Consitution of India

-> Regulating act 1773

Purpose : for removing defect and dificiencies in running affairs of east in
dia company
Features :
1) Bombay and Madras Presidency were brought under control of Bengal Preside
ncy , a court was setup
2) right of Parliament to regulate the affairs of east India company which w
as engaging in trading as well as administrating the newly acquired
terrorties of Bengal Bihar and Orissa.
-> Act of Settlement 1781
Purpose : remove the weakness of regulating act
Features :
1) Empowered governor general to frame regulations for th provinical courts
and council
2) made it clear that what law was to be applid by the supreme courts over s
ervants of the company and the local people
-> Pitts India Act 1784
Purpose : Bring out reforms in the administrativ machinery of india and the
consitution of the company
Features :
1) differentiated between commerical and political functions of the company
2) Commerical affairs of the company were managed by the court of Directors
3) Political affairs by a board of control comprising of 6 commissioners was
appointed to superintend, direct and control all operations of the
civil and military governments of the British possessions in the East India
-> The Charter Acts
Purpose : East India Company was made in 1600 AD and secured a charter from
Queen Elizabeth in 1601 which settled its constitution, power
and pri
vileges and granted it monopoly of trade in east
Charter renewed in 1609,1661,1726,1793.
> 1813 Charter Act British Crown assertd greater control over the company
> 1833 important changes in th constitution of the legislature of India. 1 c
entral legislative authority instad of 3
Governor General of bengal declared as governor general of India
ceased commerical function of company
> 1853
did not fix any definite period for the company's hold over the India
Separated the executive machinery of the company from the legislative fun
ction
enlarging the council of governor general
-> Government of India Act 1858
1) abolished the company's rule and directly taking over the administration
of India
2) policy changes announced and contained objectives and guidelines principl
s for the british rule
-> Indian Council Act 1861
1) Governor General omnipotent and enabled him to associate the people of th
e land with work of legislation and vested legislative powers in
the
government of Bombay and Madras and started process of decentralization
2) Provision of inclusion of Indian in legislation
-> Indian Council Act 1892
1) Defined the powers , function and composition of the legislative council

in India.
2) Legislative members were empowoerd to discuss the budget and the principl
e of election of albeit indirect was introduced.
-> Indian council Act(Morley-Minto Reforms) 1909
1) Imperial Legislative Council was again reconstituted, official members we
re to be in majority than the non-official and functions enhanced
2) took India to road of self governmenet
3) powers and functions of the legislative and provinical council was enlarg
ed and separate electorad for th muslim were created for the mulims
4) Rise of communal politics in india
-> Government of India Act 1919
1) Act aimed at establishing a responsible government in India with increasi
ng association of Indians
2) Central legislative was made more represntative and influential
-> Government of India Act 1935
1) Basis for the establishmnt of the political system and constitution in In
dia
2) establishmnt of All India Federation comprising the British India and oth
er desireous to join it
3) Dyrachy form of the government was introduced at centre
4) provinces were given greater autonomy
5) Established federal court with originial, appellate and advisory jurisdic
tion
6) Limited franchise in 6th schedule ( excluded peasants, traders by imposin
g taxes, property and educational qualification)
-> Cripps Mission
1) offered Dominion status with other reforms but rejected
-> Cabinet Mission plan 1942 ( Lord Pethic Lawrence, Strafford Cripps, Mr. Alexa
nder)
1) Union of India embodying both British India and the States except a few
, all subjects were to be retained by the states.
2) Paramountct was to lapse and constituent assembly was to be elected.
3) Setup of Interim Government having support of major political parties
4) accepted in 1946
-> Indian Independence Act 1947
1) Creation of two dominian India and Pakistan
2) each will have governor general
->Basic Aims and Objectives of constitution
1) find their expression in the objectives resolution approved by constitunet
Assembly on Jan 22 1947
Objectives :
1) India to be independent and sovereign republic
2) democratic goverment union with equal level of self-government in all the
constituent parts
3) all power and authority of government derived from the people
4) constitution must strive to gurantee to the people justise based on equali
ty (social,political,economic) equality before law and opportunity
5) there should be freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship sub
ject to law and public morality
6) constitution should provide rights for minorities, depressed classes and b
ackward areas to ensure justice

7) constitution to be framed to secure for India a due place in the community

of nations and to contribute to the promotion of world peace and
welfare of mankind
-> Salient feature of the constitution
1) Written Constituion
2) Lengthy Document (original contains 395 articls 8 schedules )
Contitutional documents for centre/state/UT ( Canadian model)
3) Drawing from different sources
> parliamentary system of democract was taken from England
> concept of federalism , Bill of rights and Judicial Review takn from U
SA
> Directive Principle taken from Ireland
> Provision of Emergency taken from German Reich
4) Federal Polity with a unitary bias
> Central List : Centre responsible for legislation
> State List : State responsible forLegislation
> Concurrent List : both are responsible forlegislation
when the laws passd by the centre and the state at the variance with ea
ch other centre will get precedence over the state law
Supreme court act as custodian of Constitution decided all the dispute
s between centre and states
Reason for india is overcentralized or quasi federal
> centre has right to change the boundary of state
> Governor is appointed by the President and act as agent of President
and responsible for ommission and commission
> declare emergency in state and take control of administration of stat
e
> state is financial dependent on centre
> state has very limited power
> State is not given equal representation in upper house and bound to e
xercise union laws
-> Single Citizenship
Single citizenship of india (unliked federation dual citizenship to avoid reg
ionalism and fissiparous tendencies endangering security and integrity)
-> More flexible than rigid
Amendments of few provision of the constitution requires ratification by the
state legislatures and even then ratification by only 1/2 of them
would suffi
ce
Rest of the consitution can be amended by special majority of Union Parliamen
t
Parliament can alter or modify many provision of the constitution by a simple
majority as is required for general legislation.
-> Democratic Republic
Justice, equality, liberty and fraternity - four pillars of democracy
-> Balance between Judicial Supremacy and Parliamentary Soverignty
> independent judiciary with power of judicial review is prominent feature o
f our constitution
> constitution has effected between parliamentary sovereignty and a written
constitution with a provisio of Judicial Review is a unique
achieveme
nt of the framers of our constitution
> Judiciary can declare a law as unconstitutional if its is beyound the comp
etence of the legislature according the distribution of powers
provided b
y constitutions or if it is contravention in fundamental rights guranteed by the
constitution

> major portion of constitution is liable to be amended by the Union Parliam

ent by a special majority if in any case the Judiciary proves too
obstructive
> drift towards parliamentary sovereignity aftr 42nd Amendment 1976
-> Universal Adult Franchise
Article 326 act of faith placed in common man (right to vote for election of
house of people and to legislation in assembly
-> secular state (42nd amendment)
> there is no official religion for india and parliament has no right of imp
osing a particular religion as an official religion
> all citizen irrespective of their religious beliefs are to be considered a
nd treated equal
> No discrimination will be shown by state against any person on account of
his religion either for participation in political affairs or entry into
government services or admission into educationall institutions
-> Provision of fundamental rights
> Indian citizen only enjoys rights guranteed in constitution
> Right to equality, freedom, against exploitation, freedom of religion, cul
tural and education rights, constitution remedies( makes other rights
rea
l and enforceable)
> suspended in emergencies
> negative obligation of state not to encroach on individual rights and cou
rts are guardian of fundamental rights
-> Directive Principles for a welfare state
> contained in part IV socia-economic equality to bring happiness and good o
f all
> equal benefits and opporunity , economic equality avoiding concentration o
f wealth supporting weaker section of soceity
-> Incorporation of Fundamental duties ( Passed in 42nd amendment Act artical 5
1)
-> Emergency provision
> Failure of constitution , head of state can declare emergency and take adm
inistration of the country
> under emergency
fundamental rights are abrogated , courts of law can refuse to listen to
petitions for the enforcement of these rights
no bill can be introducd in the legislatur without prior permission of th
e head of the state
-> Protection of minorities
>reservation of seats for cultural minorites
-> Provision for autonomous organisation
> provision for certain autonomous bodies which have been set up with a viw
to provide chekcs on the important organs of the government
> election commission to conduct election impartially
> autonomous supreme court (custodian of fundamental rights and the constitu
tion)
> Comptroller and Auditor General of India
> UPSC and finance commission
-> Issue of basic structure of constitution
1) supremacy of constitution
2) republican and democratic form of governemnt

3) secular and federal character of government

4) demarcation of power between legislature, executive, and the judiciary
5) freedoms enshrined in part III and the principles embodied in part IV ( a
dult franchise independence of the judiciary)
->
> Constitutional assembly was indirectly electd by provincial legislative as
sembly by electesystem of proportional representation
> elected on basis of limited franchise 20-24 % people voted
> congress won 58% seats 925 out of 1585 , Muslim won in muslim majority pro
vinces
> Mr. Damodar Swarup seth asked for universal adult franchise congress rejec
ted basis that will consume time and become cumbersome
> RSS and HinduMaha sabha were not in constituent assembly ( althought S P M
ukherjee and Purshottam Das Tandon represented )
> Constitution assembly (sachidanand sinha temporary, Rajendra Prasad (perma
nent)president of constitunt assembly )committees
1) Rules of procedure committee
2) Finance and staff committee
3) Steering Committee
4) House Committee
5) Order of Business Committee
6) Advisoy committee
7) Union power committee
8) Union constitution committee
9) Drafting committee ( Ambedkar, Alladi Krishnaswamy Aiyyar, Gopala Swam
y Ayyanger, K M Munshi) all lawyers ( final decision take by CWC)
10) Provincial Constitution committee
11) Committee on finance provision
-> Preamble
-> Union Exectives
> President (article 54 contains election of presiden of india
1. elected by indirect election by an electrol college with system of pro
portional representation by means of single transferrable vote.
electrol college
i) elected member of both the houses of Parliament
ii) elected member of Legislative assemblies of state
-> National Legal service authority
-> Panchayati Raj (was amended read latest one )
> Balwant Rai Mehta Committee 1957 to submit report on working of Community d
evelopment programme(1952) and National Extension Service
(1953) and to suggst measures for their better working
> Establishment of democratic decentralisation " Panchayati Raj"
> three tier panchayati raj :
i) Gram Panchayat at village level (constituted with directly elected repr
esentatives)
ii) Panchayat samiti at block level (constituted with indirectly elected me
mbers)
iii) Zila Parishad at the district level (constituted with indirectly electe
d members)
> planning and development activities should be entrusted to these bodies
> Panchayat Samiti ( executive body)
> Zila Parishad ( Advisory, coordination and supervisory body)
> District collector is chairman of zilla Parishad
> NDC accepted in 1958 but left it to sates to evolve their own patterns suita

ble
>
>
ati
>

to local conditions
Rajasthan was the 1st state to establish Panchayati Raj
Tier variation and power variation in various state implementation of pachay
raj
Nyaya Panchayat to try petty civil and criminal cases.

-> Ashok Mehta Committee (was not implemented)

> 3-tier system of panchayati raj should be replace by two tier system
zila parishad at district level
Mandal Panchayat ( group of villages with population of 15-20K)
> district to be first point of decentralization under popular supervision bel
ow the state level
> zila parishad should be the executive body and made responsible for planning
at the district level
> official participation of political parties at all levels of panchayat elect
ions
> panchayati raj institution should have compulsory powers of taxation to mobi
lis their own finances
> regular social audit by a district level agency and by a committee of legisl
ators to check whethr the funds alloted for the vulnerable social and
econom
ic groups are actually spent on them.
> state govt. should not supersede the panchayati raj institutions. In case of
an imperative supersession, election should be held within six months
from
the date of supersession
> nyaya panchayats should be kept as separate bodies from that of development
panchayats, must be presided over by a qualified judge
> chief electoral officer of a state in consultation with the chief election c
ommissionr should organise and conduct panchayati raj elections
> developments functions should be transferred to the zila parishad and all de
velopment staff should work under its control and supervision
> the voluntary agencies should play an important role of mobilizing th suppor
t of the people for panchayati raj
> ministar for panchayati raj should be appointd in the state council of minis
ters to look aftr the affairs of the panchayati raj institutions
> seats of SC/ST should be reserved on the basis of their population
> constitutional recongnition should be accorded to the panchayati raj institu
tions. This would give them the requisite status( sanctity and
stature) and
an assurance of continuous functioning
-> Constitutional amendment 73rd
> added to Part -IX of constitution
> provisions from articles 243 to 243 O and 11th schedule being added 12th m
uncipalities
" The state shall take steps to organise village panchayats and endow the
m with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them
func
tion as units of self government" ( Part of directive principles of state policy
)
> obligation for state government to adopt panchayati raj system in accordan
ce with the provisions of the act.
> provision of act group under two categories:
1) Compulsory ( provision of the act have to be included in the state law
s creating the new panchayati system
2) Voluntary ( ensures the right of the states to take local factors like
geographical, politico-administrative and others, into consideration
-> Salient feature of Muncipalities
1) Nagar Panchayat : a transitional ara that is an area in transition from a
rural area to a urban area
2) Muncipal council : for smaller urban area

3) Muncipal coorperation : for larger urban area

while adopting the new panchayati raj system.
-> Salient features of the act (cuurent )
1) Gram Sabha
2) 3-teir system
-> States of J & K , Nagaland , Meghalaya and Mizoram are exempted from Panchaya
ti raj
-> PESA ( provisison of Panchayats to the scheduled areas Act , 1996)
-> removal of judge
->Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) authorizes the States give
the Gram
Sabah s power to regulate and restrict
sale/consumption of liquor
ownership of minor forest produce
power to prevent alienation of land and restore alienated land
power to manage village markets, control money lending to STs
power to manage village markets, control money lending to STs and Mandatory
executive functions to approve plans of the Village Panchayats, identify benefic
iaries for
schemes, issue certificates of utilization of funds.
->The Finance Minister introduces the budget in the Lower House of the Parliamen
t or the Lok Sabha & makes a short speech, giving a overall view of the budget.
-> After the presentation of the Budget, Parliament allots some time for a gener
al discussion on the Budget. The finance minister replies at the end of the gene
ral discussion. The reply is also of a general nature and no specifics of the Bu
dget are discussed. However, no motion is moved nor voting required at this stag
e.
->After the finance minister's reply, Lok Sabha takes up for discussion each min
istry's expenditure proposals, and is known as demand for grants. The demands fo
r grants presented by each ministry are taken up by the House.
->After, the prescribed period for the discussion on demands for grants is over,
the Speaker applies the `guillotine', and all the outstanding demands for grant
s, whether discussed or not, are put to vote at once. Only the Lower House is en
titled to vote.
-> Appropriation Bill is introduced in the Lok Sabha after it has passed all dem
ands for grants relating to all ministries. This is to authorise the government
to draw funds from the Consolidated Fund of India. Once this Bill is passed, it
becomes the Appropriation Act and is certified as a Money Bill.
-> After passing of Appropriation Bill, the Finance Bill is introduced and it in
corporates all taxation proposals. At this stage, amendments for tax proposal ca
n be moved. After the passing of this Bill, it enters the statute as the Finance
Act. Thus the final Budget gets approved.