In the Indian constitutional context, 'judicial review' refers to which one of the following?

Question

Accepted Answer

A. The power of the judiciary to examine and pronounce on the constitutionality of laws and executive orders. Judicial review is the power vested in the judiciary, principally the Supreme Court and High Courts, to examine laws passed by the legislature and actions taken by the executive, and to strike them down if they are found to violate the Constitution. It is not a mechanism limited to a court reviewing its own past judgments, nor is it simply the ordinary appellate process between a High Court and the Supreme Court, and it is certainly not a power Parliament holds over the judiciary, which would invert the actual relationship. Hence option A correctly defines judicial review.

Answer

A. The power of the judiciary to examine and pronounce on the constitutionality of laws and executive orders

Answer

B. The power of the Supreme Court to review its own past judgments at the request of any citizen

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C. The process by which a High Court judgment is appealed before the Supreme Court

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D. The power of Parliament to review and override a judicial decision by ordinary legislation