What does the Keshavananda Bharati case deal with?

The correct answer is Option (1) → The Parliament cannot amend the basic features of the Constitution.

Option (1) The Parliament cannot amend the basic features of the Constitution. — Correct. The conflict between Parliament and the judiciary over amending Fundamental Rights culminated in the Kesavananda Bharati case, in which the Court decided that there are some basic features of the Constitution and the Parliament cannot amend these features.

Option (2) The principle of seniority cannot be superseded in the appointment of judges to the High Court. — Incorrect. Seniority came up after the case: when the post of Chief Justice of India fell vacant in 1973, the government set aside the senior-most judges of the Supreme Court. That was a separate dispute, about the Supreme Court, and not the ruling of the case.

Option (3) Emergency can be declared only on grounds of ‘internal disturbance’. — Incorrect. ‘Internal disturbance’ was the ground the government gave in June 1975 for declaring the Emergency under Article 352. It has nothing to do with this case.

Option (4) Fundamental duties are superior to Directive Principles of State Policy. — Incorrect. Fundamental Duties are the duties the Constitution lays on every citizen, while Directive Principles are guidelines to the state for making policy. The case did not rank one above the other; the dispute was over Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution.

Note 1: The concept in Option (4), ‘Fundamental Duties’, is not in NCERT (2025-26); explained here for the benefit of the students.

Note 2: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2026 on 20-05-2026 (Slot 1).