Civics: how India is governed

• The Assembly’s members were chosen indirectly, by the members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies set up under the Government of India Act, 1935.
• It followed the Cabinet Mission plan: 292 members from the Provinces and at least 93 seats for the Princely States. After Partition the Assembly had 299 members.
• The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950; 284 members signed it on 24 January 1950.
• Its aims were first set out in the Objectives Resolution moved by Nehru in 1946. The Assembly worked through eight major committees.
• Its preamble says the Constitution is made by ‘We, the people of India’, and its vision rests on equality, liberty and fraternity. The word ‘secular’ was not in it at first, but NCERT notes the Constitution has always been secular.

Borrowed and adapted from other constitutions

Borrowing was not imitation: each provision had to be defended as suited to Indian problems and aspirations.

• Ambedkar called the right to constitutional remedies the ‘heart and soul of the constitution’ — it lets a citizen go to a High Court or the Supreme Court to restore a Fundamental Right.
• The Directive Principles of State Policy list goals for society, rights beyond the Fundamental Rights, and policies the government should adopt.
• In 1976 the 42nd amendment added a list of ten Fundamental Duties of citizens; the Constitution does not say how they are enforced.
• The right to property was removed from the Fundamental Rights by the 44th amendment in 1978 and became a legal right under Article 300A.
• Untouchability is abolished under the right to equality.

The six Fundamental Rights

• 1Right to EqualityEquality before law; no discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex; abolition of untouchability and of titles.
• 2Right to FreedomFreedom of speech and expression, to assemble peacefully, form associations, move freely; protection against arrest and detention in certain cases.
• 3Right against ExploitationNo traffic in human beings or forced labour; no employment of children in hazardous jobs.
• 4Right to Freedom of ReligionFreedom of conscience and to profess, practise and propagate religion; freedom to manage religious affairs.
• 5Cultural and Educational RightsProtection of the language and culture of minorities; their right to set up educational institutions.
• 6Right to Constitutional RemediesThe right to go to the courts for writs to enforce these rights.

The five writs

• India chose First Past the Post for its simplicity; voters choose specific candidates and know who represents them.
• Universal adult franchise: until 1989 an adult meant a citizen above 21; an amendment in 1989 lowered the voting age to 18.
• Article 324 gives an independent Election Commission the ‘superintendence, direction and control’ of the electoral roll and elections. It has been multi-member since 1993.
• The Election Commission recognises political parties and allots symbols; it does not conduct panchayat and municipal elections.
• Seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; the Delimitation Commission, appointed by the President, draws constituency boundaries.

• The President is elected indirectly — by elected MLAs and MPs — for five years, and can be removed only by impeachment in Parliament.
• Under Article 74 the President acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers; the President can ask it to reconsider once, but must accept the reconsidered advice.
• The Constitution sets no time limit for the President’s assent to a bill — informally called the ‘pocket veto’. Money Bills cannot be withheld.
• The Vice President, elected for five years, is ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and acts as President when the office falls vacant.
• Since the 91st Amendment (2003) the Council of Ministers cannot exceed 15 per cent of the Lok Sabha (or Assembly). It is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.
• The permanent executive is the bureaucracy, recruited on merit by the Union Public Service Commission (and State Public Service Commissions), and expected to be politically neutral.

• The Rajya Sabha represents the States: MLAs elect its members for six years, a third retire every two years, and twelve are nominated. Uttar Pradesh sends 31, Sikkim one.
• The Lok Sabha is directly elected for five years from 543 constituencies, and can be dissolved early.
• A Money Bill can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha; the Rajya Sabha can suggest changes but not reject it, and if it does nothing for 14 days the bill is deemed passed.
• The no-confidence motion is Parliament’s most powerful tool to hold the government to account; the Council of Ministers answers to the Lok Sabha, not the Rajya Sabha.
• The anti-defection law came with the 52nd amendment in 1985.

• The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction (Union–State disputes), appellate jurisdiction, advisory jurisdiction (the President may seek its advice) and writ jurisdiction.
• Judicial review — the power to strike down unconstitutional laws — is nowhere named in the Constitution but follows from it.
• Public Interest Litigation began around 1979–80 and became the main vehicle of judicial activism.
• For appointments, the Supreme Court set up the collegium principle: the Chief Justice recommends names in consultation with the four senior-most judges.
• Judges can be removed only for proven misbehaviour or incapacity, by a very difficult procedure; the first such motion (1991) failed.

• Residuary powers — matters in none of the three lists — rest with the Union.
• Article 356 provides for President’s rule in a State; it can be extended up to three years, and the courts can examine whether it was valid.
• The States Reorganisation Commission (set up in December 1953) recommended linguistic States; reorganisation followed in 1956.
• The Sarkaria Commission (1983; report 1988) examined Centre–State relations and recommended non-partisan Governors.
• Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 no longer exists.

Who makes laws on what: the three lists

• Union ListDefence, atomic energy, foreign affairs, banking, railways, currency — only Parliament legislates.
• State ListAgriculture, police, prisons, local government, public health, land — normally only the State legislature.
• Concurrent ListEducation, forests, trade unions, adulteration, adoption and succession — both can legislate.

• Every State has a three-tier Panchayati Raj: the Gram Panchayat, the Mandal or Taluka Panchayat, and the Zilla Panchayat; all are directly elected for five years.
• The Gram Sabha — all adult voters of the Panchayat area — became mandatory.
• One-third of all panchayat positions, including chairpersons, are reserved for women — also within the seats reserved for SC, ST and backward castes.
• Twenty-nine subjects are listed in the Eleventh Schedule for panchayats; urban functions are in the Twelfth Schedule.
• Each State has a State Election Commissioner for local elections, independent of the Election Commission of India, and a State Finance Commission every five years.

• Most amendments need a special majority in both Houses; some also need the consent of half of the State legislatures. No referendum is required.
• In the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973) the Supreme Court ruled that no amendment can violate the Constitution’s ‘basic structure’ — a phrase found nowhere in the text.
• The Court repeated the doctrine in the Minerva Mills case (1980).
• The 38th, 39th and 42nd amendments were the most controversial; the 43rd and 44th undid most of their changes.