Part VII Rights—Substance and Content, Ch.43 Due Process

This chapter examines the guarantee of ‘due process of law’ in the Indian Constitution. After providing an account of Constituent Assembly Debates and the historical intent behind this guarantee, the Chapter explores how substantive due process came to become a part of Indian constitutional law. Through a reading of important cases, it demonstrates the shift from substantive due process to procedural due process before turning to a third kind of due process presently seen in Indian constitutional law that is distinct from these two standard forms. It examines this third form of ‘pure form’ due process, as well as provides some reflections upon the concepts of arbitrariness and reasonableness and their relationship with this guarantee.