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law resulting in arbitrariness, unreasonableness, etc.,
but such violations may not undermine the rule of
law so as to invalidate a statute. Violation must be
of such a serious nature which undermines the very
basic structure of our Constitution and our
democratic principles. But once the court finds, a
of
statute undermines the rule of law which has the
status of a constitutional principle like the basic
structure, the above grounds are also available and
rt
not vice versa. Any law which, in the opinion of the
court, is not just, fair and reasonable, is not a ground
to strik e down a statute because such an approach
would always be subjective, not the will of the
people, because there is always a presumption of
constitutionality for a statute.
218. The rule of law as a principle, it may be
mentioned, is not an absolute means of achieving
equality, human rights, justice, freedom and even
democracy and it all depends upon the nature of the
legislation and the seriousness of the violation. The
rule of law as an overarching principle can be applied
by the constitutional courts, in the rarest of rare
cases, in situations, we have referred to earlier and
can undo laws which are tyrannical, violate the basic
structure of our Constitution, and our cherished
norms of law and justice.