Two cardinal postulates of A.V. Dicey’s Doctrine of Rule of Law (Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution, 1885) are:

1. Supremacy of Law — absence of arbitrary power: No person can be punished or made to suffer in body or goods except for a distinct breach of the law established in the ordinary legal manner before the ordinary courts.
2. Equality before the law: Every person, whatever his rank or condition, is subject to the ordinary law of the realm and amenable to the jurisdiction of the ordinary tribunals — there are no special courts or privileges for officials.

Dicey’s third postulate — that the Constitution is the result of ordinary law and judicial decisions — is specific to England. The Indian Constitution gives Rule of Law a constitutional status under Article 14. Keshavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, AIR 1973 SC 1461 held Rule of Law to be part of the basic structure.