CASE SUMMARY: I.C. GOLAKHNATH v. STATE OF PUNJAB BY SWATEE SHUKLA In this case, the seventeenth amendment of the constitution of India was challenged on the ground that it limited or restricted certain fundamental rights. The question before the apex court was thus whether parliament had the power to amend any part of the constitution, and in particular, part III thereof, dealing with fundamental rights. This point had already been decided in two earlier cases. In S.P. Singh, the supreme court had unanimously held that parliament had the power to amend any part of the constitution including part III dealing with fundamental rights In the second case, Sajjan Singh v. the state of Rajasthan, the same view was taken, but this time by a majority of 3:2. Since the court was not unanimous in the second case, the present case was referred to a specially constituted bench of 11 judges of the supreme court. Overruling the earlier decisions, 6 out of 11 judges held in this case that parliament