Statement-based: Consider these statements about the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution and pick the correct option. S1. The Ninth Schedule’s protection is absolute for any law once included irrespective of content. S2.
I.R. Coelho held that Ninth Schedule laws are open to challenge if they violate fundamental features of basic structure.

Statement 2 alone is correct. The Supreme Court in I.R. Coelho v. State of Tamil Nadu (2007) authoritatively held that laws placed in the Ninth Schedule are not immune from judicial review if they violate the basic structure of the Constitution. While the Ninth Schedule was introduced to protect certain laws from Part III challenges, the Court clarified that judicial review itself is a basic feature flowing from Kesavananda Bharati. Therefore, any Ninth Schedule law that damages core principles such as equality (Article 14), rule of law, or separation of powers can be invalidated. Statement 1, which assumes absolute immunity, is incorrect in light of this settled constitutional position.