SSC Stenographer 2026 – 15 September 2026 Shift 1 · Judicial review and judicial activism
Q1. Which of the following powers of the Supreme Court best exemplifies its role as the "Guardian of the Constitution"?
- (a) Power to appoint the Chief Justice of India and other judges of the High Courts.
- (b) Power to review its own judgments and orders under Article 137.
- (c) Power to declare laws unconstitutional and strike them down through judicial review.
- (d) Power to grant anticipatory bail to accused persons.
Answer & solution
Answer: (c) Power to declare laws unconstitutional and strike them down through judicial review.
Answer: Option 3 — Power to declare laws unconstitutional and strike them down through judicial review.
Judicial review — the power to examine laws and executive orders and declare them void if they violate the Constitution — is what makes the Supreme Court the guardian and final interpreter of the Constitution.
Judges are appointed by the President (not the Court), review under Article 137 concerns only the Court's own orders, and anticipatory bail is an ordinary criminal-law power of the Sessions Court and High Court.
Revision note — Judicial review and the Supreme Court
• The phrase "judicial review" is not in the Constitution; it rests on Article 13 (laws inconsistent with Fundamental Rights are void), Article 32 and Article 226 (writs), and Articles 131–136, 143, 245, 246 and 254.
• The idea comes from the US case Marbury v Madison (1803); India's judicial review is narrower — "procedure established by law" (Article 21), not "due process".
• Kesavananda Bharati (1973) gave the basic structure doctrine; Minerva Mills (1980) held judicial review itself to be part of the basic structure.
• Article 32 — Dr Ambedkar's "heart and soul" of the Constitution — lets a citizen move the Supreme Court directly for enforcement of Fundamental Rights.
• Article 137 — review of its own judgments; Article 141 — its law is binding on all courts; Article 143 — advisory opinion to the President; Article 129 — court of record with power to punish for contempt.
• Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President under Article 124 on the collegium's recommendation (Second and Third Judges cases, 1993 and 1998).
Do not mix these up
• Judicial review vs review under Article 137 — judicial review tests the validity of laws; Article 137 lets the Court re-examine its own judgment.
• Judicial review vs judicial activism — review is a constitutional power; activism is the Court's proactive use of it (PIL, relaxed locus standi) from the mid-1970s.
Also asked from this topic: who is called the guardian of the Constitution (the Supreme Court); what makes the judiciary the guardian (judicial review); the Article for review of its own judgments (Article 137); the base of judicial review (Article 13).
Judicial review — the power to examine laws and executive orders and declare them void if they violate the Constitution — is what makes the Supreme Court the guardian and final interpreter of the Constitution.
Judges are appointed by the President (not the Court), review under Article 137 concerns only the Court's own orders, and anticipatory bail is an ordinary criminal-law power of the Sessions Court and High Court.
Revision note — Judicial review and the Supreme Court
• The phrase "judicial review" is not in the Constitution; it rests on Article 13 (laws inconsistent with Fundamental Rights are void), Article 32 and Article 226 (writs), and Articles 131–136, 143, 245, 246 and 254.
• The idea comes from the US case Marbury v Madison (1803); India's judicial review is narrower — "procedure established by law" (Article 21), not "due process".
• Kesavananda Bharati (1973) gave the basic structure doctrine; Minerva Mills (1980) held judicial review itself to be part of the basic structure.
• Article 32 — Dr Ambedkar's "heart and soul" of the Constitution — lets a citizen move the Supreme Court directly for enforcement of Fundamental Rights.
• Article 137 — review of its own judgments; Article 141 — its law is binding on all courts; Article 143 — advisory opinion to the President; Article 129 — court of record with power to punish for contempt.
• Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President under Article 124 on the collegium's recommendation (Second and Third Judges cases, 1993 and 1998).
Do not mix these up
• Judicial review vs review under Article 137 — judicial review tests the validity of laws; Article 137 lets the Court re-examine its own judgment.
• Judicial review vs judicial activism — review is a constitutional power; activism is the Court's proactive use of it (PIL, relaxed locus standi) from the mid-1970s.
Also asked from this topic: who is called the guardian of the Constitution (the Supreme Court); what makes the judiciary the guardian (judicial review); the Article for review of its own judgments (Article 137); the base of judicial review (Article 13).