Blowin’ in the Wind: Reconnoitring the Constitutional Silences of Unconstitutional Statutes in India

Professor Shruti Bedi contends that India lacks a coherent doctrine for reviving statutes declared unconstitutional, creating an ambiguity that courts and legislators have inconsistently navigated. Drawing on the void ab initio doctrine and the doctrine of eclipse, the author argues that while Deep Chand v. State of U.P. and Saghir Ahmad v. State of U.P. firmly establish the validity of unconstitutional post-constitutional laws, the Supreme Court’s validation of the amended Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, (PMLA) in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary v. Union of India contradicts this position by accepting superficial legislative changes as sufficient revival. The twin bail conditions under the PMLA serve as the article’s central case study, illustrating how minimal amendments were judicially upheld despite failing to substantively address the constitutional infirmities identified in Nikesh Tarachand Shah v. Union of India. The author concludes by drawing on comparative jurisprudence from Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia, advocating for a structured Indian revival framework that demands genuine rectification rather than cosmetic legislative manoeuvring.

CALJ Special Issue_Bedi.pdf

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