Vocabulary Builder — Essay & Answer Writing
Inviolable
Never to be broken, infringed, or dishonoured; too important or sacred to be interfered with; secure from violation or assault
Latin inviolabilis — in (not) + violabilis (able to be violated, from violare — to violate, to harm)
"The Supreme Court's doctrine of the basic structure holds that certain core features of the Constitution — including judicial review, fundamental rights, and democratic governance — are inviolable and cannot be amended even by Parliament's constituent power."
Important for GS2 (Polity — constitutional law, fundamental rights, sovereignty). Key contexts: (1) Basic Structure Doctrine (Kesavananda Bharati, 1973) — certain constitutional provisions are inviolable. (2) Sovereign immunity — a state's core rights are inviolable under international law. (3) Nuclear non-proliferation — India treats its strategic deterrent as inviolable. (4) Treaty obligations — under Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, jus cogens norms (peremptory norms of international law) are inviolable. Used in editorial contexts about constitutional morality, rights-based approaches, and humanitarian law.
