6.10.4. Status in India

6.10.4.1. Maneka Gandhi case (1978)

Supreme Court accepted that due process is inherent in procedure established by law. SC in this case applied the American principle of “due process of law” for the first time. It applied the following arguments:

♤ Article 19 and 21 can’t be understood as watertight compartments and the same criteria of

reasonableness must be applied for Article 21 too.

♤ Merely following the procedure established by law is not enough. The courts have the right to review and question the reasonableness of the law itself.

♤ Restrictions must be reasonable, just and fair and shouldn’t be arbitrary.

In India, traditionally we followed the principle of “procedure established by law”, as it

prevailed in Britain. However since 1978, we have followed both in India.