LESSON - 1

WHY DO WE NEED A CONSTITUTION?

Constitution allows coordination and assurance

The first function of a constitution is to provide a set of basic rules

that allow for minimal coordination amongst members of a society

Specification of decision making powers

A constitution is a body of fundamental principles according to
which a state is constituted or governed

The constitution specifies the basic allocation of power in a society.

It decides who gets to decide what the laws will be. In principle,to
this , who gets to decide, can be answered in many ways: in a
monarchical constitution, a monarch decides; in some constitutions
like the old Soviet Union, one single party was given the power to
decide. But in democratic constitutions, broadly speaking, the
people get to decide

In the Indian Constitution for example, it is specified that in most

instances, Parliament gets to decide laws and policies. Before
identifying what the law in any given society is, you have to identify

who has the authority to enact it. If Parliament has the authority to
enact laws, there must be a law that bestows this authority on
Parliament in the first place. This is the function of the constitution.
It is an authority that constitutes government in the first place.

The second function of a constitution is to specify who has the

power to make decisions in a society. It decides how the
government will be constituted.

So the third function of a constitution is to set some limits on what

a government can impose on its citizens. These limits are
fundamental in the sense that government may never trespass
them

Constitutions limit the power of government in many ways. The

most common way of limiting the power of government is to specify
certain fundamental rights that all of us possess as citizens and
which no government can ever be allowed to violate.

Citizens will be protected from being arrested arbitrarily and for

no reason. This is one basic limitation upon the power of
government

Citizens will normally have the right to some basic liberties: to

freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, freedom of association,
freedom to conduct a trade or business etc. In practice, these
rights can be limited during times of national emergency and the
constitution specifies the circumstances under which these rights
may be withdrawn.

The constitution makers have to address themselves to very

different aspirations.constitution may enshrine the aspirations of a
society.

The provisions have the support of the Preamble to our

Constitution, and these provisions are found in the section on
Fundamental Rights. The Directive Principles of State of Policy also
enjoin government to fulfil certain aspirations of the people.

The fourth function of a constitution is to enable the government to

fulfil the aspirations of a society and create conditions for a just
society

Constitutions are not only rules and regulations controlling the

powers of the government. They also give powers to the
government for pursuing collective good of the society.

constitution expresses the fundamental identity of a people. This

means the people as a collective entity come into being only
through the basic constitution. It is by agreeing to a basic set of
norms about how one should be governed, and who should be
governed that one forms a collective identity

constitutional norms are the overarching framework within which

one pursues individual aspirations, goals and freedoms. The
constitution sets authoritative constraints upon what one may or
may not do. It defines the fundamental values that we may not
trespass. So the constitution also gives one a moral identity

Most nations are an amalgamation of a complex set of historical

traditions; they weave together the diverse groups that reside
within the nation in different ways. For example, German identity
was constituted by being ethnically German. The constitution gave
expression to this identity. The Indian Constitution, on the other
hand, does not make ethnic identity a criterion for citizenship
In most countries, ‘Constitution’ is a compact document that
comprises a number of articles about the state, specifying how the
state is to be constituted and what norms it should follow.

But some countries, the United Kingdom for instance, do not have
one single document that can be called the Constitution. Rather
they have a series of documents and decisions that, taken
collectively, are referred to as the constitution. So, we can say that
constitution is the document or set of documents that seeks to
perform the functions that we mentioned above
The most successful constitutions, like India, South Africa and the
United States, are constitutions which were created in the
aftermath of popular national movements. Although India’s
Constitution was formally created by a Constituent Assembly
between December 1946 and November 1949

Although the Constitution itself was not subjected to a referendum,

the people adopted it as their own by abiding by its provisions.
Therefore, the authority of people who enact the constitution helps
determine in part its prospects for success

The more a constitution preserves the freedom and equality of all

its members, the more likely it is to succeed.

The Indian Constitution, for example, horizontally fragments power

across different institutions like the Legislature, Executive and the
Judiciary and even independent statutory bodies like the Election
Commission. An intelligent system of checks and balances has
facilitated the success of the Indian Constitution.

Another important aspect of intelligent institutional design is: that

a constitution must strike the right balance between certain values,
norms and procedures as authoritative, and at the same time allow
enough flexibility in its operations to adapt to changing needs and
circumstances.

Successful constitutions strike the right balance between

preserving core values and adapting them to new circumstances.

By striking a balance between the possibility to change the

provisions and the limits on such changes, the Constitution has
ensured that it will survive as a document respected by people.

How was the Indian Constitution made?

Formally, the Constitution was made by the Constituent Assembly
which had been elected for undivided India. It held its first sitting
on 9 December1946 and reassembled as Constituent Assembly for
divided India on 14 August 1947. Its members were chosen by
indirect election by the members of the Provincial Legislative
Assemblies that had been established under the Government of
India Act, 1935.

What does social democracy mean? It means a way of life, which

recognises liberty, equality and fraternity as the principles of life

Liberty cannot be divorced from equality, equality cannot be

divorced from liberty. Nor can liberty and equality be divorced
from fraternity. Without equality, liberty would produce the
supremacy of the few over the many. Equality without liberty would
kill individual initiative. Without fraternity, liberty and equality
could not become a natural course of things

universal suffrage (meaning that all citizens reaching a certain age,

would be entitled to be voters irrespective of religion, caste,
education, gender or income).

The Constituent Assembly had eight major Committees on different

subjects

The best summary of the principles that the nationalist movement

brought to the Constituent Assembly is the Objective Resolution
(the resolution that defined the aims of the Assembly) moved by
Nehru in 1946.

our Constitution is not merely a maze of rules and procedures, but

a moral commitment to establish a government that will fulfil the
many promises that the nationalist movement held before the
people

Main points of the Objectives Resolution

√ India is an independent, sovereign, republic; √ India shall be a
Union of erstwhile British Indian territories, Indian States, and
other parts outside British India and Indian States as are willing to
be a part of the Union;
√ Territories forming the Union shall be autonomous units and
exercise all powers and functions of the Government and
administration, except those assigned to or vested in the Union;
√ All powers and authority of sovereign and independent India and
its constitution shall flow from the people;
√ All people of India shall be guaranteed and secured social,
economic and political justice; equality of status and opportunities
and equality before law; and fundamental freedoms - of speech,
expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation, association and action -
subject to law and public morality;
√ The minorities, backward and tribal areas, depressed and other
backward classes shall be provided adequate safeguards;
√ The territorial integrity of the Republic and its sovereign rights
on land, sea and air shall be maintained according to justice and
law of civilized nations;

Ensuring effectiveness of a constitution is a balanced arrangement

of the institutions of government. The basic principle is that
government must be democratic and committed to the welfare of
the people.

The Constituent Assembly spent a lot of time on evolving the right

balance among the various institutions like the executive, the
legislature and the judiciary. This led to the adoption of the
parliamentary form and the federal arrangement, which would
distribute governmental powers between the legislature and the
executive on the one hand and between the States and the central
government on the other hand.

Provisions adopted from constituions of differrent countries:

British Constitution;
First Past the Post
Parliamentary Form of Government
The idea of the rule of law
Institution of the Speaker and her/his role
Law-making procedure

United States Constitution

Charter of Fundamental Rights
Power of Judicial Review and independence of the judiciary

Canadian Constitution
A quasi-federal form of government (a federal system with a strong
central government)
The idea of Residual Powers

French Constitution
Principles of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity

Irish Constitution
Directive Principles of State Policy

LESSON - 2

A democracy must ensure that individuals have certain rights and

that the government will always recognise these rights. Therefore
it is often a practice in most democratic countries to list the rights
of the citizens in the constitution itself. Such a list of rights
mentioned and protected by the constitution is called the ‘bill of
rights’.

A bill of rights prohibits government from thus acting against the

rights of the individuals and ensures a remedy in case there is
violation of these rights.

The Motilal Nehru committee had demanded a bill of rights as far

back as in 1928.

While ordinary legal rights are protected and enforced by ordinary

law, Fundamental Rights are protected and guaranteed by the
constitution of the country. Ordinary rights may be changed by the
legislature by ordinary process of law making, but a fundamental
right may only be changed by amending the Constitution itself.

Right to Constitutional Remedies √ Right to move the courts to

issue directions/orders/writs for enforcement of rights

The practice of untouchability is one of the crudest manifestations

of inequality. This has been abolished under the right to equality.

The same right also provides that the state shall confer no title on a
person except those who excel themselves in military or academic
field. Thus right to equality strives to make India a true democracy
by ensuring a sense of equality of dignity and status among all its
citizens

Equality and freedom or liberty, are the two rights that are most
essential to a democracy. It is not possible to think of the one
without thinking of the other

Sometimes a person can be arrested if he or she is likely to engage

in unlawful activity and imprisoned for some time without following
any procedure. This is known as preventive detention.
It means that if the government feels that a person can be a threat
to law and order or to the peace and security of the nation, it can
detain or arrest that person. This preventive detention can be
extended only for three months. After three months such a case is
brought before an advisory board for review

Our Constitution ensures that persons accused of various offences

would also get sufficient protection.

It is also necessary that a person accused of any crime should get

adequate opportunity to defend herself or himself.
To ensure a fair trial in courts, the Constitution has provided three
rights:
no person would be punished for the same offence more than once,
no law shall declare any action as illegal from a backdate, and
no person shall be asked to give evidence against himself.

Freedom of religion is subject to certain limitations. The

government can impose restrictions on the practice of freedom of
religion in order to protect public order, morality and health. This
means that the freedom of religion is not an unlimited right.

The government can interfere in religious matters for rooting out

certain social evils. For example in the past, the government has
taken steps banning practices like sati, bigamy or human sacrifice.
Such restrictions cannot be opposed in the name of interference in
right to freedom of religion
Dr. Ambedkar considered the right to constitutional remedies as
‘heart and soul of the constitution’. It is so because this right gives
a citizen the right to approach a High Court or the Supreme Court
to get any of the fundamental rights restored in case of their
violation.

The Supreme Court and the High Courts can issue orders and give
directives to the government for the enforcement of rights. The
courts can issue various special orders known as writs

Habeas corpus: A writ of habeas corpus means that the court

orders that the arrested person should be presented before it. It
can also order to set free an arrested person if the manner or
grounds of arrest are not lawful or satisfactory.

Prohibition: This writ is issued by a higher court (High Court or

Supreme Court) when a lower court has considered a case going
beyond its jurisdiction.

Quo Warranto: If the court finds that a person is holding office but
is not entitled to hold that office, it issues the writ of quo warranto
and restricts that person from acting as an office holder.

Certiorari: Under this writ, the court orders a lower court or

another authority to transfer a matter pending before it to the
higher authority or court.

Independent organisations like the People’s Union for Civil

Liberties (PUCL) or People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)
have been working as watchdogs against the violations of rights

The Commission does not have the power of prosecution. It can

merely make recommendations to the government or recommend
to the courts to initiate proceedings based on the inquiry that it
conducts

The chapter on Directive Principles lists mainly three things:

the goals and objectives that we as a society should adopt,
certain rights that individuals should enjoy apart from the
Fundamental Rights,
certain policies that the government should adopt.

The governments from time to time tried to give effect to some

Directive Principles of State Policy. They passed several zamindari
abolition bills, nationalised banks, enacted numerous factory laws,
fixed minimum wages, cottage and small industries were promoted
and provisions for reservation for the uplift of the scheduled castes
and scheduled tribes were made.
Directive Principles include the right to education, formation of
panchayati raj institutions all over the country, partial right to work
under employment guarantee programme and the mid-day meal
scheme etc

In 1976, the 42nd amendment to the Constitution was passed.

Among other things, this amendment inserted a list of Fundamental
Duties of Citizens. In all, ten duties were enumerated. In 2002 86th
amendment act added 11th fund duty. The fund duty are dealt with
article 51A

Fundamental Rights restrain the government from doing certain

things while Directive Principles exhort the government to do
certain things. Fundamental Rights mainly protect the rights of
individuals while directive principles ensure the well-being of the
entire society

Directive principles ;
Right to Property Behind the controversy about the relationship
between rights and directive principles, there was one important
reason: in the Constitution, originally, there was a fundamental
right to ‘acquire, possess and maintain’ property

In 1978, the 44th amendment to the Constitution removed the right

to property from the list of Fundamental Rights and converted it
into a simple legal right under article 300 A

The government was saying that Parliament can amend any part of
the Constitution. The court was saying that Parliament cannot
make an amendment that violated Fundamental Rights. This
controversy was settled by an important decision of the Supreme
Court in Kesavananda Bharati case. In this case, the court said that
there are certain basic features of the Constitution and these
cannot be changed by Parliament

LESSON - 3

A direct democracy is one where the citizens directly participate in

the day-to-day decisionmaking and in the running of the
government. The ancient city-states in Greece were considered
examples of direct democracy. Many would consider local
governments, especially gram sabhas, to be the closest examples of
direct democracy

The fact that not all elections are democratic.

In india we have adopted PR system on a limited scale for indirect

elections. The Constitution prescribes a third and complex variation
of the PR system for the election of President, Vice President, and
for the election to the Rajya Sabha and Vidhan Parishads.
The FPTP system offers voters a choice not simply between parties
but specific candidates. In other electoral systems, especially PR
systems, voters are often asked to choose a party and the
representatives are elected on the basis of party lists

You will notice that the PR system may not produce a clear majority
because seats in the legislature would be divided on the basis of
share of votes.
The FPTP system has proved to be simple and familiar to ordinary
voters. It has helped larger parties to win clear majorities at the
centre and the State level

Normally, the working of the FPTP system results in a two-party

system. This means that there are two major competitors for power
and power is often shared by these two parties alternately

Who decides which constituency is to be reserved? On what basis is

this decision taken? This decision is taken by an independent body
called the Delimitation Commission. The Delimitation Commission
is appointed by the President of India and works in collaboration
with the Election Commission of India

Lok Sabha or Assembly election, a candidate must be at least 25

years old

Article 324: (1) The superintendence, direction and control of the

preparation of the electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all
elections to Parliament and to the Legislature of every State and of
elections to the offices of President and VicePresident held under
this Constitution shall be vested in a Commission

The Election Commission of India can either be a single member or

a multi-member body

The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) presides over the Election

Commission, but does not have more powers than the other
Election Commissioners

The CEC and the two Election Commissioners have equal powers to
take all decisions relating to elections as a collective body. They
are appointed by the President of India on the advice of the Council
of Ministers.
A different method should be followed that makes consultation with
the leader of opposition and the Chief Justice of India necessary for
the appointment of CEC and Election Commissioners.

The Constitution ensures the security of the tenure of the CEC and
Election Commissioners. They are appointed for a six year term or
continue till the age of 65, whichever is earlier. The CEC can be
removed before the expiry of the term, by the President if both
Houses of Parliament make such a recommendation with a special
majority. This is done to ensure that a ruling party cannot remove a
CEC who refuses to favour it in elections. The Election
Commissioners can be removed by the President of India.

Special majority means:

Two-thirds majority of those present and voting, and
Simple majority of the total membership of the House

EC also determines the timing of elections and prepares the

election schedule. The election schedule includes the notification of
elections, date from which nominations can be filed, last date for
filing nominations, last date of scrutiny, last date of withdrawal,
date of polling and date of counting and declaration of results.

The EC can transfer the officers, or stop their transfers; it can take
action against them for failing to act in a non-partisan manner

The elections expenses should be paid by the government out of a

special fund
 LESSON - 4

The word executive means a body of persons that looks after the
implementation of rules and regulations in actual practice.

The organ of government that primarily looks after the function of

implementation and administration is called the executive.

What are the principal functions of the executive? Executive is the

branch of government responsible for the implementation of laws
and policies adopted by the legislature

While the heads of government and their ministers, saddled with

the overall responsibility of government policy, are together known
as the political executive, those responsible for day to day
administration are called the permanent executive

In a presidential system, the president is the Head of state as well

as head of government. In this system the office of president is very
powerful, both in theory and practice. Countries with such a system
include the United States, Brazil and most nations in Latin
America.

Parliamentary system - canada,japan,germany

Semi presidential system - france,russia

In the parliamentary form there are many mechanisms that ensure

that the executive will be answerable to and controlled by the
legislature or people’s representatives. So the Constitution adopted
the parliamentary system of executive for the governments both at
the national and State levels.

According to this system, there is a President who is the formal

Head of the state of India and the Prime Minister and the Council
of Ministers, which run the government at the national level. At the
State level, the executive comprises the Governor and the Chief
Minister and Council of Ministers.

The Constitution of India vests the executive power of the Union

formally in the President. In reality, the President exercises these
powers through the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime
Minister.

The President can be removed from office only by Parliament by

following the procedure for impeachment
Article 74 (1): There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime
Minister at the head to aid and advise the President who shall in
the exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advice.
Provided that the President may require the Council of Ministers to
reconsider such advice….., and the President shall act in
accordance with the advice tendered after such reconsideration.

We have already seen that President is the formal head of the

government. In this formal sense, the President has wide ranging
executive, legislative, judicial and emergency powers. In a
parliamentary system, these powers are in reality used by the
President only on the advice of the Council of Ministers.In most of
the cases, the President has to follow the advice of the Council of
Ministers.

The President has a right to be informed of all important matters

and deliberations of the Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister is
obliged to furnish all the information that the President may call
for. The President often writes to the Prime Minister and expresses
his views on matters confronting the country

We saw that there is no time limit on the President for giving his
assent to a bill. This bill was widely criticised by many for it sought
to curtail the freedom of the press.

In the four parliamentary elections held from 1989 to 1998, no

single party or coalition attained a majority in the Lok Sabha.
These situations demanded presidential intervention either in order
to constitute governments or to grant a request for dissolution of
Lok Sabha by a Prime Minister who could not prove majority in the
House.

For the most part, the President is a formal power holder and a
ceremonial head of the nation
We have already seen earlier in this chapter that the President
exercises his powers only on the advice of the Council of Ministers.
The Council of Ministers is headed by the Prime Minister.
Therefore, as head of the Council of Ministers, the Prime Minister
becomes the most important functionary of the government in our
country

By the 91st Amendment Act (2003), the size of the Council of

Ministers was determined not exceed 15 percent of total number
of members of the House of the People (or Assembly, in the case of
the States).
But remember that the most important feature of parliamentary
executive is that the executive is routinely under the control and
supervision of the legislature.

The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok

Sabha. This provision means that a Ministry which loses confidence
of the Lok Sabha is obliged to resign. The principle indicates that
the ministry is an executive committee of the Parliament and it
collectively governs on behalf of the Parliament

Collective responsibility is based on the principle of the solidarity

of the cabinet. It implies that a vote of no confidence even against a
single minister leads to the resignation of the entire Council of
Ministers. It also indicates that if a minister does not agree with a
policy or decision of the cabinet, he or she must either accept the
decision or resign. It is binding on all ministers to pursue or agree
to a policy for which there is collective responsibility.

The Council of minister comes into existence only after the Prime
Minister has taken the oath of office.

The Prime Minister acts as a link between the Council of Ministers

on the one hand and the President as well as the Parliament on the
other. It is this role of the Prime Minister which led Pt. Nehru to
describe him as ‘the linchpin of Government’.

The Prime Minister is involved in all crucial decisions of the

government and decides on the policies of the government. Thus,
the power wielded by the Prime Minister flows from various
sources: control over the Council of Ministers, leadership of the
Lok Sabha, command over the bureaucratic machine, access to
media, projection of personalities during elections, projection as
national leader during international summitry as well as foreign
visits

In coalliation proces the Prime Minister has to act more as a

negotiator than as leader of the government

In a democracy, the elected representatives and the ministers are

in charge of government and the administration is under their
control and supervision. In the parliamentary system, the
legislature also exercises control over the administration. The
administrative officers cannot act in violation of the policies
adopted by the legislature. It is the responsibility of the ministers
to retain political control over the administration

The bureaucracy is also expected to be politically neutral. This

means that the bureaucracy will not take any political position on
policy matters.
Members of the Public Service Commissions are appointed for a
fixed term. Their removal or suspension is subject to a thorough
enquiry made by a judge of the Supreme Court.

The bureaucracy is an instrument through which welfare policies of

the government must reach the people. But most often, it is so
powerful that people are afraid of approaching a government
officer

LESSON - 5

Legislature is not merely a law making body. Lawmaking is but one

of the functions of the legislature. It is the centre of all democratic
political process. It is packed with action; walkouts, protests,
demonstration, unanimity, concern and co-operation. All these
serve very vital purposes

The term ‘Parliament’ refers to the national legislature. The

legislature of the States is described as State legislature. At
present only six States have a bicameral legislature.

A bicameral legislature has one more advantage. A bicameral

legislature makes it possible to have every decision reconsidered.
Every decision taken by one house goes to the other house for its
decision. This means that every bill and policy would be discussed
twice. This ensures a double check on every matter

We can imagine two different principles of representation in the

second chamber. One way is to give equal representation to all the
parts of the country irrespective of their size or population. We may
call this as symmetrical representation.
On the other hand, parts of the country may be given
representation according to their population. This second method
means that regions or parts having larger population would have
more representatives in the second chamber than regions having
less population

The number of members to be elected from each State has been

fixed by the fourth schedule of the Constitution

Tthe Rajya Sabha is never fully dissolved. Therefore, it is called the

permanent House of the Parliament. The advantage of this
arrangement is that even when the Lok Sabha is dissolved and
elections are yet to take place, the meeting of the Rajya Sabha can
be called and urgent business can be conducted.Apart from the
elected members, Rajya Sabha also has twelve nominated members
Apart from law making, the Parliament is engaged in many other
functions. Let us list the functions of the Parliament:
Legislative Function
Control of Executive and ensuring its accountability
Financial Function
Representation
Debating Function - : The Parliament is the highest forum of debate
in the country. There is no limitation on its power of discussion.
Members are free to speak on any matter without fear. This makes
it possible for the Parliament to analyse any or every issue that
faces the nation. These discussions constitute the heart of
democratic decision making.
Constituent Function
Electoral functions
Judicial functions

However, in a democracy, legislature controls taxation and the way

in which money is used by the government.
If the Government of India proposes to introduce any new tax, it
has to get the approval of the Lok Sabha.
The financial powers of the Parliament involve grant of resources to
the government to implement its programmes.
The government has to give an account to the legislature about the
money it has spent and resources that it wishes to raise.
The legislature also ensures that the government does not
misspend or overspend. This is done through the budget and
annual financial statements.
Special Powers of Rajya Sabha
As you know, the Rajya Sabha is an institutional mechanism to
provide representation to the States.
If the Union Parliament wishes to remove a matter from the State
list (over which only the State Legislature can make law) to either
the Union List or Concurrent List in the interest of the nation, the
approval of the Rajya Sabha is necessary.

Can you explain why? The Rajya Sabha is elected by the MLAs and
not directly by the people. Therefore, the Constitution stopped
short of giving certain powers to the Rajya Sabha. In a democratic
form as adopted by our Constitution, the people are the final
authority. By this logic, the representatives, directly elected by the
people, should have the crucial powers of removing a government
and controlling the finances.

In all other spheres, including passing of non-money bills,

constitutional amendments, and impeaching the President and
removing the Vice President the powers of Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha are co-equal.
A large part of the discussion on the bills takes place in the
committees. The recommendation of the committee is then sent to
the House. That is why committees are referred to as miniature
legislatures

In the few instances when joint sessions of the parliament were

called to resolve a deadlock, the decision has always gone in favour
of the Lok Sabha

If it is a money bill, the Rajya Sabha can either approve the bill or
suggest changes but cannot reject it. If it takes no action within 14
days the bill is deemed to have been passed. Amendments to the
bill, suggested by Rajya Sabha, may or may not be accepted by the
Lok Sabha.

Article 109 Special procedure in respect of Money Bills.—(1) A

Money Bill shall not be introduced in the Council of States

In a parliamentary democracy, the executive is drawn from the

party or a coalition of parties that has a majority in Lok Sabha. It is
not difficult for the executive to exercise unlimited and arbitrary
powers with the support of the majority party.

But basic to them all is the power and freedom of the legislators as
people’s representatives to work effectively and fearlessly. For
instance, no action can be taken against a member for whatever
the member may have said in the legislature. This is known as
parliamentary privilege. The presiding officer of the legislature has
the final powers in deciding matters of breach of privilege

INSTRUMENTS OF PARLIAMENTARY CONTROL;

Deliberation and discussion

Approval or Refusal of laws
Financial control
No confidence motion
Deliberation and discussion:
During the law making process, members of the legislature get an
opportunity to deliberate on the policy direction of the executive
and the ways in which policies are implemented.
Apart from deliberating on bills, control may also be exercised
during the general discussions in the House.
The Question Hour, which is held every day during the sessions of
Parliament, where Ministers have to respond to searching
questions raised by the members;
Zero Hour where members are free to raise any matter that they
think is important (though the ministers are not bound to reply),
half-an-hour discussion on matters of public importance,
adjournment motion, etc., are some instruments of exercising
control

MP shown great interest in question hour and maximum

attendance is recorded during this time.

A bill can become a law only with the approval of the Parliament.

The legislature is concerned about the policies of the government

that are reflected in the budget. Through financial control, the
legislature controls the policy of the government

A significant feature of the legislative process is the appointment of

committees for various legislative purposes. These committees play
a vital role not merely in law making, but also in the day-to-day
business of the House. Since the Parliament meets only during
sessions.

Standing Committees supervise the work of various departments,

their budget, their expenditure and bills that come up in the house
relating to the department
Joint Parliamentary Committees (JPCs) can be set up for the
purpose of discussing a particular bill, like the joint committee to
discuss
bill, or for the purpose of investigating financial irregularities.
Members of these committees are selected from both Houses

The committee system has reduced the burden on the Parliament.

Many important bills have been referred to committees. But the
Parliament rarely rejects the suggestions made by the committees.

Parliament as mentioned earlier is a debating forum. It is through

debates that the parliament performs all its vital functions.

The presiding officer of the legislature is the final authority in

matters of regulating the business of the legislature.

There is one more way in which the presiding officers control the
behaviour of the members. You may have heard about the anti-
defection law

An amendment to the Constitution was made (52nd amendment

act) in 1985. This is known as anti-defection amendment.

What is defection? If a member remains absent in the House when

asked by the party leadership to remain present or votes against
the instructions of the party or voluntarily leaves the membership
of the party, it is deemed as defection.

LESSON - 6

The judges have a fixed tenure. They hold office till reaching the
age of retirement.

The Supreme Court of India is one of the very powerful courts

anywhere in the world. However, it functions within the limitations
imposed by the Constitution. The functions and responsibilities of
the Supreme Court are defined by the Constitution. The Supreme
Court has specific jurisdiction or scope of powers
Article 137 …….. the Supreme Court shall have power to review
any judgment pronounced or order made by it.

Article 144 …… All authorities, civil and judicial, in the territory of

India shall act in aid of the Supreme Court

Reducing air or sound pollution or investigating cases of corruption

or bringing about electoral reform is not exactly the duty of the
Judiciary. These are matters to be handled by the administration
under the supervision of the legislature.

Judicial Review means the power of the Supreme Court (or High
Courts) to examine the constitutionality of any law if the Court
arrives at the conclusion that the law is inconsistent with the
provisions of the Constitution, such a law is declared as
unconstitutional and inapplicable

Supreme Court can use the review powers if a law is inconsistent

with the distribution of powers laid down by the Constitution.
Suppose, the central government makes a law, which according to
some States, concerns a subject from the State list.
Then the States can go to the Supreme Court and if the court
agrees with them, it would declare that the law is unconstitutional.
In this sense, the review power of the Supreme Court includes
power to review legislations on the ground that they violate
fundamental rights or on the ground that they violate the federal
distribution of powers. The review power extends to the laws
passed by State legislatures also.

Together, the writ powers and the review power of the Court make
judiciary very powerful.
Together, the writ powers and the review power of the Court make
judiciary very powerful

Court ruled that there is a basic structure of the Constitution and

nobody—not even the Parliament (through amendment)—can
violate the basic structure.

In the parliamentary system, the legislature has the power to

govern itself and regulate the behaviour of its members.

Article 1: (1) India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.

(2) The States and the territories thereof shall be as specified in the
First Schedule
Let us look at the important provisions that create a strong central
government

± The very existence of a State including its territorial integrity is

in the hands of Parliament. The Parliament is empowered to ‘form a
new State by separation of territory from any State or by uniting
two or more States…’. It can also alter the boundary of any State or
even its name.

The Constitution has certain very powerful emergency provisions,

which can turn our federal polity into a highly centralised system
once emergency is declared. During an emergency, power becomes
lawfully centralised. Parliament also assumes the power to make
laws on subjects within the jurisdiction of the States.

The Governor has certain powers to recommend dismissal of the

State government and the dissolution of the Assembly. Besides,
even in normal circumstances, the Governor has the power to
reserve a bill passed by the State legislature, for the assent of the
President. This gives the central government an opportunity to
delay the State legislation and also to examine such bills and veto
them completely

The Constitution clearly states that executive powers of the centre

are superior to the executive powers of the States. Furthermore,
the central government may choose to give instructions to the
State government. The following extract from an article of the
Constitution makes this clear.

Article 257 (1): The executive power of every State shall be so

exercised as not to impede or prejudice the exercise of the
executive power of the Union, and the executive power of the
Union shall extend to the giving of such directions to a State as
may appear to the Government of India to be necessary for that
purpose

Articles 33 and 34 authorise the Parliament to protect persons in

the service of the union or a state in respect of any action taken by
them during martial law to maintain or restore order. This
provisions further strengthens the powers of the union
government. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act has been made
on the basis of these provisions. This Act has created tensions
between the people and the armed forces on some occasions.

When two different parties are in power at the centre and the
State, the role of the Governor becomes even more controversial.
The Sarkaria Commission that was appointed by the central
government to examine the issues relating to centre-State
relations, recommended that appointments of Governors should be
strictly non-partisan.

Powers and role of the Governor become controversial for one

more reason. One of the most controversial articles in the
Constitution is Article 356, which provides for President’s rule in
any State. This provision is to be applied, when ‘a situation has
arisen in which the Government of the State cannot be carried on
in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.’ It results in
the takeover of the State government by the Union government.

The President’s proclamation has to be ratified by Parliament.

President’s rule can be extended till three years.The Governor has
the power to recommend the dismissal of the State government and
suspension or dissolution of State assembly. This has led to many
conflicts

In December 1953, the States Reorganisation Commission was set

up and it recommended the creation of linguistic States

Most of the special provisions pertain to the north eastern States

(Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, etc.) largely due
to their sizeable indigenous tribal population with a distinct history
and culture. However, these provisions have not been able to stem
alienation and the insurgency in parts of the region.

Special provisions also exist for hilly States like Himachal Pradesh
and some other States like Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat,
Maharashtra Sikkim and Telangana.

The other State which had a special status was Jammu and Kashmir
(J&K) (Art. 370). Jammu and Kashmir was one of the large princely
States, which had the option of joining India or Pakistan or
remaining independent.

According to Article 370, the concurrence of the State was required

for making any laws in matters mentioned in the Union and
Concurrent lists. This was different from the position of other
states. In the case of the other States, the division of powers as
listed through three lists automatically applies. In the case of
Jammu and Kashmir, the central government had only limited
powers and other powers listed in the Union list and Concurrent
list could be used only with the consent of the State government.
This gave greater autonomy to the State of Jammu and Kashmir

Article 1 2 3 4 5

CHAPTER - 8