The Constitution, not Parliament, is supreme in India.

Q. The Constitution, not Parliament, is supreme in India. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

Unlike the United Kingdom's model of parliamentary sovereignty, India's framers vested ultimate authority in a written, rigid Constitution. Parliament is a constituted body deriving its existence and powers from that document — a position judicially settled since 1973, though not without qualification.

Textual basis of constitutional supremacy - Parliament's legislative competence is expressly "subject to the provisions of this Constitution", and the Seventh Schedule divides powers so that no legislature is omnicompetent [1]. - Article 13 renders void any law inconsistent with Fundamental Rights; Articles 32 and 226 arm the courts with judicial review, and Article 141 makes Supreme Court law binding throughout India [1]. - Amendment under Article 368 requires special majorities and, for federal provisions, state ratification — unlike an ordinary UK statute.

Judicial affirmation - Kesavananda Bharati (1973) evolved the Basic Structure Doctrine: the amending power cannot destroy the Constitution's identity — the clearest assertion of its paramountcy [3]. - Navtej Singh Johar (2018) applied constitutional morality over popular morality, showing purposive interpretation protecting rights against majoritarian sentiment [3]. - Officially reaffirmed: "None including the Judiciary is supreme, only the Constitution is" — all three organs must work within their constitutional domains [2].

Where Parliament's primacy remains real - Parliament alone holds constituent power; over a hundred amendments show a living Constitution shaped substantially by the legislature [1]. - The basic structure is judge-made and uncodified, its content settled case-by-case — critics see a counter-majoritarian gap in accountability. - Supremacy is also tested in delivery: massive judicial pendency recorded on the National Judicial Data Grid weakens practical enforceability of constitutional guarantees [4].

Thus supremacy vests in the Constitution as interpreted by the courts, with Parliament supreme within it, not above it. Sustaining this balance calls for mutual restraint among organs, transparent appointments and faster justice delivery — so that Ambedkar's ideal of constitutional morality, rather than institutional rivalry, anchors Indian democracy.

(~320 words)

Sources: 1. The Constitution of India — Legislative Department, Ministry of Law & Justice — Articles 13, 32, 141, 226, 368, Seventh Schedule; amendment record 2. PIB: "None including the Judiciary is supreme, only the Constitution is; asserts the Vice President" — separation of powers and constitutional supremacy 3. Supreme Court of India — Judgments portal — Kesavananda Bharati (1973) basic structure; Navtej Singh Johar (2018) constitutional morality 4. National Judicial Data Grid, eCourts (Supreme Court e-Committee) — pendency of cases across Indian courts