Constitution of

India

 The

Constitution of India was framed by

Drafting Committee under the chairmanship
of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.

The

Constitution was adopted by the

Constituent Assembly an Nov. 26, 1949

The

Constitution came into force from Jan.

26, 1950

 The

Constitution of India originally contained

EIGHT (8) SCHEDULES; and
395 ARTICLES

Today

the Constitution of India has

Twelve (12) SCHEDULES; and
448 ARTICLES (in 25 Parts)

Major Parts of the Constitution

The four major parts of the Constitution of
India are:
1.
2.

3.
4.

The Preamble
Parts I to XXV having 448 Articles (98
Amendments till now)
Twelve Schedules
Appendix

The Fundamental Rights

Part 3
The six Fundamental Rights of Indian citizens as
declared in the Constitution of India are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Right to Equality (14 to 18)

Right to Freedom (19 to 22)
Right against Exploitation (23-24)
Right to Freedom of Religion (25-28)
Cultural and Educational Rights (29-31)
Right to Constitutional Remedies (32-35)

Initially there were seven fundamental rights but Right

to Property was later converted into legal right by
the 44th amendment of the Constitution in 1978

Constitutional Remedy
Under
the
Indian
Constitution,
Supreme Court and High Court are
empowered to issue writs, for the
enforcement of fundamental rights.
Article 32 - Supreme Court
Article 226 High Court

Article 32 - Constitution of India

It

grants an extensive original jurisdiction

to the Supreme Court in regard to
enforcement of Fundamental Right.

Article 226 - Constitution of India

It

can be exercised not only for the

enforcement of fundamental right but for any
other purpose.
Jurisdiction
is wide and extends to
Fundamental rights and other constitutional
rights.

Types of Writ
Habeas

corpus
Mandamus
Prohibition
Certiorari
Quo-warranto

Writ of Habeas corpus

Habeas Corpus means, you may have the
body."
A person, when arrested, can move the Court for
the issue of Habeas Corpus. It is an order by a
Court to the detaining authority to produce the
arrested person before it so that it may examine
whether the person has been detained lawfully
or otherwise. If the Court is convinced that the
person is illegally detained, it can issue orders
for his release.

Who can apply?

General

rule is that an application can be

made by a person who is illegally detained.
But in certain cases, an application of habeas
corpus can be made by any person on behalf
of the prisoner, i.e., a friend or a relation.

CASE STUDY
Sunil Batra Vs. Delhi Administration and Ors.
etc
The Supreme Court enlarged the scope of
habeas corpus, making available the
fundamental rights of the prisoners

Writ of Mandamus
Mandamus is a Latin word, which means "We
Command".
Mandamus is an order from a superior court to a
lower court or tribunal or public authority to
perform an act, which falls within its duty.
Simply, it is a writ issued to a public official to do
a thing which is a part of his official duty, but,
which, he has failed to do, so far. This writ
cannot be claimed as a matter of right. It is the
discretionary power of a court to issue such
writs.

CASE STUDY
Barada Kanta VS. State of West Bengal
In this case, writ of mandamus does not lie
against a private individual or any private
organisation because they are not entrusted
with a public duty.

Writ of Prohibition
Writ of prohibition means to forbid or to stop and
it is popularly known as 'Stay Order'.
This writ is issued when a lower court or a body
tries to transgress the limits or powers vested in
it.
It is a writ issued by a superior court to lower
court or a tribunal forbidding it to perform an act
outside its jurisdiction. After the issue of this writ,
proceedings in the lower court etc. come to a
stop.

Case Study
S. Govinda Menon VS. Union of India
The

writ is issued in both cases where there

is excess of jurisdiction and where there is
absence of jurisdiction.

Writ of Certiorari
Literally,

Certiorari means to be certified.

The writ of certiorari is issued by the
Supreme Court to some inferior court or
tribunal to transfer the matter to it or to some
other
superior
authority
for
proper
consideration.

Case Study
Hari Vishnu VS. Ahmad Ishaque
The

writ is issued for correcting an error of

law apparent on the face of records. It cannot
be issued to correct an error of fact.

Case Study
Madan Gopal VS. Union of India
Apply both Prohibition and Certiorari Prohibition to prevent the court to proceed
further with the case and Certiorari for
quashing what had already been decided.

Writ of Quo-Warranto
The word Quo-Warranto literally means on what
authority one is holding the public office"
It is a writ issued with a view to restraining a
person from acting in a public office to which he
is not entitled.
For example, a person of 62 years has been
appointed to fill a public office whereas the
retirement age is 60 years. Now, the appropriate
High Court has a right to issue a writ of quowarranto against the person and declare the
office vacant.

Case Study
Baij VS. State of U.P.,
Where the holder of an office has been
continuing in office for a long time and there
is no complaint against him the court refused
the writ as it would have been vexatious

Directive Principles of State Policies

(38 to 51)
They

come under the Part IV of the

Constitution of India.

They

are basically instruction to the

Government to carry out certain
responsibilities.

They

are not legally enforceable

F U N D A M E N TA L D U T I
Article 51-A

FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
1.

To abide by the constitution and to respect ideals of

constitution and institutions, the National Flag and the
National Anthem.

FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
2. To cherish and
follow the noble
ideals which
inspired our national
struggle for freedom.

FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES

3. To uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India

FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
4. To defend the
country and render
national service
when called upon to
do so.

TEN FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES

5. To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the
people of India linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce
practices derogatory to the dignity of women

FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
6. To value and
preserve the rich
heritage of our
composite culture

FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
7. To protect and improve the natural environment including forests,
lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living
creatures

FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
8. To develop the
scientific temper,
humanism and the
spirit of inquiry and
reform.

FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
9. To safeguard public property and to abjure violence

FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
10. To strive towards
excellence in all
spheres of individual
and collective activity
so that the nation
constantly rises to
higher levels of
Endeavour and
achievement.

FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
11. Who is a parent or
guardian to provide
opportunities for
neduaction to his
child or as the case
maybe ward between
the age of 6 to 14 yrs.

Brought in 86th Amendment act 2002

Structure of Union Government

President

He is the constitutional Head of the State and the

Supreme Commander of the armed forces.
He is elected by an electoral college consisting of the
elected members of the State Legislatures and both
Houses of the Parliament.
Tenure for the appointment is five years.
He cant be removed from the position except for nonconstitutional conduct by impeachment under Article 61.
He is responsible for the appointment of the Prime Minister,
Chief Justice, Governors and other senior officials.

 Vice

President

He is elected by the electoral college consisting of the

members of both Houses of the Parliament.
Tenure is of the period of five years.
He is also the Ex-Officio Member of the Rajya
Sabha (Upper House of the Parliament).
He is to act as the President in case of death,
resignation, or when he is unable to discharge his
duties due to any reason.
There is as such no job responsibilities specified for
the post of Vice President in the Constitution of India

Important Facts about the President

and Vice President of India
President

Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the First President of India

and also the longest serving President of India (for 12
yrs.)
Only President of India who also has been a Chief
Minister and Governor of an Indian State is Dr.
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
At present Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam is the President of
India

 Vice

President

Dr. S. Radha Krishnan was the first Vice President of

India and also the longest serving one (10 yrs.). He
was also a renowned philospher.

At present Mr. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat is the Vice

President of India.

Prime Minister
Appointed

by the President, he is the Head of

the Council of Ministers and is the leader of
the Party in majority in the Lok Sabha.

He

is appointed for a period of five years

The Parliament
It consists of two houses:
1.

The Upper House or The Rajya Sabha

2.

The Lower House or the Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha

Also known as Lower House

Consists of members directly elected by the people
from the constituencies in various states and Union
Territories.
It consists of 552 members, out of which two seats
are reserved for Anglo-Indian community which are
to be nominated by the President.
The presiding officer is the Speaker who is elected
by the members of the Lok Sabha.

The Rajya Sabha

Also known as the Upper House.

The chairperson is Vice-President of India who is
ex-officio.
Rajya Sabha is permanent and cannot be dissolved
in any condition.
There are total 250 members in the Rajya Sabha
out of which 238 members come through elections
from the States and Union Territories and 12
members are nominated by the President of India.
One third of the members of the Rajya Sabha retire
every two years.

Both, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha

are the grounds for debating, passing the
bills, constitutional amendments and other
issues pertaining to the welfare of the nation.

Bills
Bills

can be said as the proposals that are

debated over in the Parliament.
All the ordinary bills can be introduced in
either of the two Houses of the Parliament.
They are, if needed, amended and passed by
both the Houses, before becoming an Act of
Law.
A special category of Bills called Money Bills
can only be introduced in the Lok Sabha.

The Supreme Court of India

This

is the apex judicial body in the country

and is situated in Delhi.
It consists of 25 judges and a Chief Justice,
who is appointed by the President of India.
The judges of the Supreme Court retires at
the age of 65 and cannot be employed in any
of the Government establishment, State or
Union, after retirement.

The Supreme Court

The

main functions of the Supreme Court of

India includes solving disputes between the
States and the Union Governments, hearing
of appeals of various High Courts and any
matter pertaining to the law in its opinion.
The first Chief Justice of India was H. J.
Kania.
At present, Justice V. N. Khare is the Chief
Justice of India.

Other Important Officials

The

Comptroller and Auditor General of India

(CAG)

At

He is appointed by the President of India.

He is responsible for keeping a vigil over the finances
of the State and Union Governments and make sure
that the money allocated by the voting of the
legislature is spent in a fair and judicious manner.

present, Mr. V. N. Kaul is the CAG of India

The Attorney General of India

He

is appointed by the President of India

He can take part in the proceedings of the
Parliament and its committees but do not
have voting rights.
He is primarily responsible for giving expert
legal advice to the Government of India and
other legal tasks assigned to him.
At present Mr. Soli J. Sorabji is the Attorney
General of India

Governor

He is the executive head of the State and is

appointed by the President.
The tenure for the appointment is 5 yrs.
Major Functions are:

Hes responsible for the appointment of Council of

Ministers .
He is responsible for causing the normal or supplementary
budgets to be presented each year.
He can also sanction funds out of contingency fund to the
government to meet unexpected expenses of the state.
He is responsible for giving the assent to the bills passed
by the state legislation, without which they cannot become
an Act of Law

Chief Minister
Hes

the real executive of the State

administration, and is the leader of the party
which is in majority in the State Legislative
Assembly, and is appointed by the Governor.
He recommends the name of persons for the
council of ministers.
He formulates the administrative and
executive policies of the state and presides
over the meetings of the cabinet.