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When Article 71(3) of the Constitution was pointed out to the petitioner, he contended that it was introduced by an amendment in 1974 which was invalid. When we questioned the petitioner about the grounds of its alleged invalidity, he maintained that it constituted an invasion of the basic structure of the Constitution, and contended that this Court had invalidated a similar amendment of the Constitution in the case of Shrimati Indira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj Narain(1). We think the provisions of the Constitutional amendment which was invalidated there cannot be said to be similar to Article 71(3) of the Constitution. In Shrimati Indira Nehru Gandhi's case (supra), this Court had struck down Article 329A(4) of the Constitution mainly on the ground that it violated the basic structure of the Constitution in as much as Parliament, in exercise of its powers of amendment of the Constitution, under Article 368, could not exercise a judicial power of decision of election disputes pending before this Court. This Court had struck down a provision there which took away the jurisdiction of this Court to decide disputes pending in appeals before it, because Parliament had,, after practically deciding these disputes, directed this Court to carry out whatever was laid down in the form of a Constitutional amendment. This Court refused to accept as valid what amounted to an adjudication or what displaced adjudication, without following any judicial or quasi-judicial procedure, by resorting to what was essentially only a legislative power lodged in Parliament. The basic structure of the Constitution, resting on the doctrine of a Separation of Powers, seemed to have been shaken rather rudely by Article 329A(4) which was, therefore, declared void. In the case before us, the impugned amendment of the Constitution only refers to a law by which Parliament may regulate matters connected with the Presidential election, including those relating to election disputes arising out of such an election. It cannot be said to take away the jurisdiction of this Court to decide any matter which may be pending before this Court. All it does is to provide that the validity of any law falling under Article 71 (1) will not be called in question in any court. In as much as this Court has been constituted the authority of Tribunal before which the election of the President can be questioned the effect of Article 71 (3) is only to give effect to a well known general principle which is applied by this Court that a Court or Tribunal functioning or exercising its jurisdiction under an enactment will not question the validity of that very enactment which is the source of its powers. This Court functions here as an election tribunal set up under a law made by Parliament under Article 71 (1) of the Constitution. We are unable to see any force in the attack upon the validity of either section 5B or section 5C of the Act or of the amendment which introduced Article 71(3) of the Constitution. The result of a careful consideration by us of the provisions mentioned above is that we think that the procedure or manner for questioning the Presidential election having been laid down, the petitioner must come within the four comers of that procedure in order to have a locus standi to challenge the Presidential election and to be able to maintain this petition. If he neither is nor can claim to be a candidate, on assertions made by him in his petition itself, he would be lacking the right to question the election of Shri Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy as President of India. The effect of the provision (1) [1976] 2 SCR 347.