The Hon’ble High Court of Kenya upheld the application of the Basic Structure doctrine and limits the power of the legislature to amend the Constitution.
In the instant matter, landmark judgment was ruled by the Hon’ble five-judge Constitutional Bench in response to a petition filed to challenge “the Building Bridges Initiative” and “the resulting Constitution Amendment Bill” which was introduced in the country by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The outburst for these Bills was because it proposed a scheme that disqualifies the doctrine of separation of powers among the governmental organ and thus is creating disequilibrium in checks and balances by limiting the Presidential system of government. Further, the Petitioners argued that the Bill proposed by the president also threatened to alter the functions of Parliament, the County Assemblies, the Judicial Service Commission, as well as plucking the mandate of the Electoral Board and Boundaries Commission.
The petitioner’s argument was based extensively on the judgment of the Supreme Court of India in Kesavananda Bharati versus. The state of Kerala to strengthen their points regarding scope and limits on amending power of parliament.
After having a deep analysis of all the arguments and with the judicial rationale the Hon’ble court upheld the application of basic structure in the country and limits amending power of parliament.
