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Background And Introduction Of Constitution

Minto- Morley Reforms In India:

Morley-Minto Reforms 1909 - Historical Background:
  • The Congress' reasonable intentions were not met by the Indian Councils Act of 1892
  • The division of Bengal was carried out by Lord Curzon in 1905. As a result, there was a huge revolt in Bengal.
  • Following this, the British rulers realized that some improvements in the Indian government were required.
  • The Indian National Congress (INC) also pushed for additional reforms and Indian self-government.
  • Earlier Congress leaders were moderates, but now radical leaders who believed in more confrontational tactics were on the increase.
  • In 1906, the INC demanded home rule for the first time.
  • In England, Gopal Krishna Gokhale met with Morley to stress the importance of changes.
  • The Simla Deputation met Lord Minto in 1906 and presented their proposal for a separate electorate for Muslims, led by Aga Khan.
  • John Morley was a member of India's Liberal government who aspired to improve the country's governance.
  • The Indian Councils Act of 1909 was passed to rally the Moderates in the Indian National Congress and Muslims to its side
     
Morley-Minto Reforms 1909 - Objective
To apply the electoral principle to membership in India's imperial and local legislative councils, as well as to increase Indian participation in the governance of British India.

Key Provisions
Morley-Minto Reforms 1909 - Key Provisions:
  • At both the federal and provincial levels, the size of legislative councils has increased.
  • The Central Legislative Council is made up of individuals ranging in age from 16 to 60.
  • There are 50 members in each of the Legislative Councils of Bengal, Madras, Bombay, and the United Provinces.
  • Each Legislative Council of Punjab, Burma, and Assam has 30 members.
  • Members of the provincial legislative councils are chosen by local governments via an electoral college. These individuals would elect members of the Central Legislative Council.
  • Those who were elected included local governments, chambers of commerce, landlords, colleges, trade organizations, and Muslims.
  • The bulk of provincial council members were non-official. In total, however, a non-elected majority existed due to the nomination of several non-official members
  • The Imperial Legislative Council welcomed Indians for the first time.
  • Muslims have their own electorate. In some seats, only Muslims were allowed to vote, and only Muslims could vote for their representatives.
  • The budget could be debated and resolutions could be proposed. They could also discuss problems that are important to the general population. They could also inquire about the topic more.
  • Foreign policy or relations with princely states could not be discussed.
  • Satyendra P Sinha was named to the Viceroy's Executive Council as the first Indian member (after great pressure from Morley).
  • The Secretary of State's Council on Indian Affairs has been expanded by two Indians.
     
Members of the federal and provincial legislative councils were to be classified into four groups:
  1. Members of the executive council and the Governor-General are ex officio.
  2. Members nominated by the Governor-General: The Governor-General has nominated government officials.
  3. Members who were not government officials and were nominated by the Governor-General.
  4. Various groups of Indians elected representatives to the board.

Morley-Minto Reforms 1909 - Significance
  • It was a forward step towards the responsible association of elected Indians with the administration.
  • The members for the first time got an opportunity to criticize the executives and make suggestions for the better administration of the country.

Defects
Morley-Minto Reforms 1909 - Defects:
  • To increase the divide between Muslims and Hindus, separate constituencies were created. In Indian politics, this system ushered in an era of unabashed communalism
  • The size of the councils was expanded, but not their functions or powers.
  • Although the Provincial Councils had a non-official majority, the outcome was irrelevant because the non-official majority was invalidated by the election of nominated members.
  • The Governor-position General's and veto power were not affected by the Act.
  • Members were able to discuss the budget, but they were unable to make any significant changes to it.
  • They could ask questions but not compel the executives to respond to the resolutions, which were more like recommendations to the government.
  • Morley-Minto Reform diverted attention away from political and economic difficulties that afflicted all Indians, Hindu and Muslim alike.
     
Rowlatt Act;
What is Rowlatt Act 1919?
The Rowlatt Act or Rowlatt Satyagraha (famously known as the Black Act) refers to the draconian law passed by the British government in March 1919. It is officially called the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act and gave enormous power to the British government and police to arrest anyone suspected of seditious activities. It was meant to replace the emergency law called the Defence of India Act 1915. The Black Act was drafted by a committee headed by a British Judge, Sir Sydney Rowlatt to curb the growing movement of nationalism in India.

Basic Information:
  1. British Bill Rowlatt Act/ Rowlatt Satyagraha (Black Act)
  2. Enacted in the year-1919
  3. This act is drafted by Sir Sydney Rowlatt
  4. Objective is to replace the repressive provisions of the wartime Defence of India (1915) by a permanent law and curb the unrest in India
  5. Scope of the act is to take into custody of any suspected persons without warrant and detain the person for up to 2 years without a trail. It also takes away the right of habeaus corpus. Free limitation on press and gave undue right to search private and public spaces without warrant.
  6. Impact results in Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and withdrawal of Rowlatt Act in 1922

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre took place on 13th April 1919 on the day of Baisakhi when a large group of men, women and children unaware of the martial law decided to assemble in the park. The peaceful protest was organised against the Rowlatt Act and the wrongful arrest of Congress leaders in India. Without any warning, General Dyer ordered its men to block all entrances and to open fire on the peaceful gathering. This massacre took 400 civilian lives and injured 1200.

The incident created a rift between the Indian people and the British government. Despite a massive outcry, no action was taken against the perpetrators of the heinous crime. The massacre at Amritsar was a turning point in the Indian national movement as the moderate leaders lost faith in the fairness of the British regime. The Hunter Commission was set up to investigate the event and condemned the actions of General Dyer yet no concrete punishment was issued against the General behind the most brutal killings in modern India.

Hunter Commission:
  • A committee of inquiry to investigate the Jallianwala Bagh shootings was formed by the Government.
  • On October 14, 1919, Disorders Inquiry Committee was formed by the Indian Government.
  • After Lord William Hunter, the committee was named Hunter Commission. It also had Indian members.
  • In the final report submitted in March 1920, the committee unanimously condemned Dyer's actions.
  • The Hunter Committee did not impose any penal or disciplinary action against General Dyer.

Nationalist Response
  • Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood in protest.
  • Mahatma Gandhi gave up the title of Kaiser-i-Hind, bestowed by the British for his work during the Boer War.
  • Gandhi was overwhelmed by the atmosphere of total violence and withdrew the movement on April 18, 1919.
  • The Indian National Congress appointed its own non-official committee that included Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das, Abbas Tyabji, M.R. Jayakar, and Gandhi to look into the shootings.
  •  Congress put forward its own view. This view criticized Dyer's act as inhuman and also said that there was no justification in the introduction of the martial law in Punjab
     
Non- Cooperation Movement
The non-cooperation movement was launched in 1920 on 5th September. It was led by Mahatma Gandhi & focused on abolishing the use of British products, declining or resigning from British posts, educational institutions, prohibiting government regulations, courts, etc. The movement was non-violent & launched to withdraw the nation's cooperation after the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre & Rowlatt Act.

Mahatma Gandhi stated India could achieve independence within a year if this movement was a success. It was the transition of individuals to a mass movement. Non-cooperation was focused to get full independence also known as Purna Swaraj.

Khilafat Movement
Two movements that were initiated to oppose British rule in India during the fight for India Independence were Khilafat and Non-cooperation movement. Both of the movements followed non-violence acts. While there were many reasons behind the movements, one major reason behind the Khilafat movement was when the religious head of Muslims who was the sultan of turkey was killed by Britishers. Khilafat movement led by Maulana Mohammed Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali, Maulana Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan, and Hasrat Mohani. This movement united Hindus and Muslims as the leaders of the khilafat movement joined the non-cooperation movement.

Sarkaria Commission:

Sarkaria Commission was constituted by the Government of India in 1983 to look after the situation on various matters, the most important being centre-state relations. The most important recommendation that the Sarkaria Commission made was the setting up of a permanent Inter-state council called the Intergovernmental Council. The Commission recommended that this council should be set up under Article 263 of the constitution.

Sarkaria Commission Report - Historical Background
  • With a view to reviewing the working of the existing arrangements between the Union and the States in the changed socio-economic scenario, the Ministry of Home Affairs constituted a Commission in June 9, 1983 under the Chairmanship of Retd. Justice R.S. Sarkaria with Shri B. Sivaraman and Dr. S.R. Sen as its members.
  • The Commission examined and reviewed the working of the existing arrangements between the Union and States in regard to powers, functions and responsibilities in all spheres and recommended such changes or other measures as may be appropriate.
  • The commission keep in view the social and economic developments that have taken place over the years and have due regard to the scheme and framework of the Constitution which the founding fathers have so sedulously designed to protect the independence and ensure the unity and integrity of the country which is of paramount importance for promoting the welfare of the people.

Sarkaria Commission Report - Recommendations
  • The Commission submitted its report in October 1987 with 247 recommendations.
  • It out-rightly rejected the demand for curtailing the power of centre and stated that a strong center is essential to safeguard national unity and integrity. However, it observed the over-centralization as an avoidable phenomenon.
Conclusion
The Central government has implemented 180 (out of 247) recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission. Some of the proposals, such as having the governor come from outside the state, have been implemented. The Supreme Court has often highlighted the importance of putting the Sarkaria commission's recommendations on governor selection and appointment into action. Government has accepted a few recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission of Articles 356 & legislative matter.

What is Constitution?

A constitution means a document having a special legal sanctity which sets out the frame work and principal functions of the government, Constitution of a country gives idea about basic structure of the political system under which its people are to be governed. It defines the powers of the main organs of the state, demarcates their responsibilities and regulates their relationships which each other and with the people. It can also be termed as "Fundamental Law" of a country which reflects people's faith and aspirations.

Framing of the Constitution:
  • The Constitution of India was framed by a constituent Assembly set up under the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946
  • The Assembly consisted of 389 members representing provinces (292), states (93) the Chief Commissioner Provinces (3) and Baluchistan ( l )
  • The Assembly held its first meeting on December 9, 1946, and elected Dr. Sachidanand Sinha, the oldest member of the Assembly as the Provisional President.
  • On December I l, 1946 the Assembly elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as its permanent Chairman.
  • The strength of the Assembly was reduced to 299
  • (229 representing the provinces and 70 representing the States) following withdrawal of the Muslim league members after the partition of the country.
  • The Constituent Assembly set up 13 Committees for framing the constitution. On the basis of the reports of these committees, a draft of the constitution was prepared by a seven-member. Drafting Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
  • The draft constitution was published in January, 1948 and people were given eight months to discuss the draft and purpose amendments.

Though the major part of the constitution came into force on January 26,1950 the provisions relating to:
Provisional parliament and temporary and transitional provision came into force with immediate effect viz. from November 26, 1949.· Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is the father of the constitution.

Sources of constitution:
  • The British Constitution. -
    The Parliamentary system of the government, rule of law, lawmaking procedure and single citizenship
  • The U.S constitution
    Independence of Judiciary, Judicial Review, Fundamental Rights, and guidelines for the removal of judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts
  • The Canada
    Federal system, with a strong central authority.
  • The Republic of Ireland
    Directive Principles of State Policy
  • The Austrian Constitution
    Idea of concurrent list
  • The Weimar constitution
    Provisions relating to emergency
Above all the Government of India Act 1935, exercised great influence on the Indian Constitution. The federal scheme, office of governors, powers of federal judiciary etc. were drawn from this act.

In short, the Indian constitution incorporated the best features of several existing constitutions.

Objectives of the Constitution of India.
The objectives of the constitution were outlined in the objective Resolution moved by Pt.Jawaharlal Nehru and adopted by the constituent Assembly on January 22, 1947. The main principles outlined in the resolution were:
  • Resolve to proclaim India as an Independent sovereign republic
  • To establish a democratic Union with an equal level of self-government for all the constituent parts.
  • All power and authority of the union government and governments of the constituent parts are derived from the people.
  • To guarantee and secure to all people of India:
    • Justice, Social, Economic and Political.
    • equality of status, of opportunity and before law.
    • freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation association and action.
  • Adequate safeguards for minorities backward and tribal areas and depressed and other backward classes.
  • To maintain the integrity of the territory of the Republic and its sovereign rights on land, sea, and air according to justice and law of civilized nations. To secure for India its rightful and honored place in the world.
  • To contribute to the promotion of world peace and the welfare of mankind. These objectives incorporated in the Preamble of the constitution.

Salient features of the Indian Constitution:
To frame Indian Constitution some of the basic salient features are meant for the drafting. The Indian Constitution is immortal to the Indian polity as well as for judiciary in their administration and also in judicial decisions. So there should be a distinguished salient features from other countries constitution. The Indian Constitution begins with a preamble. The preamble contains the ideals, objectives and basic principles of the constitution. All the basic elements of the Constitution were discussed in brief through the salient features of the Constitution.

The Bulkiest constitution of the world:
The constitution, originally consisting of 395 articles, now consists of 444 Articles divided into 25 parts and 12 schedules.

The main factors that led to the constitution being bulky were:
  • Incorporation of good provisions of the constitutions of other countries to avoid future loopholes.
  • Absence of separates constitutions for the states and provision of both central and state structure in the constitution.
  • Incorporation of Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles of State Policy.
  • Provisions regarding peculiar problems facing the country, such as problem of scheduled cases and scheduled tribes, backward classes, official languages etc
  • Inclusion of emergency provisions in the constitution for the protection of the interests of the country and the people.
  • Detailed provisions regarding the organization of the judiciary, the services, election and other transitory provision.
  • Codification of details regarding center, state relations to eliminate future conflicts.
  • Enumeration of central practices, which in other countries operate on the basis of conventions.
     
Combination of Rigidity and Flexibility:
The Indian Constitution is a combination of rigidity and flexibility, while some provisions of the constitution can be amended by the Parliament by a simple majority, other require a two-thirds majority of the members of the Parliament as well as a majority in the state legislatures, Again, some provisions of the constitution can be amended by the Parliament alone by a two-third majority. Further flexibility is introduced in the constitution by the provisions which permit the parliament to supplement the provisions of the constitution by legislation.

Parliamentary system of Government:
The constitution provides for a parliamentary system of government under which the real executive power rests with the council of ministers and the President is only a nominal ruler. The council of ministers stay in office as long as they enjoy the confidence of the Parliament.

The framers of the constitution decided to adopt a parliamentary system of government for several reasons.
  1. Firstly, the system was already in existence in India and people were well acquainted with its working.
  2. Secondly, the vast size of the country and the diversity of its culture necessitated the adoption of a parliamentary form of government.
  3. Thirdly, the desire to avoid conflicts between the executive and the legislatures, which was a common feature in America also induced the members of the constituent Assembly to opt for a parliamentary system.

Federal system with a Unitary Bias:
'The Indian constitution provides for a federation with a strong center.

It is noteworthy that the constitution has not used the word 'federation', any when, and has described India as a "Union of States", which implies that the Indian federation is not the result of any agreement among the units and the unit cannot secede from it.

India possesses most of the features of the federation but also several of the unitary features.

The Indian federal structure acquired a unitary character during emergency, where the normal distribution of powers between the center and the states undergoes vital changes.

Fundamental Rights:
  • The constitution contains an elaborate list of Fundamental Right.
  • The state cannot make laws which take away or abridge any of the fundamental right of the citizens. If it does so, the courts can declare such a law as unconstitutional.
  • It may be noted that the fundamental rights granted by the constitution are not absolute restrictions.
Fundamental Duties:
  • The constitution also contains a list of 10 fundamental duties of the citizens.
  • These duties were added to the constitution by the 42 nd amendment in 1976. These duties serve as constant reminders to the citizen that they have to observe certain basic norms of democratic conduct.

Directive Principles of State Policy.
The constitution outlines certain Directive Principles of State Policy which the government has to keep in mind. While formulating any policy. These principles seek to provide social and economic basis for democracy and the establishment of a welfare state.

Unlike the Fundamental Rights, the Directive Principles of State Policy are non-Justice-able, which implies that no action can be brought against the state before a court of law for its failure to implement the Directive Principles. However, in actually the government has accorded due importance to the Directive Principles in the formation of its policies.

Secular State:
The constitution makes India a secular state. This means that there is no state religion and state is completely detached from religious dogmas.

It also implies that citizens are free to profess, practice and propagate any religion. However, freedom of religion is not absolute and the same can be regulated in the interest of the public.

Independent Judiciary:
The constitution provides an independent judiciary which ensures that the government is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.

It acts as the guardian of the liberties and fundamental Rights of the citizen. It also determines the limits of the powers of the center and the states.

People as source of Authority:
The constitution draws its authority from the people and has been promulgated in the name of the people. This is evident from the preamble with states. "We the people of India.. , 8 do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this constitution".

Universal Adult Franchise:
The constitution introduces universal adult franchise and accords the right to vote to all citizens above 18 years of age without discrimination. However it makes reservation of seats for Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes to provide them adequate representation.

Emergency Powers:
The constitution vests extraordinary powers in the President during emergencies arising out of armed rebellion or external aggression, emergency due to breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state and financial emergency where the credit of the country is threatened. In fact during emergency the federal constitution can virtually be converted into a unitary constitution.

Single Citizenship:
It provides single citizenship. All persons residing in different parts of the country are treated as Indian citizens and are entitled to the same rights of citizenship. There is no separate citizenship of different States.

Bicameral Legislature:
It provides a bicameral legislature at the center consisting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The former contains representatives of the people, while the latter contains representatives of the States.

Special Provisions for minorities:
The constitution makes special provision for minorities, Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes etc. It not only reserves seat for them in the Parliament and state legislatures, but also grants them certain special rights and privileges.

Panchayati Raj.
The constitution provides constitutional basis to Panchayati Raj institution as well as Urban local bodies. This was achieved through the seventy-third and seventy-fourth amendment to the constitution carried out in December 1992.

Federal and Quasi Federal Constitution:

Federalism is a dual government system that performs its function independently. Federalism generally is two levels of government. One is the Central Government who perform their functions at the major issues of the country. The other is the local or State Government which deals with day-to-day activities and functioning of their particular State. Such as we know that we have two levels of law enacted body at the central level Parliament in which the central government enacts the laws for whole the nation and the other is State Legislature in which the particular State Government enacts the laws for the particular state.

The Constitution of India is rigid and at the same time, it is flexible, which can be amended according to the growing and changing needs of a developing society and country. This is the reason it is called a living document. India's constitution does not refer to the country as a federation. Article 1 of the Constitution, on the other hand, refers to India as a "Union of States."

 This signifies that India is a union made up of many states that are all equally important. The Indian Union is unbreakable. The states are unable to secede from the union under this situation. They do not have the authority to leave the union. The constituent entities, or States, in a real federation, have the ability to leave the union.

It is described as a "quasi-federal state" by Prof. K.C Wheare. It is also described as "a federal system with a significant leaning towards the Centre" by the Supreme Court of India. The Indian constitution has elements of both a federal and a unitary constitution. To comprehend the quasi-federal government, we must first grasp the federal and unitary characteristics of the Indian Constitution.

Federalism is a tool for articulating and protecting a society's many traits. It was created to ensure regional autonomy as well as national unity. In multiple societies, it is the result of historical processes. The central government will have more authority if the forces of national unity are particularly strong in such a society.

Quasi-Federal State:
A quasi-federal government is one in which the division of powers between the federal government and the states is not equal. Because of its strong central apparatus, India is a federation with a unitary bias and is referred to as a quasi-federal state. The Government of India Act, 1935 proposed a federal system for India for the first time, even though the process of decentralization and devolution of authority had been underway since the Government of India Act, 1919, when the term "federation" was first used in legal terms.

In India, the federal system does not exist as a consequence of an agreement or treaty between the many components and states that make up India. With the enactment of the constitution, India's unitary system of government was transformed into a federal one.

The Indian constitution's creators wanted to create a federal structure in the country because of the country's diversity and vastness. With so many models to choose from, the Constituent Assembly correctly chose the Government of India Act, 1935 as the foundation for its new constitution.

Federalism:
Federalism is a complicated governmental process that allows a country to have both a central and state government at the same time. The constitution is the source of authority for both administrations. The powers are divided between the Centre and State governments in a federal constitution, and the Central Government may make laws for the entire country, while the respective state governments may make laws for the entire state, allowing each government to be legally independent within its own sphere.

Each government has its own set of powers and exercises them independently of other governments; as a result, neither is submissive to the other, yet both work together. This system is built on a compromise between regional variety and national unity, as well as the necessity for an effective central power and checks and balances on that power.

Features of federal system:
The best way to comprehensively understand the federal system is to learn about its features. These qualities consolidated to reflect the genuine quintessence of federalism. Let us know them carefully:
  1. Bi-Cameral Legislature:
    The main feature, which is the definition of federalism in which there are at least two levels of governance in the country. There can even be more than two levels of governance but the entire power is not concentrated with one government.
     
  2. Single Citizenship:
    All levels of governance with their different jurisdiction govern the same citizens. This means that to make laws, legislate and implement these laws by each level of government with their definite power.
     
  3. Written Constitution:
    Another essential feature is that the federal system of government is guaranteed by the constitution. It means that the constitution of that country where is the federal system of government listed down all powers and duties in the written form of all levels of government. Without a written constitution there is not a federal system of government. For example, the UK is not a federal country because there is not a written constitution. In the written constitution there is no denying fact that stability maintains in the governance as a whole of the country. In the absence of a written constitution, there is the possibility of conflicts and misunderstandings arises in the Center and the State and would cross the boundary of each other.
    1. Participation of the Centre and State:
      As stated above the federalism of a country must be governed by the constitution. It is also important to know that any amendment or changes cannot be made unilaterally in the main parts or essential provisions of the constitution. Such changes or amendments must also be approved by all the levels of government to go through.

     
  4. Dual Government:
    It is also stated that there are two levels of government with separate jurisdictions and separate duties. There may be a possibility to arise a conflict between the two governments. In a federal state, it is the duty of the courts to interfere in such a situation to resolve this conflict and reach a resolution.
     
  5. Revenue Sharing:
    In case of a federal country there should be a system of Revenue-Sharing between the Center and the State like as a system of Power-Sharing between the two levels of government.

Our constitution makes a clear demarcation about legislative powers and jurisdictions.
It is done through the Three lists:
Union List:
This incorporates subjects that convey national significance, similar to defense, finance, railroads, banking and so forth. So such subjects just the Central Government is permitted to make laws.

State List:
Incorporates all issues essential to the working of a specific exchange like transport, Trade, Commerce, farming and so on. The state government is the appropriate authority for making laws regarding these matters.

Concurrent List:
This incorporates matters on which both the Union and the state government can make laws. These are identified with education, forests, trade associations and so forth. It should be noted that Central government is the final authority on any conflicting issue if the two governments are in conflict relating to making laws.

Why India is not a federal country?
A unitary system is administered constitutionally as one single unit, with one constitutionally created legislature. All power invests in top authority. A unitary state is that all the powers governed in one single unit in which the central government is the ultimate authority to enact the laws for the country.

These are some unitary features in the constitution by which we can say that India is a quasi-federal country in nature:
  1. Strong Centre:
    The central government has the unitary authority to the appointment of the Governors for various states. Governor is the representative of the central government and he is also the constitutional head of the state. Constitution provides under article 355 that the central government is the duty-bound to ensure that there is no failure of constitutional machinery in the state and the states are protected from the internal disturbance and external aggression and war.

    By which to enforce that duty, article 356 provides to the central government to impose Presidential rule and it is the duty of the governor of the concerned state to make a report to the center about the constitutional failure of the machinery of the state for political or any other reasons.

    Like the President, Governor also enjoys some discretionary powers related to withholding the bill for the consideration of the president. Thus, the power of the central government to appoint governors who would be the head of the particular states is an important unitary feature of the Indian constitution.
     
  2. Single Citizenship:
    The constitution provides a single and uniform citizenship for the whole of the country. However, in a federal state like the United States of America, there is dual citizenship in which citizen firstly owes the duty to the states and then to the union. But in the case of India, there is single citizenship even though it also a federal country.

    It prescribed that all the Indian citizens owe allegiance to the Indian Union and not for the state also. Any citizen of the country enjoys the civil and political rights throughout India in all states and union territories irrespective of his birth or residence.
     
  3. Integrated Judiciary:
    In India, the Supreme Court at apex defined the Unified Judiciary which opposed to the federal system of the country having a dual system of courts. In our unitary judicial system, the Supreme Court occupies the highest place. We know that the decisions and verdicts of the Supreme Courts are binding on an inferior court in India.
     
  4. Appointment of the Highest Position Machinery:
    All the appointment on the highest positions are made by the Union Government such as the Chief Election Commissioner, the Comptroller, and Auditor General and All India Services such as IAS and IPS have been created which are kept under the control of the Union.
     
  5. No Equality of State Representation:
    Representation in the legislature in the federal states is on an equal basis, which is also not applicable in case of Indian States. The Representation of the States in Rajya Sabha is not equal basis it depends from state to state and regulated by the center which is basically a unitary feature of the state.
     
  6. Parliament's Authority Over State List:
    In general the power to make laws under the state list given to the State Government but in certain cases, the central government has the power to make laws under the state list. If Rajya Sabha passes a resolution under article 249 of the constitution with the 2/3rd majority that the parliament should make law with respect to a particular entry in List II with respect to a particular state.

    After passing the resolution the parliament makes law and that law remains in force for 1 and ½ years which means that the resolution remains in force for one year and the law also will remain to cease after six months the resolution comes to an end.
     
  7. Emergency Provisions:
    The provision of the article 356 provides that the proclamation can be made and once such proclamation is made, the state government can be either dismissed or the Assembly can be kept in suspended animation.

Case Laws on the Federalism of the Country
  1. Kuldip Nair v/s Union of India
    Issue:
    In this case, the issue was that before an amendment in 2003 there was a domicile requirement that was removed in 2003 by which it was argued that the amendment violated the federal character.

    Court Held:
    SC said that a specific sort of federalism or a US kind of model may not be a piece of the fundamental structure of the Indian Constitution. The Indian Federalism is one of a kind in nature and is custom fitted as per the particular needs of the nation. Federalism is a fundamental element of the Constitution of India in which the Union of India is lasting and indestructible.

    In view of many historians such as according to KC Wheare, practically the constitution of India is not strictly federal in nature whereas it is the quasi-federal in nature. In the words of D.D. Basu, the constitution of India is a combination of the federal and unitary system it's neither purely federal nor unitary.
     
  2. State of West Bengal v Union of India
    The Supreme court held that decentralization of authority in India was mainly to facilitate smooth governance of a large country and therefore, it contains many centralization features also.
     
  3. S.R. Bommai v Union of India
    In this case, Justice Ahmadi opined that the essence of the federal nation is the existence of a division of power between the Union and the States.
     
  4. Sat Pal v State of Punjab and others
    In this case, the court held that in the absence of the terms federal or federation and the existence of unitary features single citizenship, a single constitution, integrated Judiciary, strong Centre, etc can help us conclude that the Constitution of India is more Quasi-federal than federal or unitary.
The Chairman of the Drafting Committee, Dr. Ambedkar had therefor appropriately said that "Our Constitution would be both unitary as well as federal as per the prerequisites of time and circumstances".

Conclusion:
In this article there is precise view regarding to the historical background for evolvement of Constitutional framework and how the framing of the constitution had taken place and also the forms of governance which we had adopted and how the other countries are differed with our constitution.

Ours is a Government which has adopted the concept of mixed forms of governance like as mixed economy. Whereas in India there is a federal and unitary forms of governance so in that case our government is considered as quasi federal. so in that instance we had adopted and enacted a prescribed format of governance to set human in a path.

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One may very easily get absorbed in the lives of others as one scrolls through a Facebook news ...

Section 482 CrPc - Quashing Of FIR: Guid...

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The Inherent power under Section 482 in The Code Of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (37th Chapter of t...

The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in India: A...

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The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is a concept that proposes the unification of personal laws across...

Role Of Artificial Intelligence In Legal...

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing various sectors of the economy, and the legal i...

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