'Strict Scrutiny' in Indian judicial review?

In an earlier post on this blog, I had discussed how the Supreme Court’s approach in Ashoka Kumara Thakur might have been altered had it considered adopting the ‘strict scrutiny’ standard of review.

In a case reported just before the decision in Ashoka Kumara Thakur, Justice Sinha did in fact apply the strict scrutiny standard to test the validity of certain laws. So, there appears to be a conflict between these two decisions. In this connection, in an article published in the JILI, Mr. Tarunabh Khaitan analyses the judgments, and argues for a harmonious reading of the two. Mr. Khaitan argues that Thakur’s rejection of a rigourous standard of review must be limited to affirmative action cases. If this argument is to be accepted, an interesting result would emerge – a standard of review adopted from American decisions will be applicable in India, except in the context in which it is applied in the United States. This is so because in the United States, a strict scrutiny standard is used in reviewing – mainly – affirmative actions cases.

Mr. Khaitan’s article is found here.