Constitution of India

Prof. Shivashankar
 CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

 Our Constitution is written, lengthy and detailed.

 Written constitution is based on written laws duly
passed by a representative body elected for this very
purpose.
 In other words, a written constitution is an enacted
constitution.
 An unwritten constitution, on the other hand, is an
evolved constitution.
 It is primarily based on unwritten conventions,
traditions and practices.
 CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

 The Constitution of the U.S.A. is another example of

a written constitution and that of England of an
unwritten one.
 The Constitution of India is an elaborate document
and is the most voluminous Constitution in the world.
 Our Constitution originally consisted of 395 Articles
and eight Schedules.
 During the last fifty-three years of its operation,
seventy-six Amendments have been made to the
Constitution.
 CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

 Two new Schedules have also been added, resulting in a

further increase in its size and volume.
 An important reason for the extraordinary volume of the
Constitution is that it contains detailed provisions regarding
numerous aspects of governance.
 This was done to minimize confusion and ambiguity in the
interpretation of the Constitution, another reason for its
unusual lengthy is the incorporation of the good points of
various constitutions of the world.
 The vastness of our country and its peculiar problems has also
added to the bulk of the Constitution.
 CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

 For example, the Indian Constitution envisages laws for the

governance of the States too.
 Detailed provisions regarding the working of the Union
Government and the State Governments have been given with
a view to avoiding any constitutional problem which the
newly-born Democratic Republic might experience in the
working of the Constitution.
 Partly Rigid and Partly Flexible Constitution

 A flexible constitution is that which can be amended like

an ordinary law of the country, i.e. by a simple majority
of Parliament.
 On the other hand, a rigid constitution is the one which
prescribes a difficult procedure for its own amendment.
 The Constitution of the U.S.A. is the best example of
rigid constitution because it can be amended only if a
proposal for constitutional amendment is passed by a two-
third majority in each House of the Congress (the US
Parliament) and ratified by at least three-fourths of the
federating states.
 Partly Rigid and Partly Flexible Constitution

 The Constitution of Great Britain, on the other hand, is highly flexible.

 It can be amended by a simple majority of its Parliament, much like the
ordinary laws of the country.
 The Indian Constitution is neither very flexible nor very rigid.
 Some provisions of the Constitution can be amended by a simple
majority of Parliament, like ordinary laws of the land while most of the
provisions can only be amended by a two-thirds majority of Parliament
 For very important provisions of the Constitution, such as the manner
of election of the President and the extent of the legislative powers of
the Union and the States, an amendment passed by a two-thirds
majority of Parliament should also be ratified by at least one-half of the
State legislatures.
 Partly Rigid and Partly Flexible
Constitution
 The Indian Constitution thus combines the flexibility
of the British Constitution and the rigidity of the
American Constitution. Jawaharlal Nehru, while
justifying this nature of the Constitution, said,
 "0ur Constitution is to be as solid and permanent as
we can make it, yet there is no permanence in a
constitution. There should be a certain amount of
flexibility. If you make anything rigid and permanent,
you stop the nation’s growth, the growth of a living
vital organic people."
 Partly Federal and Partly Unitary

 Our Constitution declares India a Union of States (federation).

 It prescribes dual set of governments-the Union Government and
the State Governments. The subjects of administration have also
been classified into three lists-the Union List, the State List and the
Concurrent List. Whereas subjects of national importance like
currency, defense, railways, post and telegraph, foreign affairs,
citizenship, survey and census have been assigned to the Union
Government and placed under the Union List, subjects of local
importance like agriculture, law and order, health and entertainment
have been assigned to the States and form a part of the State List.
 Both the Union Government and the State Governments operate
within the spheres of their authority.
 Partly Federal and Partly Unitary

 The Union Parliament and the State Legislatures enjoy co-equal

powers to make laws in regard to the Concurrent subjects.
 These subjects are of common importance such as marriage and
divorce, adoption, succession, transfer of property, preventive
detention, education, civil and criminal law, etc.
 However, if there is a conflict between a Union law and a law passed
by one or many State Legislatures, the law made by the Union
Parliament would prevail over the State law. The Indian Constitution
possesses other features of a federation too, for example, supremacy
of the constitution.
 This means that the Union and the State Governments both operate
within the limits set by the Constitution. Both the governments derive
authority from the Constitution itself.
 Partly Federal and Partly Unitary

 Similarly, in all federal countries, the authority of the Court is a well

established fact.
 This means that in case of a dispute between the Union Government and
State Governments or between two or more State Governments, the
verdict of the Court will be final.
 Not only this, the Supreme Court is given the responsibility of
interpreting the Constitution in case of dispute or confusion.
 The Supreme Court of India is the guardian of the Constitution and fulfils
its role as a Federal Court too.
 The Indian Constitution, though federal in form, has a strong unitary bias.
The Central Government possesses extensive powers compared to the
State Governments.
 The exercise of these powers by the Centre gives the Constitution the
strength of a unitary government.
 Provisions of the Indian Constitution that make it partly
unitary.

 The Union Government can supersede the authority of the States

both in the normal and abnormal times.
 The President of India can declare three different types of
emergency.
• During the operation of an emergency, the powers of the State Governments
are greatly curtailed and the Union Government becomes all in all.
• Even in normal times, the Union Parliament can legislate upon a subject given
in the State List, if the Rajya Sabha passes a resolution by a two-thirds vote
that such legislation is necessary in the national interest.
• Moreover, the Indian Constitution, unlike the US Constitution, does not
provide for double citizenship, division of public services or of the judiciary.
Similarly, the States in India do not enjoy the right to secede from the Union
nor do they enjoy equality of representation in the Council of States (Rajya
Sabha).
 Another unitary feature
 Another unitary feature of our Constitution is
that it gives Union Parliament the power to
alter the boundaries of the existing States or to
carve out new States out of the existing ones.
 It is on account of these features that the Indian
Constitution is said to be federal in form but
unitary in spirit.
 Parliamentary System

 The Constitution of India adopts Parliamentary system of government at

the Centre and in the States.
• The executive power is wielded by the Council of Ministers which is
collectively responsible to the legislature.
• The Ministers continue in office so long as they enjoy the confidence of a
majority of Members in the legislature. The moment they lose this
confidence, a vote of no-confidence is passed against them and they have to
resign forthwith.
• The responsibility of the executive to the legislature is also ensured by the
right of the Members of the legislature to put questions to the Ministers.
The Members may table adjournment motions and call attention motions
against the policies pursued by the Government.
• The Ministers are duty-bound to answer all such questions and satisfy the
Members of the legislature.
 Fundamental Rights

 Certain rights are considered basic or fundamental as they

provide suitable conditions for the material and moral uplift
of the people. The Indian Constitution guarantees a number
of such rights to the citizens of India. The
Fundamental Rights of India conferred by the Constitution
are:
• The Right to Equality;
• The Right to Freedom;
• The Right against Exploitation;
• The Right to Freedom of Religion;
• Cultural and Educational Rights; and
• The Right to Constitutional Remedies.
 Fundamental Rights

 The Right to Property was deleted from the list

of Fundamental Rights by the Forty-fourth
Constitution Amendment Act, 1978.
 The fundamental rights as envisaged in the
Constitution of India are justiciable.
 Directive Principles of State Policy

 The Directive Principles of State Policy constitute another distinctive

feature of our Constitution, These Principles embody certain ideals and
objectives which should be kept in mind by the Union and State
Governments while making laws and implementing policies.
 The implementation of these directives was not made compulsory due
to the paucity of resources.
 The framers of the Constitution expected that as and when the future
Governments would mobilise resources, they would do their best to
implement these directives.
 Equitable distribution of wealth, employment for all, protection of
health, compulsory education for children up to the age of fourteen
and the establishment of village panchayats are some such principles.
 The Directive Principles of State Policy are non-justifiable.
 Directive Principles of State Policy
 No legal remedy can be sought in a court of law ft the
Government fails to follow or implement any of these
principles.
 In other words, the Directive Principles are non-justifiable
rights of the citizen.
 However, these principles are considered important in the
governance of the country. It becomes a moral duty of every
government to follow them and realise the purpose behind
them.
 Several amendments to the Constitution, together with some
judgments of the Supreme Court have paved the way for the
implementation of the Directive Principles.
 Independence of the Judiciary

 Our Constitution has taken special care to establish

an independent and impartial judiciary.
 The judges of the Supreme Court and the State High
Courts have been provided security of service.
 Once appointed, their salaries and allowances cannot
be altered to their disadvantage by the Government
during the course of their tenure. Nor can they be
dismissed before the age of their retirement except in
case of proven misconduct supported by a resolution
of Parliament passed by a two-thirds majority.
 Independence of the Judiciary

 Security of service of judges is in keeping with the

dignity and prestige of the highest judicial organs of the
country. This provision has been made in the Constitution
to keep the judges independent and immune from the
control and influence of the Executive.
 The judges can exercise their discretion in the
dispensation of justice even if their decisions go against
the Government. The Supreme Court and the State High
Courts are also the guardians of the rights and liberties of
the citizens and protect them against arbitrary action on
the part of all government agencies.
 Official Language

 In a country like India, with diverse cultural

traditions and languages, it is essential to declare one
language as the national language, symbolic of the
unity of the different regions of the country.
 The Constitution declares Hindi in Devanagari script
as the official language of the country.
 Besides, each State is authorised to adopt a regional
language for all or some of its official purposes.
 English has also been allowed to be used along with
other languages for official purposes.
 Adult Franchise and Joint Electorates

 The Constitution provides for Universal Adult Franchise.

 The citizens of India who are 18 years of age and above have been granted
the right to vote irrespective of any qualification pertaining to education,
possession of property or payment of income tax.
 The adoption of Universal Adult Franchise was indeed a very daring step
taken by the Constituent Assembly in view of the fact that large sections of
our people are illiterate.
 The manner and the orderliness, with which Indian masses have exercised
their right to vote during ten general elections and many State Legislative
Assembly elections, speak eloquently of the political maturity of our
people.
 The Constitution has replaced the system of communal representation
(introduced by the British in 1909) by that of joint electorates. The country
is divided into territorial constituencies.
 Adult Franchise and Joint Electorates
 From each constituency, members of different
communities jointly elect a common candidate.
 The system of joint electorates promotes communal
harmony and goodwill and discourages communal politics.
 To bring the Scheduled Castes and Tribes at par with the
other communities of the country, some seats have been
reserved for them in the Union Parliament, State
Legislatures and local bodies.
 There are reserved parliamentary and assembly
constituencies from where only the members of the
Scheduled Castes or Tribes can contest elections.
 Establishment of a Welfare State

 The Preamble to the Constitution, as modified by the Forty-

second Amendment Act, 1976 and the Directive Principles of
State Policy aim at the establishment of a Welfare State in India.
 Keeping in view the inherent spirit of the Constitution, the
successive governments at the Centre have been pursuing a
policy of democratic socialism.
 Nationalization of banks and general insurance, fixation of
ceiling on urban and rural lands and abolition of privy purses of
the rulers of the erstwhile native States, implementation of
various poverty alleviation programs are some of the measures
which have been taken to remove gross inequalities of wealth
and to usher in an era of social and economic equality.