Question

Explain about the doctrine of pith and substance in Indian constitution.

Answer 1

Pith refers to ‘the essence of something’ and substance refers to ‘the essential part of something’. When a law is challenged such that one level of government has encroached on the jurisdiction of another level of government then the pith and substance doctrine is used. When a doctrine is being questioned one should know about the true nature and character of legislation for this purpose the Indian courts apply this doctrine which also gives flexibility in handling the powers.