 The "Kesavananda" judgment also defined the extent to which Parliament could restrict property rights, in pursuit of land reform and the redistribution of large landholdings to cultivators, overruling previous decisions that suggested that the right to property could not be restricted.The case was a culmination of a series of cases relating to limitations to the power to amend the Indian constitution act 1973

In February 1970 Swami Kesavananda Bharati, senior plaintiff and head of Edneer Matha - a Hindu Matha situated in Edneer, a village in Kasaragod district of Kerala, challenged the Kerala government's attempts, under two state land reform acts, to impose restrictions on the management of its property.A noted Indian jurist, Nanabhoy Palkhivala, convinced Swami into filing his petition under Article 26, concerning the right to manage religiously owned property without government interference.