Constitution of India

The constitution of India is remarkable for certain unique features of its own. According to Sir B. L. Mitter, “Some of the distinctive features of the Constitution of India are: the disappearance of the princely order, sovereignty of the people, adult suffrage, joint electorate, the abolition of Privy Council’s jurisdiction and substitution of the Supreme Court in its place, the abolition of titles and un-touchability, civil equality irrespective of religion, enumeration of fundamental rights, directive principles of the State policy, the creation of the President and Cabinet System of Government and the establishment of a Secular State.”

Salient Features

1. Written, Lengthy and Detailed:
The Constitution of India is very elaborately written which makes it the most voluminous constitution in the world. It has been the endeavor of the framers of the constitution to provide for the solution of all problems of administration and governance of the country. Even those matters which are subject of conventions in other countries have been put down in black and white.


2. Rigid and Flexible:
The Indian constitution is partly rigid and partly flexible. The procedure laid down by the constitution for its amendment is neither very easy, as in England nor very difficult as in United States. A constitutional amendment can be initiated in either House of the Parliament. It can be passed by an absolute majority of the total membership of each House voting separately and two-third majority of the members present and voting. But certain parts of the constitution can only be amended with subsequent ratification by legislation of at least half of the States.


3. Sovereign Democratic Republic:
The Preamble to the constitution declares India to be a Sovereign Socialist Secualr Democratic Republic.


4. Partly Federal and Partly Unitary:
The constitution declares that India shall be a Union of States. It possesses double set of Governments. All the subjects of administration have been divided between the Union of Government and the State Governments. There are three lists:

a) Union List which contains items of exclusive jurisdiction of Indian Parliament.

b) State List which contains items of jurisdiction of State legislature.

c) Concurrent List which contains such items upon which both the Parliament and State legislatures can make laws concurrently

Although the Indian state is federal in form yet it has so strong a Centre that some critics have called it Federal in form but unitary in spirit. The Powers of the Indian Parliament mentioned in the Union List are very wide. It can legislate even on the State List under certain circumstances.


5. Parliamentary System of Government:
The Constitution establishes Parliamentary type of Government both at the Center and the Units. Though the President is elected indirectly and is the Head of the Executive of the Union, the real powers are vested in the Cabinet which is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabhha. Similarly in the State, Governor is the head of the executive but real powers are exercised by the Council of Ministers which is responsible to the Legislative Assembly.


6. Single citizenship:
Although India has a Federal government yet double citizenship has not been provided. All the Indians irrespective of their domicile enjoy a single citizenship of India whereas in United States all the citizens enjoy the right of double citizenship.


7. Establishment of a Welfare State:
Though the constitution of India does not clearly commit itself to any specific economic theory, yet the Preamble of the constitution together with the Directive Principles of State Policy hint at the establishment of a socialist state in India.


8. Fundamental Rights:
The constitution of India also includes a separate chapter guaranteeing Fundamental Rights to all the citizens. These rights are justifiable and inviolable. They are binding on the legislature as well as on the executive. If any of the rights is violated, a citizen has the right to seek the protection of the judiciary.


9. Official Language:
In a country with diverse cultural traditions and languages, it is essential to declare some common language as the national language, symbolic of the unity of the different States in the country. The constitution declares Hindi in Devanagri script as the official language of the country.


10. Compromise between Judicial Supremacy and Parliamentary Sovereignty:
The constitution of India is a refined blending of Judicial Supremacy and Parliamentary Sovereignty. The Indian constitution strikes a golden mean by avoiding Judicial Supremacy of the American type and Parliamentary Sovereignty of the British type. The constitution provides that the Supreme Court of India can declare an Act of Parliament or State Legislature null and void only if it contravenes a specific provision of the constitution or Fundamental Rights of the people etc. the Supreme Court does not have any power of Judicial review and cannot stand in judgment over the Sovereignty will of the Parliament representing the will of the entire community.


11. Accumulation of borrowed Wisdom of the World:
The constitution makers borrowed suitable and tried Principles of other constitutions of the World. They did not want to produce as original or unique Constitution, what they wanted was a good and workable constitution. Thus Parliamentary type of government has been adopted from England. The Supreme Court and chapter on Fundamental Rights show the clear influence of constitution of United States of America. From Irish State, came the inspiration of the Directive Principles of State Policy. The Federation of India is set on the pattern of Canada where residuary powers are bestowed on the center.

Indian President

“Indian President enjoys no powers but he can exercise a lot of influence” (Jawahar Lal Nehru)

The Indian President is the head of State. He is the chief executive head of the Union Government. The constitution confers extensive powers on the President of the Indian Republic.


1. Executive Powers:
President is head of Indian Union. All executive action is taken in his name. he is the supreme commander of the Defence Forces of the Union. He has the power to take any military action in case of danger in anticipation of its subsequent approval by Parliament. He makes all important appointments such as Governors of the States, ambassadors and other diplomatic representatives, Chief Justice and Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts etc. He also makes appointment of the Prime Minister and on his advice, of other Ministers of the Union Government.


2. Legislative Powers:
The President enjoys extensive powers in the legislative field. The Union legislature consists of President and the two Houses of Parliament. The President is thus an integral part of Parliament. He summons, adjourns and prorogues both the Houses of Parliament and dissolves the Lok Sabha on the advice of the Prime Minister. All Bills passed by Parliament receive his assent before becoming laws. He may withhold his assent from all Bills other than money Bills. The President may issue ordinances at any time, when Parliament is not in session. Such ordinances have the same force as an Act of Parliament. An ordinance issued by the President must be placed before parliament as soon as it meets. It ceases to operate six weeks after the re-assembly of Parliament unless it is approved by the House in the meantime.


3. Financial Powers:
The President enjoys several financial powers. Before the beginning of financial year, he causes to be laid before Parliament the annual budget and the supplementary budget, if any. No Money Bill can be introduced in Parliament without his prior recommendation.


4. Judicial Powers:
The President enjoys the power to grant pardon, reprieve or remission of punishment to any convict, particularly in all cases involving punishment with death. He appoints judges of the High Courts and Supreme Court and thus enjoys a great judicial patronage. He makes their appointments with the consultation of such judges of Supreme and High Courts as he may deem fit to consult.


5. Legal Immunities:
The President enjoys certain legal immunities. He is not answerable to any court of law for the exercise and performance of the powers and duties of his office. No criminal action can be taken against him in any court in India during the term of his office.


6. Emergency Powers:
The President has been given wide powers to meet emergencies. The Constitution envisages three kinds of emergencies:

a) Emergency arising out of war, external aggression or armed rebellion.

b) Emergency arising out of the failure of the constitutional machinery in the States.

c) Emergency arising out of the threat to financial stability or credit of India.


7. President and the Cabinet:
The Constitution provides that “there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advice the President in the exercise of his functions.” The number of Ministers has not been fixed by the Constitution as it may change from time to time according to requirements. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President and other Ministers are appointed by the latter on the advice of the former. The Ministers hold office during the pleasure of the President. The constitution does not bind the President to follow the advice tendered by the Council of Ministers.

In the opinion of Dr. K. V. Rao, “the survey of the powers of the President clearly shows that our constitution creates a very powerful executive, perhaps the most powerful in the world. With his powers regarding issuing of ordinances, declaration of emergency, suspension of autonomy of the States, suspension of fundamental rights, this statement is more than justified.”

__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga

Indian Federation

India has a vast territory with a great diversity of race, religion and language. Such a big country cannot do without a federal form of government. The Framers of the Indian Constitution were convinced of the importance and necessity of a federal polity for India. The inclusion of the former princely states in the new set-up made it all the more imperative to frame the constitution of India on federal lines since the princely states would not have agreed to join the rest of India if it were a unitary State. All these factors contributed to the ideal of having a federation for India since a federation provides unity at the center and allows autonomy in local and cultural matters.

Some features of Indian Federation are:

1. Division of Powers:
The Constitution of India declares India to be a Union of States. The Constitution draws up three lists of subjects i-e the Union List, State List and Concurrent List. The center is competent to administer all the subjects contained in the Union List. The States are authorized to deal with the subjects placed in the State List. The concurrent subjects are under the joint jurisdiction of both the center and states.


2. Supremacy of the Constitution:
The constitution is the supreme law of the land. Both the Union government and the State governments drive their authority directly from the constitution and no authority in India can go against the constitution. The Judiciary in India has the authority to declare null and void any law or executive order that might go against any provision of the constitution.


3. Written constitution:
The constitution in a federation is considered to be a sacred agreement on the basis of which states agree to form a Union. It is essential that the constitution of a federation must be a written document containing all the provisions governing the relations between the federal center and the federating states.


4. Special Judiciary:
India possesses a Supreme Court which acts as a guardian and interpreter of the Constitution. The existence of a Supreme Court with special powers is always essential for a federation.


5. Dual Polity:
The Indian constitution establishes a dual polity with a double set of governments i-e Central government and State governments. The sphere of authority of each part is clearly defined in the constitution.

Unitary Biasness
The foregoing account of the federal aspect of Indian constitution proves beyond doubt that India has got a federal form of government. But the Indian federation is a class by itself. It has certain special features which make the centre strong against the federating units.

a) Single Citizenship:
In a federation like that of America, each citizen enjoys double citizenship, citizenship of the state where in one is domiciled and citizenship of the federation as a whole. But the Republican Constitution of India establishes a dual polity with a single citizenship. This means that constitutionally all Indians are labeled as Indian alone, not as Punjabis, Bengalis, Beharis etc.


b) Excessive authority of the Center:
A weak Central Government is the essence of federalism. But out constitution has created a very strong constitution. The powers are distributed between the Union and the States in such a way as to make the Center very powerful.


c) Residuary Powers:
In a federation like that of America, the residuary powers are enjoyed by the states but in the Indian federation, the residuary powers are vested in Parliament. This tends to increase the powers of the Center.


d) Emergency Powers of the Center:
The strength of the center can be immensely increased during the times of war and other national emergencies. Under such contingencies, the President of the Indian Union can assume extraordinary powers which may amount to suspension of the autonomy of the States.


e) Flexibility of the Constitution:
The Indian federal system is not so rigid as is the case with most other federations of the world. The method of amending the Constitution is rather simple. Major part of the constitution can be amended by the Union Parliament itself without the approval of the State Legislatures. This fact also emphasizes the strength of the Center.


f) Inequality of Representation:
In the Swiss and American federations, the upper chamber generally secures an equality of representation to federating units irrespective of their size and population. The lower chamber is supposed to represent the national interest and the upper chamber represents the local interests of the states. In the Indian Union, however, the principle of equality of representation of the units in the upper chamber has not been followed as the states are represented in the Rajya Sabha on the basis of their populations. This fact again proves the inherent unitary nature of Indian Polity.


g) Single Judiciary and Uniform System of Civil and Criminal Law:
The Constitution provides for a single integrated judicial system for the whole country. The Supreme Court and the High Court are links in the same chain. There is also a single Civil and Criminal Code for the entire country. This fact is clearly indicative of the unitary character of Constitution.


Conclusion:
All the factors mentioned above show that the Indian Constitution is federal in form but unitary in spirit. It has made the Union very strong at the expense of the States. Dr. K. P. Mukherjee was of the view that the “Union of India does not satisfy any one of the conditions enshrined in the federal principles. On the contrary, Indian constitution in its first four chapters makes it amply clear that it is a unitary constitution and whatever categorization of the units of the Union and distribution of power between the Center and States has been done is all for the sake of administrative convenience and these may be withdrawn at any time.”

__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga