His Holiness Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalvaru, the petitioner in the landmark ‘Kesavananda Bharti vs. State of Kerala’ case, passed away at his Mutt in Kasargod district on September 6.
He is hailed as the saviour of the Constitution as his petition led the Supreme Court to come out with the Basic Structure of the Constitution.
The Kesavananda Bharti case has the distinction of having been the longest ever heard case in Supreme Court’s history with the maximum number of judges on the bench (12 judges).
Kesavananda Bharati, the seer of Edneer Mutt had challenged the Constitution (29th Amendment) Act, 1972 standing against the Kerala government’s move to take over the Mutt’s properties.
It was during this time when former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was on a nationalisation spree making changes to the 24th, 25th, 26th and 29th amendments to the Constitution and was trying to get a judgement in the government’s favour.
The lawyer who represented Kesavananda Bharati was Nani Palkhivala, an ardent believer in Advaita philosophy. Kesavananda Bharti lost the case with the court giving a 7-6 verdict in which the Court observed that Parliament cannot alter the Basic Structure of the Constitution.
In 2018, His Holiness was conferred the Justice VR Krishna Iyer Award.