The Doctrine of Pith and Substance

The basic purpose of this doctrine is to determine under which head of power or field i.e., under which list (given in the Seventh Schedule) a given piece of legislation falls Pith means 'true nature or 'essence of something and Substance means the most important or essential part of something.

 

The  doctrine of Pith and Substance says that where the question arises of determining whether a particular law relates to a particular subject (mentioned in one List or another), the court looks to the substance of the matter. Thus, if the substance falls within Union List, then the incidental encroachment by the law on the State List does not make it invalid.

 

The Doctrine is applied when the legislative competence of a legislature with regard to a particular enactment is challenged. When a law dealing with a subject in one list touches on a subject in another list. In such a case, what has to be ascertained in the pith and substance of enactment Le. true object/purpose of legislation (and its scope and effects), This doctrine comes into the picture when there is a conflict between the different subjects in different lists. There is an interpretation of List 1 and list an of the Constitution of India. There can be a situation when a subject of one list touched the subject of another List. Hence this doctrine is applied then. Pith and Substance mean the true nature of law. The real subject matter is challenged and not its incidental effect on another field. The doctrine has been applied in India also to provide a degree of flexibility in the otherwise rigid scheme of distribution of powers. The reason for the adoption of this doctrine is that if every legislation were to be declared invalid on the grounds that it encroached powers, the powers of the legislature would be drastically circumscribed

 

The constitutionality of a law is to be judged by its real subject matter and not by its incidental effect on another's field. If on examination, it is found that legislation is in substance one on a matter assigned to the legislature within its competence, then it Must be held invalid in its entirety even though it may touch upon matters beyond its competence. An incidental encroachment of the law should be read as a whole and not as a collection of sections or clauses for determining the true nature and character of the law i.e., pith and substance of the Law. It was applied by the Supreme Court in the case State of Bombay V F.N Balasara.

 

In M.Ismail Faruqui v UOI, 1995

The constitutional validity of the Acquisition of certain areas a Ayodhya Act,1993 was challenged. The Act provided for the acquisition by the central government of about 67 acres of land in the Ram Janam Bhoomi- Babri Masjid complex to be made available to two trusts proposed to be set up for the construction of a Ram Temple and a Mosque. Held that the pith and substance of the legislation was “acquisition of property” (list III) and not related to “public order” (List II) and therefore, The Act was a valid law.

 

 

The state of Bombay and Another vs F.N Balsara, 1951

This is the first important judgment of the Supreme Court that took recourse to the Doctrine of Pith and Substance. The court upheld the Doctrine of Pith and Substance and said that it is important to ascertain the true nature and character of legislation for the purpose of determining the List under which it falls.

This doctrine is applied when the legislative competence of the legislature with regard to a particular enactment is challenged with reference to the entries in various lists. If there is the challenge to the legislative competence, the courts will try to ascertain the pith and substance of such enactment on a scrutiny of the Act in question. In this process, it is necessary for the courts to go into and examine the true character of the enactment, its object, its scope and effect to find out whether the enactment in question is genuinely referable to a field of the legislation allotted to the respective legislature under the constitutional scheme.

 

This doctrine is an established principle of law in India recognized not only by this Court but also by various High Courts.

 

Where a challenge is made to the constitutional validity of a particular State Act with reference to a subject mentioned in any entry in List I, the Court has to look to the substance of the State Act and on such analysis and examination, if it is found that in the pith and substance, it falls under an entry in the State List but there is only an incidental encroachment on any of the matters enumerated in the Union List, the State Act would not become invalid merely because there is incidental encroachment on any of the matters in the Union List.