Reading down
Topic: Fundamental Rights and Constitutional Remedies · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Reading down is a method courts use to save a law. Instead of striking down a provision, the court gives it a narrower meaning. With that narrower meaning, the provision stays within the limits of the Constitution. It respects the legislature's work while protecting fundamental rights.
Example
In Kedar Nath Singh (1962), the Supreme Court upheld the sedition law (IPC s.124A). But it read the law down to cover only words that incite violence or public disorder. In Navtej Singh Johar (2018), IPC s.377 was read down so it no longer covered consensual same-sex relations between adults.
Don't confuse with
- Doctrine of severability: under severability, the bad part of a law is cut out. Under reading down, the words stay but their meaning is narrowed.
Related concepts
- State under Article 12
- Horizontal application of fundamental rights
- Laws inconsistent with fundamental rights
- Doctrine of eclipse
- Doctrine of severability
- Doctrine of waiver
- Right to property
- Article 31A
- Article 31B
- Eminent domain