is for giving effect to such policy shall be called in question in any court on the ground that it does not give effect to such policy" is invalid. The Constitution (Twenty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1971 is valid. The ruling thus established the principle that the basic structure cannot be amended on the grounds that a power to amend is not a power to destroy. Defining the basic structure The majority had differing opinions on what the "basic structure" of the Constitution comprised Chief Justice Sarv Mittra Sikri, writing for the majority, indicated that the basic structure consists of the following: The supremacy of the constitution. A republican and democratic system. The secular character of the Constitution. Maintenance of the separation of powers. The federal character of the Constitution. Justices Shelat and Grover in their opinion added three features to the Chief Justice's list: The mandate to build a welfare state contained in the Directive Principles of State Policy. Maintenance of the unity and integrity of India. The sovereignty of the country. Justices Hegde and Mukherjea, in their opinion, provided a separate and shorter list: The sovereignty of India. The democratic character of the polity. The unity of the country. Essential features of individual freedoms. The mandate to build a welfare state. Justice Jaganmohan Reddy preferred to look at the preamble, stating that the basic features of the constitution were laid out by that part of the document, and thus could be represented by: A sovereign democratic republic. The provision of social, economic and political justice. Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. Equality of status and opportunity. The Emergency (1975) The Court reaffirmed and applied the basic structure doctrine in Indira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj Narain, popularly known as Election case. The constitutionality of Article 329A, which had been inserted by the 39th Amendment in 1975 was challenged in this case. Shortly after the imposition of the Emergency, a bench of thirteen judges was hastily assembled to hear the case. Presided over by Chief Justice Ajit Nath Ray, the court had to determine the degree to which amendments were restricted by the basic structure theory. Ray, who was among the dissenters in the Kesavananda Bharati case, had been promoted to Chief Justice of India on 26 April 1973, superseding three senior Judges, Shelat, Grover and Hegde (all in the majority in the same case), which was unprecedented in Indian