The concept of constitutional morality has become one of the most oft-cited phrases in judicial pronouncements in India today. The concept basically means to bow down to the norms of the Constitution and not to act in a manner which would become violative of the rule of law or reflectible of action in an arbitrary manner. Commitment to the Constitution is a facet of constitutional morality.

The use of the principle of constitutional morality can be seen in the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Manoj Narula v. Union of India [(2014) 9 SCC 77]. While while dealing with the issue of criminalization of politics, the Court observed that any advice given by the Prime Minister to the President for appointment of a Minister under Article 75(1), should conform to standards of constitutional morality, regard being had to constitutional norms, democratic polity and sanctity of democracy.

The best way of understanding the idea of constitutional morality in the Indian context different from basic structure doctrine is by referring to the discussions in the Constituent Assembly Debates. In words of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, “…The Constitution is an organic document and it can live and grow on the bedrock of ‘constitutional morality”. Thus, in his words, “constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment; it has to be cultivated. We must realise that our people are yet to learn it”. [CAD Vol. VII, 38]

In view of this, the following points of difference between constitutional morality and basic structure doctrine may be laid down:

§  Both ‘constitutional morality’ and ‘basic structure’ are ways of imposing constitutionalism on the Government in power. But basic structure is a wider concept than constitutional morality, with the latter being a sub set of the former. Thus, constitutional morality is one of the elements of basic structure of the Indian Constitution.

§  Basic structure is an act of judicial creativity/judge made concept, an after-thought of interpreting the Constitution and identifying certain key features of the Constitution which are inviolable. The judiciary has read into Article 13 and formulated the doctrine. Whereas, constitutional morality is a creation of the drafters of the Constitution, though not codified in form of any particular provision of the Constitution.

To conclude, it can be said that while the basic structure doctrine has evolved into a holistic doctrine with help of some objective standards, the constitutional morality doctrine is yet to be evolved in similar fashion in India.