Oct 22, 20201 min read

Notes for Article 13 under Indian Constitution

CONCEPT OF ART 13 IN CRUX |

· Article 13(1) refers to pre-Constitution laws while Art.

· Article 13(2) refers to post Constitution laws.

· Article 13(3) says what are laws

WHAT ART 13 SAYS ? A law is void if inconsistent with a Fundamental Right.

EFFECT OF VOIDNESS | A void statute is unenforceable, non-est, and devoid of any legal force: courts take no notice of such a statute, and it is taken to be notionally obliterated for all purposes.

PROPOSITION | Any law made in contravention of Part III is dead from the very beginning and cannot at all be taken notice of or read for any purpose whatsoever. But this is subject to few exceptions :

1ST EXCEPTION : Art. 14,21 - apply to all persons i.e., to citizens as well as non citizens but art. 19 is applicable only to citizen. Whenever a law is inconsistent with a Fundamental Right of the former type is ineffective qua all persons. On the other hand, a law inconsistent with a Fundamental Right available to citizens only, is non-est only qua citizens but not qua non-citizens who cannot claim the benefit of the Fundamental Right in question.

2ND EXCEPTION | Art. 13(1) is prospective and not retrospective. Therefore, a pre -Constitution law inconsistent with a Fundamental Right becomes void only after the commencement of the Constitution. Any substantive rights and liabilities accruing under it prior to the enforcement of the Constitution are not nullified. It is ineffective only with respect to the enforcement of rights and liabilities in the post-Constitution period.