom or usage having the force of law.
Article 13 is intrinsically connected to Article 32 and Article 226, which empower the Supreme Court and High Courts, respectively, to enforce Fundamental Rights. Its history is marked by a significant tussle with Article 368, which grants Parliament the power to amend the Constitution. Following the Golaknath v. State of Punjab judgment in 1967, where the Supreme Court held that a constitutional amendment was a "law" under Article 13(2), Parliament responded by adding Article 13(4) through the 24th Amendment Act in 1971. This new clause explicitly states that nothing in Article 13 shall apply to any amendment made under Article 368. However, the Supreme Court's subsequent judgment in Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973) established the Basic Structure Doctrine, holding that while Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution, it cannot alter its fundamental framework, thereby retaining a check on the amending power.