Judicial Review, Religion And Sabarimala: How Constitution Empowers Courts

Updated: May 01, 2026 19:18 pm IST Published On May 01, 2026 19:10 pm IST Last Updated On May 01, 2026 19:18 pm IST

Published On May 01, 2026 19:10 pm IST

Last Updated On May 01, 2026 19:18 pm IST

On a hill in Kerala, a centuries-old tradition recognised as a customary law barred women of menstruating age from entering a temple. In 2018, the Supreme Court struck it down. The country was convulsed. Review petitions soon flooded the Supreme Court. A nine-judge bench was constituted to look at larger questions of law and religion. Seven years later those nine judges are examining questions that reach far beyond one shrine, one community, and one set of beliefs.

One of the critical questions that the court has framed for arguments is its own power of judicial review. It is a power that the Constitution gave to the judiciary and that no subsequent parliament has been able to take away. Understanding that power, what it is, why it exists, and why it is especially indispensable when religion is involved is essential to understanding what the nine-judge bench is truly doing.

What Is Judicial Review?

Judicial review is the authority of the Supreme Court and high courts to examine whether a law enacted by parliament or a state legislature, or an action taken by the executive, is consistent with the Constitution. If it is not, the court may strike it down. The law ceases to exist, not because a new law was passed against it, but because the Constitution rendered it void.

The phrase itself does not appear anywhere in the Constitution. It does not need to. It is embedded in the document's architecture. Article 13 declares that any law inconsistent with or in derogation of fundamental rights shall be void. Articles 32 and 226 give the Supreme Court and high courts the authority to enforce fundamental rights. The Supreme Court can exercise its special plenary powers under Article 142 to take any action to impart "complete justice" in any matter.

In the decades after Independence, parliament and the Supreme Court were engaged in a sustained........

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