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29. The Constitution Bench in L. Chandra Kumar
v. Union of India and others, (1997) 3 SCC 261,
dealt with the nature of power of judicial review
conferred by Article 226 of the Constitution and the
power of superintendence conferred by Article 227.
It was held that the jurisdiction conferred on the
Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution
and on the High Courts under Articles 226 and 227
of the Constitution is part of the basic structure of
the Constitution, forming its integral and essential
feature, which cannot be tampered with much less
taken away even by constitutional amendment, not
to speak of a parliamentary legislation. A recent
Division Bench decision by Delhi High Court
(Dalveer Bhandari and H. R. Malhotra, JJ.) in
Criminal Writ Petition Nos. 758, 917 and 1295 of
2002, Govind v. State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi) decided
on April 1, 2003 (reported as (2003) 6 ILD 468)
makes an in-depth survey of decided cases including
almost all the leading decisions by this Court and
holds - "The power of the High Court under Article
226 cannot be whittled down, nullified, curtailed,
abrogated, diluted or taken either by judicial
pronouncement or by the legislative enactment or
even by the amendment of the Constitution. The
power of judicial review is an inherent part of the
basic structure and it cannot be abrogated without
affecting the basic structure of the Constitution."