he Indian Constitution is unique in its contents and spirit. Though borrowed from almost every Con- titution of the world, the Constitution f India has several salient features that listinguish it from the Constitutions of the ther countries. It should be noted at the outset that a num- er of original features of the Constitution (as adopted in 1949) have undergone a sub- Stantial change, on account of several amend- ments, particularly 7th, 42nd, 44th, 73rd, 74th, 97th and 101st Amendments. In fact, the 42nd Amendment Act (1976) is known as ‘Mini-Constitution’ due to the important land large number of changes made by it in various parts of the Constitution. However, in the Kesavananda Bharati case’ (1973), the Supreme Court ruled that the constituent power of Parliament under Article 368 do not enable it to alter the ‘basic structur the Constitution. ||| SALIENT FEATURES OF THE l CONSTITUTION ‘The salient features of the Constitution, as it stands today, are as follows: of Constitutions are classified into written, like the American Constitution, or unwrit- ten, like the British Constitution. The Constitution of India is the lengthiest of all the written Constitutions of the world. Itis a / Salient Features of the Constitution FOPVPEFPPFPEPPPTPPFTFH very comprehensive, elaborate and detailed document. Originally (1949), the Constitution con- tained a Preamble, 395 Articles (divided into 22 Parts) and 8 Schedules. Presently (2019), it consists of a Preamble, about 470 Articles (divided into 25 Parts) and 12 Schedules” The various amendments carried out since 1951 have deleted about 20 Articles and one Part (VID) and added about 95 Articles, four Parts (IVA, IXA, IXB and XIVA) and four Schedules (9, 10, 11 and 12). No other Constitution in the world has so many Articles and Schedules* Four factors have contributed to the ele- phantine size of our Constitution, They are: (a) Geographical factors, that is, the vastness of the country and its diversity. Historical factors, exg., the influence of the Government of India Act of 1935, which was bulky. (©) Single Constitution for both the Centre and the states’. (4) Dominance of legal luminaries in the Constituent Assembly. fundamental pri also detailed Further, theee able ality, ena ciple perests and OPS tas for weaker sections .s minorities : up new the prit ae to protect thei hopes and vistas fo ingle Citizenship a Constitution is federal wal polity (Centre and a single citizen- ‘hough the Indian and envisages a d provides for only a sing oe oe fs the Indian citizenship. “iy mim countries like USA, on the other hand, ach person is not only a citizen of USA, bu Siso a citizen of the particular state to which he belongs. Thus, he owes allegiance to both and enjoys dual sets of rights—one conferred by the National government and another by the state government In India, all citizens irrespective of the state in which they are born or reside enjoy the same political and civil rights of citizen- ship all over the country and no discrimina- tion is made between them Despite the constitutional provision for @ single citizenship and uniform rights for all the people, India has been witnessing the communal riots, class conflicts, caste wars, linguistic clashes and ethnic disputes. This means that the cherished goal of the Constitution-makers to build a united and integrated Indian nation has not been fully realised, \JéTndependent Bodies The Indian Constitution not only provides for the legislative, executive and-judicial organs of the Government (Central and state) but-also establishes certain independent bod- ies. They are envisaged by the Constitution as the bulkworks of the democratic system of Government in India. These are; (@) Election Commission to ensure free and fair elections to th i + id Auditor-General accounts of th, ernments. He a of India Central cts as the to audit the and state gove psc ele of public purse and — dian : Baie legality and propriety of expenditure. en ee Publig service Commission to 9 Oriel xaminations for recruitment & ct ex i i aninaia services”? and higher Cents aetvices and to advise the President o (©) servi disciplinary matters. SW (a) State Public Service Commission every state to conduct examination for recruitment to state services and_ to advice the governor on disciplinary matte : ‘The Constitution ensures the indepen- dence of these bodies through various provi- | sions like security of tenure, fixed service conditions, expenses being charged on the — Consolidated Fund of India, and so on. 15, Emergency Provisions The Indian Constitution contains elaborate ‘emergency provisions to enable the President to meet any extraordinary situation effectively. The rationality behind the incorporation of these provisions is to safeguard the sovereignty, unity, integrity and security of the country, the democratic political system and the Constitution. The Constitution envisages three types of emergencies, namely: i (a) National emergency on the ground of — war or external aggression or armed rebellion’® (Article 352); State emergency (President's Rule) on. the ground of failure of Constitution machinery in the states (Article 356) failure to comply with the dire the Centre (Article 365); and Financial ¢ i ioe mergency on the threat to the financial ility punt India (Article 360), corrnng acer nt becomes all. States go into the total | @) (©)ring normal times) {© unitary (during (durMency) isa unique feature of the Indian em itut cons 1p. Three-tier Government sriginally, the Indian Constitution, like any Over federal Constitution, provided for a ont polity and contained provisions with ir to the organisation and powers of the Contre and the states. Later, the 73rd and_ 4th Constitutional Amendment Acts.(1992) jave added a third-tier of Government (i.e., jocal) whiéh'is not found in anyother Con- sticution of the world The 73rd Amendment Act of 1992 gave constitutional recognition to the panchay- ats (rural local governments) by adding a new Part IX'” and a new Schedule 11 to the Constitution. Similarly, the 74th Amendment Act of 1992 gave constitutional recognition to the municipalities (urban local govern- ments) by adding a new Part IX-A™ and a new Schedule 12 to the Constitution. 17. Co-operative Societies “i The 97" Constitutional Amendment Act of 2011 gave a constitutional status and protec- tion to co-operative societies. In this context, it made the following three changes in the Constitution: 1. It made the right to form co-operative societies a fundamental right (Article 19). 2. It included a new Directive Principle of State Policy on promotion of co-operative societies (Article 43-B). 3. It added a new Part IX-B in the Constitution which is entitled as “The Co-operative Societies” (Articles 243-ZH to 243-27). i ‘The new Part IX-B contains various provi- sions to ensure that the co-operative societ- ies in the country function in a democratic, professional, autonomous and economically sound manner, It empowers the Parliament in respect of multi-state cooperative societies Salient Features of the Constitution and the state legislatures in respect of other co-operative societies to make the appropri- ate law. «NTT TT TSEC ‘The Constitution of India, as framed and adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India, has been criticized on the following, grounds: Borrowed Constitution The critics opined that the Indian Constitution contains nothing new and original. They described it as a ‘borrowed Constitution’ or a ‘bag of borrowings’ or a ‘hotch-potch Constitution’ or a ‘patchwork’ of several documents of the world constitu- tions. However, this criticism is unfair and illogical. This is because, the framers of the Constitution made necessary modifications in the features borrowed from other consti- tutions for their suitability to the Indian conditions, at the same time avoiding their faults. While answering the above criticism in the Constituent Assembly, Dr. BR. Ambedkar, the Chairman of the Drafting Committee, said : “One likes to ask whether there can be anything new in a Constitution framed at this hour in the history of the world, More than hundred years have rolled over when the first written Constitution was drafted. It has been followed by many countries reduc- ing their constitutions to writing. What the scope of a Constitution should be has long been settled. Similarly, what are the funda- — mentals of a Constitution are recoy over the world. Given these facts, be__tndian PO 1), conaues india acquire foreign te! jucherr¥i Haveli; Gos, Damian are and Sikkim oe seat Constitution. ce to “ate ng the UaTon of new states on such terms icchiaks FT. Thus, Artic 1s to the Parliament: toto 9 Union of India new stat the power to establish mew states. The TT refers to the admission of states which 2° already in existence, while the second refers to the establishment of states which were not in existence before. Notably, Article 2 relates to the admission or establishment of new states that are not part of the Union of India. Article 3, on the other hand, relates to the formation of or changes in the existing states of the Union of India. In other words, Article 3 deals with the internal re-adjustment inter se of the territories of the constituent states of the Union of India. nditions 48 and co pow- grants two P Zhe power to admit ; an ‘The first PARLIAMENT’S POWER TO. eer ee er ny Win EAD. uthorises the Parliament to: (@) form a new state by separation of ters tory from any state Or by uniting wwo or more sates Or parts of states or By wat. ing any (erritory t0 a part of any state, (b) increase the area of any state, i (6) diminish the area of any sate alter the boundaries of any siete. (6) alter the name of any fee AS rurther, the power of Parlian, new states includes the power Bice or union territory by unig jny state or union territory ¢q ot union territory’. 4 The President (or Parliame, ound by the views of the s yy either accept or reject it the views are received in time js not necessary to make a to the state legislature every tiny ment to the bill is moved ang Parliament’. In case of a union | reference need be made to the g legislature to ascertain its vig Parliament can itself take any deems fit. It is, thus, clear that the ¢ authorises the Parliament to other words, the Parliament can political map of India accordin Hence, the territorial integrity or, existence of any state is not guar the Constitution. Therefore, Indi described as ‘an indestructible destructible states. The Union can destroy the states whereas ernments cannot destroy the Unio on the other hand, the territorial continued existence of a state is by the Constitution, The Ameri¢ Government cannot form new s the borders of existing states wit Sent of the states concerned. USA is described as ‘an ind of indestructible states! secMOreover, the Constitution [ Kself declares tha(Taws made for or establishment of new states Jang formation of new states poets hounulavieg or nam dec = t Articles 3) are inder a amendments of th Snot Atticle 368,JThis mean can _be pquestion came up for ‘yn before the Supreme Court in a made by the President in he _ st Bengal) to Pakistan We to political agita- controversy and thereby necessitated on an ‘oF residential reference. The Supreme Court the Preside held that the power of Parliament to dimin- the area of @ state (under Article 3) docs cer cession of Indian territory to a for country. Hence, Indian territory can be ‘ed to a foreign state only by amending the Constitution under Article 368. Consequently, = enacted to transfer the ue 4 to pakistan. On the other hand, the Supreme Court in 99 ruled that, settlement of a boundary dis- pute between India and another country does not require a constitutional amendment. It an be done by executive action as it does not involve cession of Indian territory to a foreign country. | EXCHANGE OF TERRITORIES ll Nees The 100th Constitutional Amendment Act (2015) was enacted to give effect to the acquir- ing of certain territories by India and transfer of certain other territories to Bangladesh in pursuance of the agreement and its protocol entered into between the Governments of India and Bangladesh. Under this deal, India transferred 111 enclaves to Bangladesh, while Bangladesh transferred 51 enclaves to India. In addition, the deal also involved the transfer of adverse possessions and the demarcation of a 6.1 km undemareated border stretch. For these three purposes, the amendment modified the provisions relating to the territories of four states (Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura) in the First Schedule of the Constitution. The background of this amend- ment is as follows: . India and Bangladesh have a common Union and its Terrtor 5. ind boundary of approximately 4096.7 kms. The India-Last Pakistan land bound- ary was determined as per the Radcliffe Award of 1947. Disputes arose out of some provisions in the Radcliffe Award, which were sought to be resolved through the Bagge Award of 1950. Another effort was made to settle these disputes by the Nehru-Noon Agreement of 1958. However, the issue relating to division of Berubari Union was challenged before the Supreme Court. To comply with the opinion rendered by the Supreme Court, the Constitution (9th Amendment) Act, 1960 was passed by the Parliament. Due to the continuous litigation and other political developments at that time, the Constitution (9h Amendment) Act, 1960 could not be notified in respect of terri- tories in former East Pakistan (presently Bangladesh).* . On May 16, 1974, the Agreement between India and Bangladesh concerning the demarcation of the land boundary and related matters was signed between both the countries to find a solution to the complex nature of the border demarca- tion involved. This Agreement was not ratified as it involved, inter alia, transfer of territory which requires a Constitu- tional Amendment. In this connection, it was also required to identify the pre- cise area on the ground which would be transferred, Subsequently, the issues relating to demarcation of un-demarcated boundary; the territories in adverse pos- session; and exchange of enclaves were identified and resolved by signing a Pro- otocol was prepared with support and concurrence of the concerned state governments Of Anes ar Meghalaya, Tripura and West Bengal.” Jwe (a) Parliament eondiion authority , irement a pired in 1974 ¢ on for. any state, angana Peak and Tel provide y () The Sato car Pre posts in favour of any appointments oF that is not ‘adequately backward class tha af spresented in the state servic : Maw je that the incumbent of (©) Alaw can provid Oe an office related to religious or CC! a ¥ eI i aaiional institution or a member oF its governing body should belong to_the particular religion or denomination. — {@) The siate is permitted to make a provi- sion for the reservation of upto.10% of Appointments or posts in favour of any economically weaker sections of cit zens. This reservation of upto 10% would be in addition to the existing reserva- tion For this purpose, the economically weaker sections would be notified by the State from time to time on the basis of family income and other indicators of ©conomic disadvantage. Mandal Commission and Aftermath the Morarji Desai Gove; the Second® Backward al undef thie chairm, Tn 1979, ment appointed : lasses Commission ‘anship of B.P. Mandal, ment im terms of Article their advancemen its report in 1. m 980 and id reservation of ears in 1990 that the V-P. Singh declared reservation of 2754 ¢ for the OBCs. Again im 199)" nao Government introdueg preference to the poorer the OBCs in the 27% quota, the economic criteria im gras tion, and_@yJ reservation of 4" jobs for_other economical tions who are covered by schemes of reservation, : In the famous Mandal cages scope and extent of Article 4, provides for reservation of j backward classes, has been: oughly by the Supreme Coury Court has rejected the additional a of 10% for other economically: tions, it upheld the constitutiona] 27% reservation for the OBCs conditions, viz; JuydPacseeohen (a) The advanced sections OBCs (the cream _ years only (i.e,, upto 1 Le) The total reserved quota 50% except in some extra¢ tions. This rule should year. ley The ‘carry forward ralé unfilled (baa klog) vacanci ‘ it should not : ‘ot viol er 2 ite Ap rmaneonal Commission for Backward 10. Sfrariament. 1s mandate was to exame N° fhe the complaints of under-inclusion, 0 ioe inclusion oF non-inelusion of any ois of citizens in the list of backward Grasses for the purpose of job reserva: tion. Later, the 102"! Amendment Act ce jo18 conferred a constitutional status Sn the commission and also enlarged its functions. For this purpose, the amend: ment inserted a new Article 338-B in the constitution: ¢) Inorder to nullify the ruling with regard (© (G reservation in promotions, the 77th ‘Amendment Act was enacted in 1995. It added a new provision in Article 16 that empowers the State to provide for res- ervation in promotions of any services under the State in favour of the SCs and sis that are not adequately represented in the state services. Again, the 85th Amendment Act of 2001 ~provides for ‘consequential seniority’ in the case of promotion by virtue of rule of reserva- tion for the government servants belong- ing to the SCs and STs with retrospective effect from June 1995. The ruling with regard to backlog vacancies was nullified by the 81st “Amendment Act of 2000. It added another new provision in Article 16 that empowers the State to consider the unfilled reserved vacancies of a year as a separate class of vacancies to be filled up in any succeeding year or years, Such class of vacancies are not to be combined with the vacancies of the year in which they are being filled up to determine the ceiling of 50% reser- vation on total number of vacancies of that year. In brief, it ends the 50% ceil- ing on reservation in backlog vacan« (©) The 76th Amendment Act of 1994 hag placed the Tamil Nadu Reservations Act of 1994 in the Ninth Schedule to protect it from judicial review 69 per cent of reservation, the 50 per cent ceiling: _ shri Kaka Kaleker C1953) a] Qeuugeureun Air Lopfer ated undorertal Right chedrmcun $ members cere. by the Presiclenty] 79 ene Public Employment Toad Ne exception (d) was added by the mendment Act of 2019. In order to Bive effect to this provision, the central gov. cumment issued an order (in 2019) providing 10% reservation to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWSs) in civil posts and services in the Government of India. The benefit of this reservation can be availed by the per- sons belonging to EWSs who are not covered under any of the existing schemes of reser- vation for SCs, STs and OBCs. The eligibility criteria laid down in this regard has already been explained under Article 15. Further, the scientific and technical posts which satisfy all the following conditions can be exempted from the purview of this reservation: LF The posts should be in grades above the lower grade in Group A of the service Sieaeap ee GH) They should be classified as “scientific or technical” in terms of Cabinet Secretariat Order (1961), according to which sci- entific and technical posts for which qualifications in the natural sciences or exact sciences or applied sciences or in technology are prescribed and the incum- bents of which have to use that knowl edge in the discharge of their duties. \Git) The posts should be for conducting research or for organizing, guiding and directing research. 4. Abolition of Untouchability4 Indian Polity 10. SS ee ¥ Similarly, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar observed in the Constituent Assembly that, ‘The Constitution’” , _K.C. Wheare has admired the variety ¢ _ Assembly ‘has not only refrained from | amendment procedures contained in th Constitution of India, He said, ‘this variety j it According to il i 5 ¥ . ¢ it ia, but has provided i aphlUBEE re eee NOTES AND REFERENCES 1. Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, (1973). 2. The 24th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1971 made it obligatory | the President to give his assent to a constitutional Amendment Bill. 5. Subhas C. Kashyap, Our Parliament, National Book Trust, 1999, P. 16 3a. This provision was added by the 101" Amendment Act of 2016. This related to Article 279-A. KC. Wheare, Modern Constitutions, 1966, P. 43. Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. VII, P. 322~ Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. 1X, P. 976. Granville Austin, The Indian Constitution: Corners! i Is : Cornerstone aps of a Nation, Oxfe 966, P.25, f SxeHICE OF THE a sic eas ion whether Fundamental Rights can he ad by the Parliament under Article SS G™ nin a year of the Constitution com- Gour force. In the Shankari Prasad case! 1), the constitutional validity of the First 4 Act (1951), which curtailed «right to property, was challenged. The supreme Court ruled that’ thé power of the jament to amend the Constitution under syticle 368 also includes the power to amend indamental Rights. The word aw’ in Article. 1 includes only ordinary laws and not the constitutional amendment acts (constituent laws). Therefore, the Parliament can abridge away any of the Fundamental Rights by enacting a constitutional amendment act and such a law will not be void under Article 13, But in the Golak Nath case* (1967), the Supreme Court reversed its earlier stand. In that case, the constitutional validity of the Seventeenth Amendment Act (1964), which inserted certain state acts in the Ninth Schedule, was challenged. The Supreme Court tuled that the Fundamental Rights are given * ‘vanscendental and immutable’ position the Parliament cannot abridge or amg NaY any of these rights. A constitutional a ndment act is also a law within the mean- a Article 13 and hence, would be void for ‘ing any of the Fundamental Rights. rhe Parliament reacted to the Supreme (867) 5 ee in the Golak Nath case (197, "y enacting the 24" Amendment Act ). This Act amended Articles 13 and 368. for consideration of the Supreme eee Basic Structure of the Constitution eR OANAIARANORANAMMAAANA AAA AMAA OAR daN AAA KA asA ada ddaladdataeasagdaana It declared that the Parliament has the power to abridge or take away any of the Fundamental Rights under Article 368 and such an act will not be a law under the meaning of Article 1: However, in the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973), the Supreme Court overruled its judge- ment in the Golak Nath case (1967). It upheld the validity of the 24th Amendment Act (1971) and stated that Parliament is empowered to abridge or take away any of the Fundamental Rights. At the same time, it laid down a new doctrine of the ‘basic structure’ (or ‘basic features’) of the Constitution. It ruled that the constituent power of Parliament under Article 368 does not enable it to alter the ‘basic struc- ture’ of the Constitution, This means that the Parliament cannot abridge or take away a Fundamental Right that forms a part of the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution. ‘The doctrine of basic structure of the con- stitution was reaffirmed and applied by the Supreme Court in the Indira Nehru Gandhi case** (1975). In this case, the Supreme Court invalidated a provision of the 39" Amendment ‘Act (1975) which kept the election disputes involving the Prime Minister and the Speaker of Lok Sabha outside the jurisdiction of all courts, The court said that this provision was beyond the amending power of Parliament a affected the basic structure of the const Again, the Parliament reacted to thi cially innovated doctrine of ‘basic by enacting the 42™* Amendmer ‘This Act amended Article that there is no limitation « power of Parliament and be questioned in any including that of theIndian rom. : an be dissolved by, the Presig ee of the Prime ae eae 7 = er words, the pune minis t, The: leader worse oie aa the expiry of its term hel a i s that the’ £ tions. This means that antod by the President on oe 1 tose means Oa 0 t oe ae minister BoE ee ne th ight gt the single the majority, a c Single party gets parties may be invi which sectres 2 s the Sabha form: A 1 : ney a8 @DP ; of that Par president; other smi Minister by xl by the President (0 Secrecy The ministers @ form the government. principle of secrecy of proce i ive Responsibility This is the bed- divulge information about their e. ee ms op mentary government policies and decisions. They ta f =e snisisien ie collectively responsible secrecy before entering their of Parliament in general and to the Lok| oF secrecy to the ministers iis aaqame Sabha in particular (Article 75). "They act by the President. ee 5a team, and swim and sink together, The 5 Principle of collective responsibility implies on eck saat ea ae Fa IN ie, council of ministers headed by the Prime minister) trom office by passing a vote aM OF no confidence. 4. Political Homogeneity Usuall — 0 eity Usually members Unlike the Indian Constitution, the Constitution provides for the form of government, The feature "an presidential System of g¢ are as follows; (a) The Americ, - an President is b of the State and the ment. As the head of & Ceremonialip in ts pershis sioMsident cannot dissolve the House (0) re rrresenvatives the lower house of ) The n. The legislative, executive dicial powers of the govern- separated and vested in cn wre independent organs of the rnment. Se inca oe ETAL se parliamentary system of government has ne following merits: UY Harmony, Between Legislature and Eeecutive ‘The greatest advantage of the smentary system is that it ensures ‘rmonious relationship and cooperation juneen the legislative and executive organs of the government. The executive is a part of the legislature and both are interdepen- dent at work. As a result, there is less scope for disputes and conflicts between the two ongans. Responsible Government By its very nature, the parliamentary system establishes a responsible government. ‘The ministers ae responsible to the Parliament for all their acts of omission and commission. The Yecliament exercises control over the min- isers through various devices like question ‘our, discussions, adjournment motion, m0 “onfidence motion, etc. WF the vents Despotism Under this system, of xccutive authority is vested ina stomp indy — it duals (council of ministers) and not T ig ee etson. ‘This dispersal of ‘author cen the dictatorial tendencies of the ©. Moreover, the executive is Tespon- wa : aa the Parliament and can be removed “confidence motion. Porliarmentary System acts. They BOREL Possess Tem sea " che Congress nor atten¢ 4. Ready Alternative Government In case the ruling party loses its majority, the Head of the State can invite the opposition party to form the government. This means an alter- native government can be for fresh elections. Hence, ed without 5. Wide Representation In a parliamentary system, the executive consists of a group of individuals (i.c., ministers who are represen- tatives of the people). Hence, it is possible to provide representation to all sections and regions in the government. The prime min- ister while selecting his ministers can take this factor into consideration. DEMERITS OF THE POLE Ls In spite of the above merits, the parlia- mentary system suffers from the following, demerits 1. Unstable Government The parliamentary system does not provide a stable government. ‘There is no guarantee that a government can survive its tenure. The ministers depend on the mercy of the majority legislators for their continuity and survival in office. A no-confidence motion or political orexils of multiparty coalition can make the government unstable. The Government headed by Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, VE, Singh, Chahidra Sekhar, Deva Gujral are some such examples. 2. No Continuity of Policies ‘The parlia- jmentary system is not conductive for the formulation and implementation of long- term policies. This is due to the uncertainty, of the tenure of the government. A change in the ruling party is usually followed by changes in the policies of the government. For example, the Janata Government by Morarji Desai in 1977 reversed a large number of policies of the previous Congress Government. The same was repeated by the