<br>

CHAPTER 10
DEMOCRATIC PROCESS
OF POLITICS WITH CRIMINALS AND THE BUSINESS
10.1 NEXUS

10.2 ELECTIONS
STATUS
10.3 ELECTION COMMISSION:
STABILITY, DURABILITY
10.5 COALITION GOVERNMENT:
CORRUPT PRACTICE
10.6 GRASS ROOT DEMOCRACY

WITH
10.1 NEXUS OF POLITICS
CRIMINAL AND THE BUSINESS:
CRIMINALIZATION OF POLITICS

Synopsis
Introduction
What is criminalization of politics?o
Criminalization of Politics: Components and Causes
Government scams in the last few years
Right To Information Act And Criminalization Of Politics
Recent Development in Criminalisation Of Politics:
Persons can't fight from Jail
Conclusion

Introduction
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely", this phrase
aptly explains the behaviour of our politicians. The politicians misuse their power
and position for their personal gain. The police which is expected to protect tn
rights and property of the citizens has reversed its role.
to
Police with the support of politicians twist and break the law according
their own will. Their ideal role is to follow the law and work accordingly bul
reverse attitude is observed where the police serve their political masterS
work according to their orders, thereby, undermining
the rule of law. They dothis
political
in order to pursue their own interests and serve the interests of their
masters. Ifany one of them dares to oppose them then they are threatened w
transfers, clearly reflecting the abuse of power by the political masters.

[366]
<br>

Democratic Process 367

Such nexus between politicians, police and crime have changed the attitude
of people towards police and politicians. They fear that if they approach any
police authority for help they have to pay bribe for the help or may be subjected
to serious mental and physical torture and hence several instances go unre
ported.
Common people fear reporting against the influential as tiiey knowthat the
nrotection mechanism provided by law has weakened because the protectors no
more serve the law, they serve their greed. The people, by and large., regard the
nolice as agents and mouthpieces of the parties in power who can terrorise and
do allunjust and unlawiul things. The people in general believe that members of
the police force are incompetent, cruel and corrupt and have no will of their own.
They have departed from their moral values and function mostly for their per
sonal and selfish ends and serve their political masters.
This notion that has been created in the minds of the citizens clearly indi
cates that the rule of law has been defeated. The citizens have lost their faith in
public institutions. The makers andthe upholders of law have handled law ac
cording to their ownwill, thereby defeating the rule of law and upholding the rule
of their own whims and fancies. A gradual disbelief towards law will lead to
disobedience of law among individuals, thereby, defeating the spirit of democracy
and law in India. Such nexus has made law the playing field of a few ich people
and has taken it away from the reach of common people.
After 60 years of India's independence the lives of commoners is far worse
than under Britishers. The benefits of independence have reached only few, thus
creating disparity between the few ultra rich people surrounded by vast sea of
utterly poor. The rich people in nexus with those in power are getting favourable
laws enacted to suit their ends.
The criminalization of politics, executive judiciary is almost complete. The
corruption has spread its tentacles far & wide, there is corruption from womb to
tomb, from maternity hospital to grave yard. The injustices done by public ser
vants in the current scenario are worse than at the time of the British Regime.
The biggest factor behind it being the criminalization of politics.

What is criminalization of politics?

Some people with criminal backgrounds become politicians and elected
representatives. Around 20% of the members of the current Lok Sabha have
criminal cases pending against them. The charges in several of these cases are
of heinous crimes such as murder, robbery, kidnapping, and not just violation of
Section 144, or something similar.
Today, India is facing crisis of governance as there is a nexus between
politicians, police and criminals. This has created havoc in our country. The
enforcers of rule of law have become the violators of law. Rule of law is the basic
structure of our Constitution. The rule of law requires that the Government should
be subject to law, rather than law subject to the Government.
Dicey has attributed the folloving three meaning to the rule of law: () Su
premacy of law, (i) Equality before law, (i) Predominance of legal spirit. Rule of
<br>

Indian Constitutional Lav

:
The New Challengcs
368
law, and every individual
should be subio
means equality before
law essentially
to the same laws in the
same mnanner.
no right to hold a superior position
i
police have
So, the politicians and the that was proclaimed in India durina Indi
Emergency of 1977
this context. The mention here. The Government used the noio
a
Gandhi's reign needs special any charges or notification to families, llengt
without
force to detain people our Constitution. During this period, when
enactments were made which modified man, court had no power to interfero
a police officer shot dead an innocent the of
India, this incident was the biggest challenge to democracy
In the history of C
Our
eco.
role in
politician's state
a
is to create job opportunities, promote
The ideal inten.
its people and maintain the territorial
nomic activity, improve the welfare of
policies which are meant for the
rity of his country. They should implement the security of their citizene
welfare. They should also ensure the safety and
general
with the help of Police.
"Policing" is just like teaching and medicine which has
intimate connections
with the society, social progress, social change, and
social life. The major role
peace in the society through
of police is to maintain law and order, maintain the the sus
surveillance of the public, and then subsequently report and apprehend vigil on
pected violators of the law. They also discouragepower crimes by keeping
a
crimes and also by possessing the investigation into such crimes. In
very important unlike that in dictatorial
democracy like India the role of police is
or autocratic gOvernments where police are symbolised as terrorists.

Criminalization of Politics: Components and Causes

s
(1) Muscle Power
a
for
The influence of muscle power in Indian politics has been fact of life
a long time.
The politicians are thriving today on the basis of muscle power provided by
criminals. The common people who constitute the voters are in most cases too
reluctant to take measures that would curtail the criminal activities. Once the
political aspect joins the criminal elements the nexus becomes extremely danger
ous. Many of politicians chose muscle power to gain vote bank in the country,
and they apply the assumption that, if we are unable to bring faith in the com
munity then we can generate fear or threat to get the power in the form of
election.v
(2) Money Power
The elections to Parliament and State Legislatures are very expensive and
it is a widely accepted fact that huge election expenditure is the root cause for
corruption in India. candidate has to spend lakh of rupees to get elected and
A

even if he gets elected, the total salary he gets during his tenure as an MP/MLA
will be meagre compared to his election expenses. This is bridged publicly through
donations and secretly through ilegal means.
9There isa need of huge amounts of unaccounted for money that can only
<br>

eho Democratic Proccssa 369

be generated through criminal activity. That is why you have criminals in politics.
They have money and muscle, so they win and help others in their party win as
well.
(3) Vote Bank:
The political parties and independent candidates buy votes to ensure víctory
and indulge in other illegal activities through criminals or so called "goondas".
The criminals in a way help the politicians to win. This provides a congenial
cimate to political crime whereby the voters and manoeuvred, purchased, etc.
Criminals are wooed by political parties and given cabinet posts because their
msscle and money power fetches crucial votes. Elections are won and lost on
swings of just 1% of the vote, soparties cynically woo every possible vote bank,
including those headed by accused robbers and murderers.
(4) Corruption:
a
In every election all parties without exception put up candidates with crimi
nal background. The corruption has reached this stage because the corrupting
of the institutions in turn has finally led to the institutionalization of coruption. The
failure to deal with corruption has bred contempt for the law. When there is
contempt for the law and this is combined with the criminalization of politics,
corruption flourishes.
(5) Loop Holes In The Functioning Of Election Commission:
The Election Commission must take adequate measures to break the
nexus
between the criminals and the politicians. The forms prescribed by the Election
Commission for candidates disclosing their convictions, cases pending in courts
and so on in their nomination papers is a step in the right direction if it applied
properly.
Too much should not be expected, however, from these disclosures. They
would only inform people of the candidate's history and qualifications, but not
a
prohibit them from casting their votes, regardless, in favour of criminal. The gulf
between the Election Commission and the voter needs to be bridged. Common
people hardly come to know the rules made by the [Link]. Bridging this gap
is essential not only for rooting out undesirable elements from politics but also
for the survival of our democratic polity. The electorate have rnade certain wrong
choices in the past, but in the future national interest sheuld guide them in
making intelligent choices.
(4) Denial of Justice And Rule of Law:
Criminalization is a fact of Indian electoral politics today. The voters, political
parties and the law and order machinery of the state are a'i equally responsible
for this. There is very little faith in India in the efficacy of the democratic process
in actually delivering good govsmance. This extends to accepting criminalization
of politics as a fact of life. Effective laws are required for preventing criminals in
participating in the elections to prevent the criminalization of politics.

Government Scams in the Recent Years

The objectives of a democracy, like India, are to achieved by the mutual
b
cooperation of politicians and Police. This cooperation in a right manner would
<br>

New Challenges
370 Indian Constitutional LW :The
no individual is at distr0SS and grief. However
result into an ideal statc wherg This cooperation between police and politi.
human grecd recogniseswrong nothig. thoir
reasons. The politicians in order to rnaintain staturee
cians is famous for all power. politicians reach that
Once the
position need money and muscle and as a result they fail to perform their
to
they tend to dictate terms support
police
advancement in their career. Tho
for SImooth
duties. Police necd political stronger and stronger and ultirnately they find
it

bond between them becomes ofher. Over the last decades, varioUS politirat
difficult to survive without cach force and prevented thern frorm enforcinr
to politicize the police country
parties have tried effectiveness in many parts of the
has lost its
law. The police force an trernd in India. Some of the hir
to show increasing
political-economiC systen of our
Corruption continues count
scandals that hav shaken the entire
are as follows:
were rneant for Kargí! war widoe
1. Adarsh scam, the buildings which
divided up between politicians and bureaucrats at very low
have been Ashok Chavan had plaver
prices. The former chief minister of Maharastra
a
major role in the scam.
2. 2G spectrum case, A. Raja, the former telecom
minister is the prime
come first serve' policy
accused. He did not follow the Government's 'first
in its real sense and went out of the
way to favour, certain telecom
crore to the Government.
companies. He caused a loss of 1.76 lakh
3. Indian Coal Allocation case, this
scam is in regards to Indian
h
Government's allocation of nation's coal deposit to PSU's and private
t companies. The scam happened under Manmohan Singh government
and came out in 2012. The basic premise of this scam was that wrongful
allocation of Coal deposits by Government without resorting to competitive
bidding, which would have made huge amounts to the Govern nent (to
tune of 1.86 Lakh crore). However, the coal deposits were allocated
arbitrarily.
4. Wakf Board Land case In March of 2012, Anwar Maniapddy, the
chairman of Karnataka State Minorities Commission submitted a
e
Sensational report which alleged 27,000 acres of land, which was controlled
by Karnataka Wakf Board had been allocated illegally or misappropriated.
The land managed by Wakf board, a Muslim charitable trust, is typically
donated to under-privileged and, poor, people of Muslim community.
However, the report alleged that nearly 50 percent of the land owned by
Wakf board was misappropriated by Politicians and Board members in
conjunction with real estate mafia at fraction of actual land cost. The
investigations for this are currently ongoing.
5. Commonwealth Games Case 2010, It is estimated that out of Rs. 70000
crore spent on the Games, only half the said amount was spent on
Indian sportspersons. The Central Vigilance Commission, involved in
probing the alleged corruplion in various Commonwealth Games-related
projects, has found discrepancies in tenders like payment to non
iT existent parties, will-ful delays in execution of contracts, over-inflatea
price and bungling in purchase of equipment through tendering -and
misappropriation of funds.
<br>

371
h
Democratic Processe ii
5. Telgi Case in 2002, Abdul Karim Telai had mastered the art of forgery
to banks and other
Pining duplicate stamp papers and sold them
Institutions. The tentacles of the fake stamp and stamp paper casecrore nad
was at a whooping Rs. 20000
penerated 12 states and a estimated
plus. The Telgi clearly had lot of support from government departments
stampS.
that were responsible for the production and sale of high security
I. Satyam Scam in 2009 Satyam is thecrore. biggest fraud in the corporate
history to the tune of Rs. 14000 The company's disgraced
everyone in the dark for a decade
former chairman Ramalinga Raju kept years and inflating revenues
by fudging the books of accounts for several
company was taken over by the
and profit figures of Satyam. Finally, the well to revive the brand
Tech Mahindra which has done wonderfully
Satyam.
8
Bofors Scam in 1980s & 90s
The Bofors scandal is known
as the hallmark of Indian corruption.
2.
in India in the
The Bofors scam was a major corruption scandal several others
1980s; when the then PM Rajiv Gandhi and were
including a powerful NRI family named the Hindujas, winning a bid
accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB for
to supply India's 155 mm field howitzer.
a starliing report about
b. The Swedish State Radio had broadcast
an undercover operation carried out by Bofors, Sweden's biggest
arms manufacturer, whereby $16 milion were allegedly paid to
members of PM Rajiv Gandhi's Congress.
Most of all, the Bofors scam had strong cmotional appeal
a
C.
because it was a scam related to the defence services and
India's security interests.
9. The Fodder Scam-1990s "Chara Ghotala" as it is popularly known in
crore, an
the vernacular language is a coruption scandal worth Rs.900
unholy nexus was traced involved in fabrication of "vast herds of fictitious
livestock" for which fodder, medicine and animal husbandry equipment
was supposedly procured.
-
10. The Hawala Scandal 1990-91 This scam involved payments allegedly
received by country's leading politicians through Hawala brokers. Thus,
for the first time in ndian politics, it gave a feeling of open loot all around
the public, involving allthe major political players being accused of having
accepted bribes and also alleged connections about payments being
channe!led to Hizbul Mujahedeen militants in Kashmir.
It is evident that the politicians are doing nothing but serving themselves.
The politicians ignore the rule of law to pursue their own agenda. The politicians,
police and criminal nexus in India has resulted in loss of principies of the rule of
law. Rule of law which is the primary pillar of a democracy is being shaken by
such a nexus. The politicians who are elected are expected to work for those in
grief and not for their own greed, but this is what is not observed. Promises that
are made during elections are never kept. The poor and the needy get swayed
<br>

New Challcnges
372 Indian Constitutional Law: Thc
most powerful weapon of voting
away by such promises, and thereby lose their overpowers the problems of the
politicians
Once power is achieved, grecd of the
citizens.

Information Act And Criminalization Of Politics

Right to
Court held that the right to information -
the -right to know antecedents
The right
was a fundarmental
or assets of candidates
including the criminal past, that the information was fundamo
the Constitution and
under Article 19(1) (a) of of May 2, 2002, it directed the
democracy. In its Judgement
tal for survival of information on affidavit from each candidato
Election Commission to call for
or Legislature as a necessary part of the
seeking election to Parliament the State been convicted / acauitted
nomination papers on: Whether the candidate- has was
of any criminal offence in the past if any, whether the candidatc
discharged
in any pending case of any offence punishable with imprisonment for
accused was framed or cognisance taken by the
two years or more, and in which charge movable.
court of law. If so, requires the details thereof; the assets (immovable,
spouse and that of the depen
bank balance, etc.) of a candidate and of his/her
dents; liabilities, if any, particularly of
any overdue of any public financial instit
tion or Government dues; educational qualifications of the
candidate.
The Right to Information Act 2005 is historical Act that makes a
a Government
officials liable for punishment if they fail to respond to people within stipulated
legal
timeframe. Many public servants are leading luxurious lifestyles, beyond the
sources of their income. Many public servants are filing false affidavits about their
Com
annual income, wealth details to Election Commission of India Vigilance prop
/

mission/ other authorities, as the case may be. These authorities are not
erly verifying these affidavits. Many scams, scandals are coming to light day
in

& day out, politicians are accusing each other of involvement in Scams. W'ereas,
the said authorities are keeping mum, as if those affidavits filed by tainted public
servants are true. The tainted public servants are not even providing full, right
information to public as per RTI Act, lest the truth come out.
This seen is very normal now a day that some public servants, caught red
handed during luxurious spending, they easily say that it is at their political party's
expense or their well wisher's expense. However no entries are found in the
account books of said parties to that respect.
The law forbids public servants from accepting gits, hospitality, favours beyond
,
the value of rupees one hundred (Rs. 100 ) as it may be a form of bribe. But
one may ask allthese under RTI. Right to Know is an inherent attribute of every
peizon. Right to know differs only in one sense with right to information. Right
to kncw is a natural right and right to information is a provision given by govern
ment to its cople. Natural rights do not have any value egally until they are
legally considercd. Hence right to know as such implied in the freedom of speech
and expression which is a legally considered right must have to be given a
special value. Right to information as such vill bring transparency of the govern
ment activities and allow the people to find remedies for those things by which
they suffered.
<br>

Democrntic Process 373

Recent Development in Criminalisation Of Politics

Persons can't fight from Jail:
porsons
The apex court of India in a judgmont on July to11, 2013 doclarod that
in jail or police custody cannot contost olections legislative bodios. The order
was paSsed by the Supremo Court along witth landmark vordict that MPs,
the wore
MLAS and MLCs would be disqualitied the day they convictod. This doublo
go a long way
whammy against the criminals in Indian logislaturos is oxpeocted to
in cleaning up politics.
a in the electoral law that
The Supreme Court IN 2013 struck down provision on
protects the convicted law-maker from disqualification the ground of pendency
court also mado it clear that MPs,
of appeal in the higher courts. Tho highest
MLAS and MLCs will stand disqualified on the date of conviction.
power and money
Behind the criminalisation of politics there are musclo
power and these two powers are primarily responsible for all sorts of criminal
activities of politicians.
The purpose of the Supreme Court is to free Indian politics fromcrimes and
pretty long time
the recent judgment aims at this. The Election Cornmission for
of People's Act. After the
has been demanding the amendment of Representation will be
judgment of the Supreme Court the stand of the Election Commission
strengthened.

Conclusion
India, bcing the largest democracy in the world, has to take certain stringent
steps to break such nexus between the politicians, police and [Link] The
main steps are to be taken up by the citizens who have been given will the
to choose their own govemment. A
proper choice exercised by them lead to
a better future, The politicians should be made to understand that it is the law
that rules them and not vice-versa. The "rule of law" has to be always upheld
whatever may be the circumstances.
Thus, from the instances mentioned above it can be clearly seen that there
is a visible neXus between the politicians, police and criminals which needs to be
broken at the earliest so as to protect the objective of Rule of Law.
Comuption severely undermines national, social and economic development.
Indeed, corruption often leads to national collapse. Corruption has led to bad
roads and decaying infrastructure, inadequate medical services, poor educational
standards and disappearance of foreign aid and foreign loans. In order to uphold
the rule of law the roots of corruption have to be eradicated. This can be done
by making the system more transparent.
Transparency can be achieved by making people aware of the decisions
taken by the politicians and asking them to play a role in such decision-making
process. This would make the politicians more accountable and the fear of law
can be imbibed in them. Certain amendments are needed such as prescribing
minimum educational qualifications for anyone to be eligible as a politician thereby
reducing influx of politicians with criminal background like Shibu Shoren, into the
system and hence saving the political system from the shadow of crime.
The rule of law can be protected by increasing the powers of the judiciary.
The judiciary should be given more powers to scrutinize the acts of the politi
cians. They should be made more observant towards the political systemmore and
should be treated at par with the parliamentarians. Making the judiciary
<br>

Constitutional Law:The Ncw Challengcs

374 Indian
among the wrong-doer
will increase the fear of law
powerful and responsible
twice before acting Contrary to law andtwisting the
politicians making them think
empowered to make Certain laws relating to the
same. The judiciary may be may some sense defeat the principles be of
welfare of the people. These
steps in
people is supreme law. Agencies like CBI should
democracy but welfare of
politicians for their proper and effective function
made free from the clutches of
They
ing.
be made more accountable towards the general public. kent
Police should be
towards the society and shouldfearlessly
be made aware of their duties
should so that they can work freely and
independent of politicians' influence to contesting the
prevent crimninals fromany
Stricter laws need to be implemented must barred from Contesting election for
election, And once convicted he be black.
next 10 years or so. Plus parties with more no. of criminals must be
the
listed and disciplinary action
must be taken.
As mediareports seem to indicate, the misuse
of monetary incentives to buy
sharply since last elections and continues to be a source
Votes has increased
of threat to real democracy.

REFERENCES
[Link], LECTURES ON ADMINISTRATIVE LAW, 16-17(3rd ed.2003)
[Link] REDDY, DIMENSIONS OF CRIME AND CORRUPTION IN INDIA
84(1ed.2005).
Supriya Bharadwaj, Ruchika Girhotra Case: Molestation of Minor, Abuse of power,
Times Of India, December 23, 2009
Indira Jaising, Slamming The Doors Of Justice on Women, Indian Express, January
20, 1999
Rajshri Mehta, Adarsh Society Scam: Deshmukh, Shinde, Rane are all in it too, DNA,
October 31, 2010
Rajesh Ahuja, ED To Grill Radia, Hindustan Times, November 24, 2010
MATHUR KRISHNA MOHAN, POLICE LAW AND INTERNAL SECURITY 119
120(1ed.1994).
Emily WNax, With Indian Politics The bad
Gets Worse, WNashington Times, July 24,
2008
srideep@[Link]
nidhisorni15@[Link]
Bartoi Curt R. (2001).
Criminal behavior - A
Psychosocial Approach, fifth edition,
REFORM OF THE ELECTORAL LAWS Prentice Hall lnc.
May 1999), Law Commission (Report No. 170)[1999] INLC 170 (1
of IndiaReports.
Representation of the People's Act, 1951
National Election Watch, Lok
Sabha Analysis, http:/[Link]/files/new!
pdfs/Lok%20Sabha%20high%20level%20analysis.
pdf
National Election Watch, -
Post Election Analysis, http:/[Link]/economy/
general/post_election.pdfn i
p M
Bakshi (2009).The Constitution of
India, Universal LawPublications.
http:/[Link]
<br>

aherl }
Democratic Process12sn' tottsati 375

10.2 ELECTION

SYNOPSIS
e
Meaning9oot epnotnd
Historical Background to
Characteristics Of Elections
e
Suffrages
Nomination
Electoral Systemeo0
Scheduling
Election campaigns
Indian Electoral System
Election Commission
Electoral process
Important Considerations Regarding Elections
Ink
-B1 cnoito:O Indelible 3
Government expenditure
Electronic voting machines ho
sit i3yiuerOVoter verifiable paper audit trail system
NOTA
Elections: Problems and DifficultiesiiC
Meaning
formal decision making process by which a population chooses an indi
A

vidualto hold a public office is called as election. Since the 17 century elections
have been the usual operative mechanism for a representative democracy. This
mechanism to fill offices has been used by the legislative, executive, judiciary,
private organization, clubs, corporations, etc.
p
It is used as a tool for selecting representatives in modern representative
democracies Electoral reform describes the process of introducing fair electoral
systems where they are not in place, or improving the fairness or effectiveness
of existing
[Link] vissueu ia vihaa
ioliPsephology is the study of results and other statistics relating to elections
(especially with a view to predicting future results).To elect means "to choose or
make a decision". E) On Eiei D
isiOuO :0K3 tiKi
<br>

Challengcs
Indian Constitutional Law The New
:
376

Historical Background
to as early in history as ancient
History of elections can be traced back period to select rlers
Greece and ancient Rome, and throughout the Medieval
and the Pope.
such as the Holy Roman Emperor organization
Raja (chiefs) of Gana (a tribal
a
In Vedic period of India, the yarma
by the Gana. The raja belonged to the noble Kshatriva
was apparently elected
a son of the previous Raja. However
(warrior class), and was typically In the Chola Empire palo
the Gana members had the final say in his elections.
leaves were used for selecting the village committee members. The leavesith sh

candidate names writtenvoung on them, were put inside a mud pot. To select
boy was asked to take out as many leaves as the
committee members, as the Kudavolai system. Ancion#
number of positions available. This was known
Arabs also used election to choose their caliph in the early medieval period
The modern "election", which consists of public elections of government
officials, didn't emerge until the beginning of the 17th century when the idea
of representative government took hold in North America and Europe.

Characteristics of Elections
Suffrage
The question of who may vote is a central issue in elections. The electorate
does not generally include the entire population; for example, many countries
prohibit those judges mentally incompetent from voting, and all jurisdictions re
quire a minimum age for voting.
Suffrage is typically only for citizens of the country, though further limits may
be imposed. However, in the European Union, one can vote in municipal elec
tions if one lives in the municipality and is an EU citizen; the nationality of the
country of residence is not required.
Insome countries, voting is required by law; if an eligible voter does not cast
vote, he or she may be subject to punitive measures
a.

such as a fine.
Nomination
representative democracy requires a procedure to govern nomination for
A

political office.
Electoral systems
Electoral systems are the detailed constitutional arrangements
systems that convert the vote into a political decision. and voting
votes, for which various vote counting systems The first step is to tally the
systems then determine the result on the basis of and ballot types are used. Voting
categorized as either proportional or majoritarian.
the tally. Most systems can be
While openness and accountability are usually considered cornerstones a
of
democratic system, the act of casting a vote and the content of a voter's ballot
are usually an important exception. The secret ballot a
is relatively modern devel
opment, but it is now considered crucial in most free and fair elections, as it limits
the effectiveness of intimidation.
<br>

6t Democratic Proccss izst eesizs 377

Scheduling
are accountable to the
The nature of democracy is that elected officials
neople. and they must return to the
voters at prescribed intervals to seek
reason most demOcratic constitutions
their mandate to continue in ofice. For that This is called as sched
nrovide that elections are held at fixed regular intervals.
is a variety of schedules, for example presidents: the President of
ulina, There of
India is elected every five
years, the President of Russia and the President
every five years, President of the
Finland every six years, the President of France
years.
United States every four
Election campaigns
supporters attempt to influ
When elections are called, politicians and their in what are called
ence policy bycompeting directly for the votes of constituents organized or loosely
for a
campaign can be either formally
campaigns. Supporters
advertising. The most expensive elec
affiliated, and frequently utilize campaign on
tion campaign included US$7 billion
spent the United States presidential elec
billion spent on the Indian general elec
tion, 2012 and is followed by the US$5
tion, 2014.

Indian Electoral System

state and the two houses which
The Parliament of India comprises the head of a five-year term by
are the legislature. The President of India is elected for state legis
an electoral college consisting of members of federal legislature and
process of India.
latures. This is the election
The Lok Sabha is the House of the People. Currently there are 545 mem
years. These members are elected under the
bers elected for a term of 5 representatives of the people
plurality electoral system. Lok Sabha is composed of
suffrage. The maximum
chosen by direct election on the basis of the adult
the House envisaged by the Constitution is 552, which is made up by
strength of up to 20 members to
election of up to 500 members to represent the States, the Anglo
represent the Union Territories and not more than two members ofopinion, that
Indian Community to be nominated by the President, if, his/ her
in
Lok Sabha.
community is not adequately represented in the lower house,
The Rajya Sabha or the Councils of States has 245 members, 233 members
every two years. The members
elected for siX-year term, with one-third retiring
a

are indirectly elected, this being achieved by the votes of legislators in the state
are chosen under the sys
and union (federal) territories. The elected members vote.
temof proportional representation by means of the single transferable
The 12 nominated members are usually an eclectic mix of eminent artists
(including actors), scientists, jurists, sportspersons, businessmen and journalists
and common people.
Election Commission
EIn India it is an autonomous, constitutionally established federal authority
responsible for administering all the electoral processes in the Republic of India.
Under the supervision of the commission, free and fair elections have been held
<br>

Indian Constitutional Law The New Challcnges

:
378
in the Constitution
in India at reular intervals as per the principles enshrined
Commission has the power of superintendence, direction and con.
The Election
trol of all elections to the Parliament of India
and thestate legislatures and of
Vice-President of India
elections to the office of the President of India and the

Electoral process of dates by the

1, Electoral Process in India starts with the declarationelectoral rolls.
election commission and the publication of the 2e
2. The Indian Constitution sets the eligibility of an individual for voting
any person who is a citizen of India and above 18names. years of age. is the
It

responsibility of the eligible voters to enroll their

fromn the day the dates aro
3. The model code of conduct comes in force
announced.
4. The candidates are required to file the nomination papers following which
the candidate list is published after scrutiny.
5. No party is allowed to use the government resources for campaignina.
6. The campaigningends at 6 PM of the second last day before the polling
day.
7. The polling is held normally from 7 AM to 5 PM, whereas it might be
changed under special circumstances.
8. The Collector of each district is in charge of polling. Government employ
ees are employed as poll officers at the polling stations.
9. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMS) are being increasingly used instead
of ballot boxes to prevent election fraud via booth capturing, which is
heavily prevalent in certain parts of India.
10. An indelible ink is applied usually on the left index finger of the voter as
an indicator that the voter has cast his vote. This practice has been
followed since the 1962 general elections to prevent a bad vote.
0 11. Re-polling happens if the initial polling is unsuccessful due to reasons
such as adverse weather, violence etc.
12. The polled votes are counted to announce the winner.fFN2

Important Considerations Regarding Elections

Indelible Ink
One of the earliest achievements of CSIR (Council of Scientific 0:72
& Industrial
Research), was to counter the challenge of fraudulent voting
on formulating indelible ink was that research worK
initiated
Division, NPL (National Physical Laboratory) now
in 1950's by Chemical
called
Sectíon. The originators of this ink were Dr. M.L, Goel the his team Chemistry
Analytical
Dr. B.G. Mathur and Dr. V.D. and of scientists
Puri
The ink is photo-sensitive; it needs to be protected from exposure to
sun rays. Therefore, amber-coloured direct
plastic containers are used for storing tne
ink, which [Link] times was stored in brown-coloured glass
cation, the ink remains on the fingernail for at bottles. COn appli
least two days, to even up to a
month depending upon the person's body temperature and
the environment. The
<br>

Democratic Processt 379

on exposure to liaht
inkcontains silver nitrate, which on reaction with the nail and
not been altered since
nots darker. the basiC chemical frmula of this ink has
1952.
Government expenditure was Rs 17, a twenty-fold
The cost per voter in the 2014 general elections
incregse over the first election, held in 1952. The total expenditure for the 2014
Rs 3600 crores; the 1952 election cost Rs 104.5 rnillion
general election was
total.
Electronic voting machines
Electronic voting machines (EVM) are being used Indian
in general and state
elections and in total
olections to implement electronic voting in part from 1999 casting a vote and
in both
cince 2004 elections. The EVMs reduce the time system.
paper ballot
declaring the results compared to the old
Voter verifiable paper audit trail system
On 14 August 2013, the Government of India amended the elections rules
(VVPAT) system.
to permit the use the Voter-verified paper audit trail
NOTA
in India that would allow
"None of the above" is proposed voting option
a

to register an official
voters whosupport none of the candidates available to them Court of India
vote of "none of the above". On 27 September 2013, Supreme
Right to Negative Vote by
pronounced a judgement that citizen's of India inhave
EVMs and ballot papers. The
exercising None of the above (NOTA) option Civil Liberties, an
judgment was passed on a PIL filed by the People's Union for
NGO in 2009.
of "none of the above"
The Election Commission has implemented this optionstarting
voting option in EVM machines w.e.f. five states polls from November
2013. However it does not mean that if 'NOTA' gets highest votes then election
will be conducted again, rather even in that case, the candidate with the
highest
votes will be treated as elected candidate.

Elections: Problems And Difficulties

The elections must be "free and fair, but due to interference useof incumbent
government they are far from being free or fair. There is invariable of powers
of the executive (police, martial lav,, censorship, physical implementation
of the
election mechanism, etc.) to remain in power despite popular opinion in favour
of removal. All methods are used to ensure a win without maintain the rule of law.
Problems that prevent an election from being "free and fair" take various
foms:
1. Lack of open political debate or an informed electorate
or candidates due to
The electorate may be pooriy informed about issues press
lack of freedom of the press, lack of objectivity in the due to state or
corporate control, and/or lack of access to news and political media. Freedom or of
speech may be curtailed by the state, favouring certain viewpoints
state propaganda.
<br>

New Challcnges
380 Indian Constitutional Law: The

2. Unfair rules
ofopposition candidates from eligibility for office,
This can include exclusion are some of the wave
for electoral suCcess
and manipulating thresholds
can to favour a specific faction or candidt
structure of an election be changed
3. Interference with campaigns
in power may arrest or assassinate candidates, Suppress or even
Those headquarters, harass or beat cami
criminalize campaigning, close campaign
violence.
workers, or intimidate voters with
4. Tampering with the election
mechanism
how to vote, violation
This can include confusingor misleading voters about
ballot stuffing, booth capturing, tampering with voting ma.
of the secret ballot,
voter registra
chines, destruction of legitimately cast ballots, voter suppression,
tion fraud, failure to validate voter residency, fraudulent tabulation of
results, and
use of physical force or verbal intimation at polling places.
Equally this list is only some of the ways in which it
can occur, other ex.
amples may include persuading candidates into not standing against them. Some
examples include: blackmailing, bribery, intimidation or physical violence.
Elec

tions are very hard.

REFERENCES
Basu, Durga D. (2009). "11". Introduction to the Constitution of India. Nagpur, India:
LexisNexis Buttervworths Wadhwa Nagpur. p. 199. ISBN 9788180335599.
"Lok Sabha: Introduction" [Link]. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
Rajya Sabha Secretariat. "Council of States (Rajya Sabha)". The national portal of
India. Parliament of India. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
Shashi Tharoor (16 April 2009). "The recurring miracle of Indian democracy". New
Straits Times
"Number of registered voters in India". [Link]. Retrieved 23 Febru
ary 2014.
Indian General Election Expenditure, from ECI website accessed 14 May 2006. Lok
Sabha Secretariat. "Lok Sabha". Parliament of lndia. Retrieved 26-May 2012.
"Lok Sabha Election Facts: Candidate Seat Ratio
1996" [Link].
increased from 4 in 1952 to 25 in
"A Constitutional Body', Election Commission
of India.
"Election Expenditure per elector up by twenty times in
General Elections". PIB. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 2009 compared to first
12 March 2014.
R"EC Decides to use VVPAT System at Bye-Election in Nagaland" (Press release).
Press Information Bureau, 17 August 2013. Retrieved 18
August 2013. i ehh
"EVM-paper tral introduced in 8 of 543 constituencies".
ber 2014. dna. Retrieved 23 Novem
Press Trust of India (29 April 2014). "LS polls:
Voters to get 'automated-receipts' at
Gandhinagar", [Link]. Retrieved
23 November 2014.
Staff Reporter. "VVPAT
machine to be on demonstration for 10 days". The Hindu.
Retrieved 23 November 2014.
"VVPAT to be introduced in Jadavpur
constituency. [Link], Retrieved 23
November 2014.
<br>

DemocraticProcess iz3 i 381

10.3 ELECTION COMMISSION: STATUS

SYNOPSIS
Election Commission
India
Composition of Election Commission of
Commission
Condition of Service, appointment and Tenure of
ers
Functions and powers of Election Commissionio
t OLn Duties of the Commission
India
Independence of Election Commission of
State Election Commission ee S0
Role Of The Election Commission In India
The
And Fair Elections In A
Democracy
tne hsilo O, Importance of Free
C o Permanent election commission with CEC
as permanent

Election Commission: Constitutional Status

Constitutional Provisions
aO matters
Courts not to interfere in election
c2igso O Important points of consideration
ic
Summary And Conclusion

Election Commission
which is responsible for
Election Commission of India is a constitutional body
maintenance of the electoral procedure in the country. The Constitution of
the superintendence, direc
India has vested in the Election Commission of Indiathe
tion and control of the entire
process for conduct of elections to Parliament and
Legislature of every State and to the offices of President and Vice-President of
a permanent Constitutional Body. It was
India. Election Commission of India is on 25th January 1950.
established in accordance with the Constitution
control of elec
According to Article 324, "Superintendence, directin and
tions to be vested in an Election Commission".
of the preparation of the
1(1) The superintendence, direction and control all elections to Parliament and to
electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, to offices of President
the Legislature of every State and of elections the
and Vice President held under this Constitution shall be vested in a
otste Commission (referred to in this Constitution
as the Election Commission)
Commis
(2) The Election Commission shall consist of the Chief Electionany,
as the
sioner and such number of other Election Commissioners,
if

President may from time to time fix and the appointment of the Chief
<br>

: New Challenges
382 Indian Constitutional Law The
Commissioners shall, subiers
Election Commissioner and other Elcction by Parliarment, be mardo
to the provisions of any law made in thaf behalf
by the President so appointed the Chief Elo
Commissioner is
When any other Election
(3)
Commissioner shall act as the Chairman of the Election Cornrnieo e
tion
election to the House of the People and to
(4) Before each general the first general elacti
Legislative Assembly of each State, and before
to the Legislative Councit of
and thereafter before each biennial election may also appoint afar
each State having such Council, the President Commission
consultation with the Election Commission such Regional in
ers as he may consider necessary to assist the Election Commission
on the Commission by claueo
the performance of the functions conferred
(1)
conditione
(5) Subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, the
of service and tenure of office of the Election Commissioners and
the
Regional Commissioners shall be such as the President
may by rule
not be
determine; Provided that the Chief Election Commissioner shall
removed from his office except in like manner and on the like grounds
as a Judge of the Supreme Court and the conditions of service of the
Chief Election Commissioner shall not be varied to his disadvantage
after his appointment: Provided further that any other Election Commis
sioner or a Regional Commissioner shall not be removed from office
except on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner
(6) The President, or the Governor of a State, shall, when sO requested by
th Election Commission, make available to the Election Commission or
to a Regional Commissioner such staff as may be necessary for the
discharge of the functions conferred on the Election Commission by
clause (1)

Composition of Election Commission of lndia

The Constitution says in Article 324(2) that the Commission will be com
posed of a Chief Election Commissioner aided by other Election Commissioners
appointed by the President of India. Originally in 1950, the commission had only
a
Chief Election Commissioner. Two additional Commissioners were appointed
1o the commission for the first time on 16
October 1989, but they had a very shot
tenure--until 1 January 1990.
Originally the commission had only a Chief Election Commissioner. It cur
rently consists of Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
For the first time two additional Commissioners were appointed on 16th October
1989 but they had a very short tenure till 1st January 1990. Later, on 1st October
1993 two additional Election Commissioners were appointed.
The concept o
multi-member Commission has been in operation since then. with clecision making
power by majority vote. he Election Commissioner
T
Amendment Act, 1993 made
the Election Commission a multi-member body.
The Ciief Election Commissioner of India can be renoved from his office Dy
<br>

a3n:2 bgz Democrantic Proccssasss 383

Parliament with two-thirds majority in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the grounds
of proven misbehaviour or incapacity. Other Election Commissioners can be
removed by the President on the recommendation of the ChiefElection Commis
sioner.A Chief Election Commissioner has never been impeached in India
So. the Election Commission shall consist of Chief Election Commissioner
andsuch other Election Commissioners as the President may from time to time
fix. They are appointed by the President subject to the provisions of
any law
made by Parliament for the purpose. (Article 324 (2).
The President may also appoint after consultation with Election Commission
such Regional Commissioners as he may consider necessary to assist the Elec
tion Commission in its function. (Article 324 (4).
Mr. O.P. Rawat has been appointed as Election Commissioner of India in
the year 2015.
Condition of Service, appointment and Tenure of Com
missioners
Ts2The conditions of service and tenure of office of the election commissioners
may by rule deter
and regional commissioners shall be such as the President
The
mine. These rules, however, are subject to law made by the Parliament.
Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from the office just like the
re
aSupreme tio Court Judge.
moval of
The conditions of service of the Chief Election Commissioner cannot be varied
to his disadvantage after his appointment from office by the President. Other
election commissioners can be removed on recommendation of CEC. Therefore,
they are free and fearless in the perfomance of their duties.
to
The President or the Governor on the request of the EC make available
few staff
the EC such staff as necessary. Thus the EC commission shall have govern
of its own. It can demand necessary staff from the Center and the State
ments whenever required.
In S. S. Dhanoa v. Union of India AlR 1991 SC 1745 the SC held that
Election commissioners cannot be placed on a par with the Chief Election Com
Mr.
missioner in terms of power and authority. The court dismissed the petition of
S. S. Dhanoa challenging his removal from the post. It was held that the remnoval
of the two ECS wer 'not in the case of premature termination of service' but it
was
a case
of the abolition of the posts with termination of service as a consequence.
Hence, the termination nof service was not open to challenge on ground of
illegality. The court said that the protection available to CEC were not available
either to the EC and therefore their condition of service can be varied even to
their disadvantage.
Multi-Member Commission: The decision to make the Election Commission
a
multi-member one was made by the Government due to Some controversial
decisions taken by the CEC T.N. Seshan that had created serious conflict be
tween the Election Commission and the government in 1993.
v. Union of India (1995) 4 ScC
In a significant judgment in T.N. Seshan
611 a five judge constitution bench of the SC upheld the validity of the act
with that
equating the status, power and authority of two electioi commissioners
<br>

: Ncw Challcnges
384 Indian Constitutional Law The
T. N. Seshan. The validity of the act
was
Commissioner, Mr.
of the Chief Election on the ground that it was arbitrary, unconstitu
challenged by Mr. T.N. Seshan was done because the ruling party was
tional, and void. He also alleged that this
with him as he had insisted on strict compliance with model code of
unhappy to Curtail his poWwers. However. tha
so this act was an endeavour
Conduct and
held that the CEC does not enjoy a status
judges delivering the judgement
324 provides for multi-member body
superior to other ECs. The scheme of Article
ECs.
comprising the CEC and the
According to J. Ahmadi, "nobody
can be above the institution which he ic
institution; he can onlv exist
supposed to serve. He is merely the creature of theas mightier than the institution
if the institution exists and to project the individual
would be grave injustice."
The Indian President appoints Chief Election Commissicner
and Election
Commissioners, They have tenure of six years, or up to the
age of 65 years.
as
whichever is earlier. They enjoy the same status and receive salary and perks
Commis
available to Judges of the Supreme Court of India. The Chief Election
sioner can be removed from office only through impeachment by the Indian
Parliament.

Functions and powers of Election Commission

One of the most important features of the democratic polity is elections at
regular intervals. Holding periodic free and fair elections are essentials of demo
cratic system. It is a part of the basic structure of the Constitution.
The Election Commission is responsible for planning and executing awhole
range of complex operations that are required for conducting elections and is
regarded as the guardian of free and fair elections.
In every election, it issues a Model code of Conduct for political parties and
candidates to conduct elections in a free and fair manner. The Commission
issued the code for the first time in 1971 (5th Election) and revised it from time
to time. It lay down guidelines for conduct of political parties and candidates
during elections. However, there are instances of violation of code by the political
parties and complaints are received for misuse of official machinery by the can
didates. The need for such code is in the interest of free and fair elections.
However, the code does not have any specific statutory basis. It has only
persuasiveeffect. It contains what, known as "rules of electoral morality". But this
lack of statutory backing does not prevent the Commission from enforcing it.
To get rid of the growing influences and vulgar show of money during elec
tions the Election Commission has made many suggestions in this regard.
s (1)
The Election Commission has fixed the legal limits on the amnount of
money which a candidate can spend during election campaigns. These
limits have been revised from time to time.
(2) The Election Commission by appointing observers keeps an eye on
the
individual account of election expenditure.
(3) The contestants are also required to give details of expenditure within 30
days of declaration of results.
<br>

l Democratic Processatb 385

(4) The campaign period was reduced by the Election Commission from 21
to 14 days for Lok Sabha and Assembly elections to trim down election
expenditure.
(5) Moreover, Election Commission takes details of the candidate's assets
on affidavit at the time of submitting nomination paper.
The Commission also functions as a quasi-judiciary body in case of electoral
disputes and other matters involving the conduct of elections.

Duties Of The Commission

The Duties of the Commission are:
(a) to superintend, direct and control the preparation of electoral rolls;
(b) to conduct elections/bye-elections for Parliament, State Assemblies, and
the offices of the President and Vice- President:
(c) to receive election petitions challenging the validity of elections and ap
point tribunals to enquire into them;
(d) to examine the returns of election expenses filed by the candidates; and
(e) to entertain and decide the applications for removal of such disqualifica
tions.

Independence of Election Commission of India

Independence of the Election Commission and its insulation from executive
Con
interference is ensured by specific provision under Article 324(5) of the
a

stitution that the Chief Election Commissioner shall not be removed from his
office except in like mnanner and on like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme
Court and conditions of his service shall not be varied to his disadvantage after
his appointment. The other Election Commissioners cannot be removed from
office except on recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.

State Election Commission

to the
The power of superintendence, direction and control of all elections
local government bodies vest with the State Election Commissions as envisaged
in Article 243K of the Constitution of India. The Constitutional (73rd Amendment)
Act, passed in 1992 was meant to provide constitutional sanction
to establish
or national level"
"democracy at the grassroots level as it is at the state level
powers pertaining to
The State Election Commissioner has several unique
Delimi
the elections to Local Bodies, which include the following. SEC chairs the
full
tation Commission which delimits local government constituencies. He hasover
powers to conduct local government elections including disciplinary pOwers
constituencies.
Saft wh0 are on election duty and assigns reserved posts and mem
accounts,
he SEC can disqualify candidates who do not submit election convene the
Ders tound guilty of defection and elected representetive who do not
Gram Sabha.
<br>

: New Challenges
386 Indian Constitutional Law Thc

The Role of Election Commission

n India
Fair Elections In A Demnocracy
a. Importance of Free and
body of the
power is in the handsS of the collective
democracy, sovereign
a shall
In
alone decide who their representatives shall be, and how theyas
people, who are a must in any democracy, this
govern over them. Free and fair elections representatives.
people can chose their
is the only means by which the
is that everyone should enjoy equal
The notion of free and fair elections
political rights. Inequalities
may exist in sOciety and in the economy, but politicallyis
representatives
everyone should be equally placed in so far as choosing theirfranchise, meaning
concerned. This has led to the
emergence of universal adult
allthose who are adults will be entitled
to vote. Thereby, a number of undem0
requirements intended to limit the electorate strength stand done away
cratic qualifications, etc. The principle of
with, such as holding property, educational up the concept of
one man, one vote, and one value is what can best Sum
universal adult franchise.
to be free and fair.
The process of elections, so as to be truly meaningful has
an independent and iimpartial
For this purpose, it is necessary to ensure there is
body to oversee the prOcess of elections. pro
In India, the Constituent Assembly chose to enact specific constitutional
of
visions with respect to elections, in contrast to the usual practice to enact
other constitutions that simply confer authority to the national legisiature a
laws in this respect. The Drafting Committee on Fundamental Rights prepared
any
report to the..effect that the independence of elections and avcidance of
executive interference should be a fundamental right. It was decided that there to
has to be an independent body called the "Election Commission" that has be
free from all kinds of executive interference. Allthis indicates the high degree of
importance placed upon free and fair elections by the Constituent Assembly.
Permanent election commission with CEC as perma
b.
nent incumbent
The constitution provided that there will be a permanent body called the
Election Commission consisting of the CEC as its permanent incumbent. At the
same time, the President could add to that machinery by appointing other mem
bers of the Com nission, thereby ensuring that the additional work burden at the
time of elections could be successfully handled.
In the Constituent Assembly, Prof. Shibban Lal Saksena desired that the
CEC and the ECs should be removed by the same process -
on the same
grounds and in the same manner as a judge of the Supreme Court. Also, he
3ontended that there should be an express provision to the effect that the service
conditions of the ECs shall not be altered to their disadvantage after their ap
pointment, as had been provided to the CEC. For some reason, this amendment
was not accepted. On a plain reading of the relevant constitutional provisions, it
would have appeared that there is a clear distinction between the CEC and the
ECs.
<br>

3t }
Democratic Proccssssth 387

In so far as the terms and conditions of service [Link] ECs are concerned,
the President was given full authority to docide upon thesame by framing rules.
The relevant constitutional provisions simply laid down the manner of removal of
the CEC. This provision was found necessary to ensure the independent func
tioning of the Commission, by insulating it from executive control.
Clearly, the aim of having an independent and impartial clection machinery
would have been defeated had the executive been in a position to simply remove
the CEC.
Therefore, it may be inferred that there is as such no lack of constitutional
protectionto the ECs. The constitutional protection enjoyed by the CEC may not
be expressly provided to the ECs, but the manner of removal of both the CEC
and the ECs does not appear to give scope for any mala fide action that may
affect the independence of the Commission.
In NP Punnuswami v. Returning Officer, Namakkal Constituency the SC
laid down the requisites of an election machinery to include:
There should be a set of rules and laws making provisions to all matters
in relation to elections. It should be decided as to how these rules are
to be made.
There should be an executive charged with the duty of securing the due
conduct of elections.
There should be a judicial tribunal to decide all disputes arising in con
nection with elections.
Part XV of the Constitution deals with elections. The second requirement is
satisfied by Article 324, while Articles 327 and 328 deal with the first. Article
329 deals with the third one.

Election Commission: Constitutional Status

a. Constitutional Provisions
According to Article 324 (1), the superintendence, direction and control of
elections is in the hands of the Election Commission, which is to conduct all
elections to the offices of the President, Vice-President, and the Parliament and
state legislatures.
The commission enjoys the status of an independent constitutional body.
The entire process of conducting elections (including preparation of electoral
rolls) is done by the Commission. This provision being fairly widely worded en
ables the Commission to exercise its authority in relation to all those issues in
connection with elections.
1C11 According to Article 324 (2) the President may appoint ECs in consultation
with the CEC. With respect to their appointment, it should be noted their appoint
ment is not mandatory. It shall be done keeping in mind the requirements of the
Commission fromtime to time. For this reason, their number is not fixed. They
Sare thus intended to assist the CEC in discharging his functions. An increased
work burden in itself will not justify their appointment. The duties to be performed
<br>

New Challengcs
38S Indian Constitutional LIW :The

nature so as to warrant their appointment. Their appointmo

have to be of such the judiciary may call into question. The
to on justifiable grounds, which
has be to provisions of any law passed hy
appointment of ECs shall be subject theappointed upon the recommendatione
Parliament in this respect. They shall be an analo
but this does not place himm at a higher position. Drawing
of the CEC,
High Courts, the judges are appointed
h

in the SDreme Court, and even in the

But this does not mean
b

consultation with the Chief Justice.

the President in as Compared to the judges. His decisione
at a higher position
tO decide a case as
Chief Justice is
not binding upon the other judges, they being free
please in accordance with the relevant legal principles.
Commission, the Presidont
According to Article 324 (3) in a multi-member
appointment of ECs ensures tho
shall act as the Chairman of the body. The to
checks and balances in force check the CEC, to ensure thas
is a system
of
is therefore a must
he does not exceed his jurisdiction. Their independence
care to ensure
The relevant constitutional provisions have taken adequate
the independence of this body from all kinds of
executive influences.
same
According to Article 324 (5), the CEC can be dismissed only in the
manner as a judge of the Supreme Court. Further, his conditions of service
cannot be changed to his disadvantage after his appointment. The same consti
tutional protections have not been expressly extended to the ECs,
as they can
may
be removed only on the recommendations of the CEC. The Commission
require staff to help it in discharging its function of conducting elections.
According to Article 324 (6), the President or the Governor of a state shal
ensure allnecessary staff is provided to it for this purpose. However, there is a
distinction between ordinary staff and ECs, the latter may be appointed only when
the work burden of the Commission is such that it cannot be discharged by using
ordinary staff.
The conduct of free and fair elections is what is intended to be achieved.
Therefore, if the conditions in a state are conducive due to breakdown of law and
order, or due to other factors that in the opinion of the appropriate authorities
shall prevent the people from choosing their candidates in a fair manner, the
Commission may postpone elections, but only for a reasonable period of time.
In Yadav Reddy v. Election Commission of India, a Division Bench of the
Supreme Court refused to interfere with the Election Commission's order for
postponing elections for the Bihar Assembly for a definite period of time, due to
the conditions prevailing in Bihar at that point of time.
In Re: Presidential Reference 2002 under Article 143 regarding the relation
between Article 174 and Article 324 i.e. Election Commission 's exclusive power
to hold elections is not absolute but subject to Judicial Review. The court held
that the contention of the Gujarat government that Article 174 of the Constitution
mandates that not more than six months shall lapse between two sitting of an
elected assembly and that Article 174 (1) does not apply to a "dissolved Assem
bly" but does apply to a live assembly. The court held that holding of elections
with the exclusive domain fo the Election Commission under Article 324 of the
Constitution. It vwas held that "Article 174 (1) andArticle 324 operate on different
fields and neither 174 (1) is subject to Article 324 and vice versa."
<br>

nietDenocratic Processtsats 389

b. Courts not to interfere in election matters

According to Article 329, the validity of law relating to the deliritation of
constituencies or the allotment of seats to such constituencies shall not be called
in question in any court. Article 329 (b) provides that elections can only be called
in questionby an election petition presented to such authority and in such rman
ner as may be laid down by law made by the appropriate legislation.
In Punnuswami v. Returning Officer Namakal AIR 1962 SC 64 the normí
nation paper for State Assembly was rejected by a Returning officer. He moved
court under article 226 to quash the order of the Returning officer. The HC
dismissed the petition on the ground that the court had no jurisdiction to interfere
with the order of the Returning officer. An appeal was filed in the SC by the
petitioner. The SC held that the word "election" in Article 329 connotes that the
entire proccdure to be gone through to return the candidate to the legislature and
bars the jurisdiction of the HC under article 226 as wel. Acceptance or rejection
of nomination paper is included in the term "election" and so the matter can only
be challenged by election petition before the HC after the election is over.
In Venkatachalam v. A swamickan AIR 1999 SC 172 the SC held that
article 329 (b) does not come into playwhen a case falls under Article 191 and
193 which deal with disqualification of membership and penalty for sitting and
voting when disqualified and the whole of election process is over. In such a case
the HC can interfere and declare that he was not entitled to sit in the State
Assembly.
But the power of HC under 226 and SC under 136 cannot be restricted. The
19th amendment 1966 abolished the jurisdict. n of Election Tribunals over elec
tion disputes. This power is vested in the HC so as to expedite decision in such
cases.
c. Important points of consideration
Election Commission of India is an important body in the World's Largest
Democracy
Election Commission of India is a permanent Constitutional Body.
Article 324 of the Constitution establishes the Election Commission of
India.
Election Commission was established on 25th January 1950.
It supervises the conduct of elections to Parliament and Legislature of
every State and elections to the offices of President and Vice-President
iof India.
two Election
It consists of Chief Election Commissioner and
were no
Commis
sioners. Previously, there Election Commissioners.

Summary and conclusion

sum up, the Election commission is a constitutional body responsible for
TO
carrying out the election process. It is a free and independent body so as to
<br>

: New Challenges
390 Indian Constitutional Law The
of any democracy
ensure free and fair elections which is a essential element
The important points
are summarized below:
Appointment of Election Commissioners
Commissioner and Election
The President appoints Chief Election
Commissioners.
They have tenure of six years,
or up to the age ot 65 years, which.
ever is earlier.
are eguiva.
The status, salary and perks of election coriimissioners
of India.
lent to Judges of the Supreme Court
can be removed from office onlv
The Chief Election Commissioner
through impeachment by Parliament.
in consultation
Other members can be removed by the President
with the Chief Election Commissioner
in
The President may appoint Regional Election Commissioners or
consultation with the CEC before elections to the Parliament
Assemblies. The regional election commissioners resign after the
elections
The Chief Election Commissioner cannot hold any office of profit
after retirement.
The Chief Election Commissioner cannot be reappointed to the post
Powers of the Election Commission
The EC enjoys complete autonomy and is insulated from any
interference from the Executive
It also functions as a quasi-judiciary body regarding matters
related to elections and electoral disputes
Its recommendations are binding on the President of India
However, its decisions are subject to judicial review by High
Courts and the Supreme Court acting on electoral petitions
During the election process, the entire Central and state
government machinery (including paramilitary and police
tesalse forces) is deemed to be on deputation to the Commission
The Commission takes effective control of government per
Sonnel, movable and immovable property for successful
Conduct of elections
Functions of the Election Commission
Demarcation of constituencies
Preparation of electoral rolls
Issue notification of election dates and schedules
h

Establish and enforce code of conduct

<br>

Democratic Processtt) tisthsss) 391

3sllnt)

Scrutiny of nomination
papers of candidatesA
Scrutiny of election expenses
to political parties
Allot symbols and accord recognition
regarding disquali
Render advice to the President and Governors
fication of MPs and MLAS
party campaigns
Allot schedules for broadcast and telecast of
imposed by
Grant exemptions to persons from disqualifications
judicial decisions

REFERENCES
Constitutional Law by J.N. Pandey
"A Constitutional Body". Election Commission of India.
"A Constitutional Body". Election Commission of India.
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
[Link] com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/[Link]
"India devises flawless ballot mechanism".
"VVPAT used or the first time in Noksen bypolls"
[Link] com/news/national/electior. commission-okays-nota-option/
[Link]
htp://timesofindia. [Link]/india/NOTA-to-be-provided-in-general-elections/
articleshow/[Link]
"Now, 'NOTA' hes an electoral symbol too". dna. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 18
September 2015.
Jain, Bharti (18 September 2015). "None of the Above' option on EVMS to carry its
own symbol from Bihar polls".The Times of India. Retrievec: 18 September 2015.
"Contesting the Bihar Polls? Dummy Candidates Beware"
"Now, photos of candidates on EVMs to weed out 'dummies".
"Polls near, but no data of voters with disabilities". Times of India. 27 January 2014
"97?7????? ?? 2?? ????? 7??? ????? ????". Punjab Kesari. 26 January 2014.
A
Critical Study Of The Position Of The Chief Election Commissioner In The Light Of
Cases Such As Ss Dhanoa V. Union Of India And Tn Seshan V. Union Of India
Author :Mr. Ashwini Chawla E33 ii
<br>

New Challengcs
392 Indian Constitutional Law: The

10.4 COALITION GOVERNEMNT,

STABILITY, DURABILITY,
CORRUPT PRACTICE
Synopsis
Introduction
Levels of formation of Coalition
Electoral-.
Parliamentary
Governmental-.
Based on tolerance of opposition paty
Different Theories of Coalition Politics
Consociationalism
Proportional Representation
Grand coalition
Popular front
Indian Scenario
Advantages of Coalition
Disadvantages of Coalition
Anti-defection Law: Antivirus
Conclusion

Introduction
A coalitiongovemment is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which
Several political parties cooperate, reducing the dominance of any one party within
that coalition. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its
Owncan achieve a majority in the parliament. A coalition government might also
be created in a time of national difficulty or crisis, for example during wartime,
or economic crisis, to give a govemment the high degree of perceived political
legitimacy, or collective identity it desires while also playing a role in diminishing
internal political strife.
When a general election does not produce a clear majority for asingle party.
parties either fom coalition cabinets, supported by a parliamentary majority.
or minority cabinets which may consist of one or more parties. Cabinets based
on a group of parties that commands a majority in pardiament tend to be more
stable and long-lived than minority cabinets. While the former are prone to inter
<br>

393
bsel Democratic ProcCSsss
nal struggles, they have less reason to fear votes of no Confidence. Majority
as
governments based on a sinale party are typically even more stable, as long
their majority can be maintained.
is elected
Coalition cabinets are common in countries whose parliament
by proportional representation, with several organized political parties
often rep
by the executive
resented. They are rarer in countries in which the cabinet is chosen
coalition
rather than by a lower house, such as in the United States (however,
cabinets are common in Brazil).
a govern
Advocates of proportional representation suggest that coalition
ment leads to more consensus-based politiics, as government Comprising
a dif

fering parties (often based on different ideologies) need to compromise

about
a government
governmental policy. Another stated advantage is that acoalition
better reflects the popular opinion of the electorate within country.
govern
Those who disapprove of coalition governments believe that such
ments have a tendency to be fractious and prone to disharmony, as their com
ponent parties hold differing beliefs and thus may not always agree on policy.
a on
Coalition governments have also been criticized for sustaining consensuS
more fruitful.
ISSues when disagreement and the consequent disCussion would be
To forge a consensus, the leaders of ruling coalition parties
can agree to silence
their disagreements on an issue to unify the coalition against the opposition.
an alliance to stifle
Powerful parties can also act in an oligocratic way to form
the growth of emerging parties.
A
single, more powerful party can shape the policies of the coalition dispro
portionately. Smaller or less powerful parties can be intimidated to not openly
disagree. In order to maintain the coalition, they would have to vote against their
own party's platform in the parliament. If they do not, the party has to leave the
government and loses executive p0,/er.
Opportnistic alliances should not be encouraged and not allowed to be
formed. More so, when two parties fight each other at the States level, but allied
together at the [Link] is nouning but simple opportunism be it to be in ofice
one way or the other. This is the worst kind of opportunism. If a party success
fully pushes for a policy stance,ther that party must also take the responsibility
for governance and be held accountable. By not being a part of the government,
and running a government by stealth is not democracy. However undemocratic
it might sound, must be stopped.
The classical paradigm of parliamentary democracy consists of an elected
representative parliament which is supreme, a cabinet collectively responsible to
parliament, a prime minister who is supreme within the cabinet and an organized
opposition within the Parliament. It was assumed that the, majority would form
a
government and the minority the opposition. Problem arose when no single
party could secure enough majorities to form a single party government, and in
suchsituaion the alternative was the multi-party system or coalition government.
Political scientists, along with counterparts in other social science disciplines,
have sought a number of theoretical approaches to describing, explaining, and
predicting coalitional behaviour. Coalitions arise in situations with at least three
<br>

394 Indian Constitutional Lar: The New Challenges

actors (individuals, groups, countries), wlherein no single actor can achieve
an

optima outcome on its own: rather, cOoperation with one or more otherermer actoe
is necessary. Coalition theories purport to shed light on why alliances
why they take the forms they do, how they endure, and why they collarpse
politioot
Much of coalition theory embraces the basic assurmptions of rational
behaviour. Faced with dilemmas about how to maximize gains through coopera
tion with one or more other parties, rational political actors will weigh preferen
con.
tially ordered alternative strategies and consistently pursue coalition options
nected with more preferred outcomes.

Levels of formation of Coalition

Coalition is an alliance of parties formed for the purpose of contesting elections
A

jointly and/or forming a government and managing the governance by a process

of sharing process. So coalition implies co-operation between political parties and
this co-operation may take place may take place at one of three different levels
Electoral- In which contest election by coalition of two or more parties
to fight against a common enemy. This may range from electoral alliance
between parties at the National level to a mere understanding at the
constituency level.
b. Parliamentary- This coalition occurs when no single party gains a ma
jority and the party asked the party asked to form the Government refers
to rule as a minority Government on an agreement on an understanding
with another external support.
C. Governmental- The Governmental coalition is a 'power sharing' coalition
and it occurs when two or more parties, none of which is able to win a
majority of its own, combine to form a majority Government.
d. Based on tolerance of opposition Party - a minority government might
survive without suppot on a basis of toleration by the opposition parties
which do not vote it out of tactical reasons.
The composition of cabinet, nature of its working, the style of prime ministerl
chief minister, the character of electoral politics, the party system and the legis
lature are likely to be affected to a limited extent.
Coalitions may also be classified as- (i) policy pursuit models; (ii) office
seeking models based on objectives; (iii) minimum winning models (iv) large
sized models based on strategy.

Different Theories of Coalition Politics

For the benefit of this project only four types of theories have been studied.
a. S Consociationalism is a form of government involving guaranteed goup
representation, and is often suggested for managing conflict in deeply
ndivided societies. It is often viewed as synonymous with power-sharing
B
although it is technically only one forrn of power-sharing.
b.
Proportional Representation is more parties exist in nations with full
representatior, making it less likely for a single party to obtain the ma
<br>

Democratic Proccss 395

jority of votes and seats. Coalitions therefore occur, often between two
parties, Sometimes based on the cooperation of three or more parties.
or
On occasion, a minority government can be formed. The partyor parties
Comprising such a government hold half the number of seats less, but
are allowed to govern as iong as the majority agrees to their actions. The
particular system in place matters, as for instance in NewnoZealand, where
two especially large parties result, leaving them with other options
one of
than to form government together or to form government of
a

the two large parties with several small parties. The system found
in
most Scandinavian countries delivers many parties, but these include
a
three or four larger parties who can often create government with just
two parties.
a parliamentary
Grand coalition is coalition government in multi-party
a
C.
in a coalition. The
system where the two largest political parties unite
are two dominant
term iS most Commonly used in countries where there a
of smaller
parties with different ideological orientalions and number
parties large enough to secure representation the any
in parliament. The two
large parties will each try to secure enough seats
in election to have
a
a majority government alone, and if this fails each will attempt to form
orientation.
Coalition with smaller parties that have similar ideological
a

on major ideological
Because the two large parties will tend toor differ
even
ssues, and portray themselves as rivals, sometimes enemies,
agree on a common direction for
they will usually find it more difficult to
a combined government with each other than with smaller parties.
d. Popular front is broad coalition of different political can
a groupings, often
very broad, they sometimes
made up of leftists and centrists. Being as well as socialist and
include centrist and liberal (or "bourgeois") forces scope
are larger
communist ("working-class') groups. Popular fronts
in
than united fronts, which contain only working-class groups.

Indian Scenario
were the first two
The erstwhile States of Travancore-Cochin and PEPSU
1953-67,
states in the country to form Coalition Governments in 1952. During
were formed ir Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and
three more coalition governments
Kerala.
in 1967, eight states formed Non-Congress C alition Governments, and they
were: Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
rose to fourteen. Among
Bihar and Orissa. In 1997 the Coalition Governments
states Kerala has had the longest stable Coalition Government with West Bengal
standing second.
In Centre the Congress was replaced by Janata Party which was union of
came to power at the Centre
several parties in 1977. Again coalition government
in 1989 when V.P. Singh became prime minister with support both from the Right
and the Left. The Central also entered in the coalition phase in 1996, having
was coalition in ature. The United
formed the first United FrontGovernment
Front led by Deve Gowda also did not complete its full life as outside support was
<br>

396 Indian Constitutional Law

:
The New Challenges

1a
withdrawn by Congress. Then Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Government fell after
days of its regime due to vote of non-confidence
In 1990's India evidenced
a
lot of drama in the Central Government stage
Coalitions led by different paties would appear and fall. In 1998, Atal Bihai
AlADMK
Vajpayee's Government fell due to the ruckus created by Jayalalitha of
The coalition Government was ditched by her resuited in vote of non-confidence
held on 14th April 1999 where the Government fell short of
one vote with 269 and
270 votes against it. The NDA coalition was single government with the Same
a
prime minister and no intervening election or resignation. The stability of the NDA
coalition, 1999-2004, can be explained by a combination of the surplus majority
of its legislative coalition and territorial compatibility, indeed, mutual electoral
interdependence, of the constituent parties of this iegislative coalition due to
state-level electoral arithmetic, and the impossibility of constructing an altemative
coalition, given the lack of necessary numbers, of non-BJP and non-Congress
parties, taken together, and likewise, the impossibility of constructing a Con
gress-led coalition given the rivalry between the Congress and most regional and
Left parties at the state level and the fact that the Congress had only 114 seats.
The NDAgovermment was in effect a surplus majority coalition by my alternative
conceptualization. Earlier, in August 2000, when the Trinamul Congress left the
coalition, Prime Minister Vajpayee was unfazed as it did not threaten his legis
lative majority. Prime Minister Vajpayee was therefore, acting like the leader of
a secure surplus majority coalition whose partners and external supporters had
no other choice, and not like the leader of an insecure minority coalition. This
surplus majority character of the legislative coalition, combined with the territorial
compatibility and mutual electoral interdependence of its partners, most having
clearly demarcated state strongholds not overlapping with others, gave the NDA
a de facto surplus majority coalition status and an
extraordinary stability.

Advantages of Coalition
The disadvantage of single party majority leadership is that the Government
of the time being confident of its own strength allows
passage through Parliament and these are the laws it frames a
made functional with insufficient debate,
majority having already consented to the "leaders" views.
Coalition politics over
Comes this defect by having to reconcile
much wider public opinion, both in
terms of policy and geography, as reflected in
the covenants of different parties
coming together to provide the Government of the county.
Political Homogeneity: In a coalitional Government ministers are invariably
drawn from different political parties and hence they represent
contradictory viewpoints. In coalition politics different different and even
policy advocacy groups,
who are also part of the Government, bring to on
bear pressures
that finally impact on its policy initiatives and make wayforGovernment
If all those who are in charge good of the maximum.
of policy framework are indoctrinated by the same
leadership and by the same doctrine, the possibility of merger
of various thoughts
and possibilities becomes remote and this leads to possible
of various policy initiatives as may have been adverse implications
the case in first few decades Of
India's freedom. It appears that whereas coalitions mav be a
burden to the lead
<br>

Democratic Process 397

party in politicCs, those could be an asset in the area of economics and natiori
building, in general.
Increased Growth Level: Multi-party Governments may be seen as a poS
sible solution to vertically raise the level of growth, as has actually been observed
in Indiaover thepast few years. The weakening of single party Governments has
been accompanied by strengtheningof the economy, since there has been greater
inter-play of diversity of opinion, and greater reconciliation between divergent
policy orientations.
More Democratic: Coalition government is more democratic, ard hence
fairer, because it represents a much broader spectrum of a public opinion than
government by one party alone. In almost all coalitions, majority of citizens
voted for the parties which form the government and so their views and interests
are represented in political decision-making.
Better Governance: Coalitions provide good government because their a
de
cisions are made in the interests of a majority of the people. Because wide
consensus of opinion is involved, any policy will be debated thoroughly within the
more
government before it is implemented. Single-party government is much
likely to impose badly thought-out policies upon parliament and people, perhaps
in the UK).VWhen
for narrowly ideological reasons (for example, the poll tax
or over an
difficult or histcric decisions have to be taken, for example in wartime,
Union or NATO, the consent of
issue such as membership of the European
politicians representing
a
wide range of interests and opinion is important in
committing the country and its people to difficult but
necessary courses of ac
tion.

Disadvantages of Coalition
a) a coalition system the Head of State is always liable to find him playing
In
a more active role in Government formation.
a
b) It is possible to maintain collective responsibility within coalition cabinet
with Prime Minister as the keystone. But it is harder to achieve this ideal
in a coalition Governmnent that in a single party Government.
c) The Prime Minister of a coalition Government is neither able to select his
Colleagues nor exercise control over him.
d) coalition Government is likely to be less able to afford breaches of
A

party discipline than a single-party Government. The coalition partners

are bound by agreement, tacit or open, on policy and performance, and
dissenting votes by any backbencher may threaten the Government's
majority as well as the very basis of coalition.
e) The bargaining power-of the political parties is function of the distribu
a

tion of parliamentary seats, and the distribution of the parties' policy

preferences.
f) The jumbo sized coalition only results in arbitrary decisions of the head
of the state. He is always under pressure by those members who are key
role in the formation of coalition.
9)
The jumbo sized Kalyan Singh coalition Government in Uttar Pradesh is
<br>

New Challenges
398 Indinn Constitutional Lay: The
94 ministers. Big cabinets as
a good Cxample of big cabinets which had causes more
to accommodale all the allies of coalition. This
formed only
money of the taxpayers.
of a
coalition gOvornment have to depend on each
h) Sinilarly, members
to maintain the coalition and, thuS, further their individual interocte
other a party with the highest number of MPs necde
In acoalition government,
of the co8
to depcnd on the allics with much lesser MPs for the sake
lition.
The biggest disadvantage of a coalition
government is that the end procduct
depicted is very unstable and vulnerable
as the Core element of the coalition hae
to keep up with all the promises made to its partners and do the
impossible.
or her. By doing so the
make everyone happy with the platter offered to him programs. A
government has to sacrifice on various key policies and important
take
succession of undisciplined activities, horse-trading events and defection narrow
place which lowers the public morality, all just to serve to each party's
political interests.
Coalitions provide bad government because they are unable to take lon.
a

term view. Sometimes an ideological compass is necessary for governments to

navigate in difficult political and economic waters, and coalitions lack such a
unifying philosophy. In addition planning for the long-term often requires deci
sions to be made that are unpopular in the short-term. Coalitions often fail such
tests because temporary unpopularity may encourage one of the parties involved
to defect, in search of a populist advantage.
Coalition government is actually less democratic as the balance of power is
inevitabily held by the small parties who can barter their support for concessions
from the main groups within the coalition. This means that a party with little
popular support is able to impose its policies upon the majority by a process of
political blackmail.
Coalition government is less transparent. Because a party has no real chance
of forming a govenment alone, the manifestos they present to thepublic become
irrelevant and often wildly unrealistic. Real decisions about political programs are
made after the election, in a process of secretive back-room negotiation from
which the public is excluded. This undermines accountability, as voters cannot
expect individual parties in a coalition to deliver upon their particular manifesto
promises, unlike the single-party governments. Accountability is also absent when
a
coalition government falls, either after an election or through the defection of
Some of its supporters. Any new administration will tend to include most of the
parties and politicians from the previous government, with just a little shuffling of
coalition partners and ministerial jobs.

Anti-defection Law: Antivirus

Enacted by the Rajiv Gandhi Government, only to
ent political bodies combining to form a better and largercurb viruses of the differ
virus, which
andtake its tun on the Government, was an important antivirus, still would wait
with some improvements. It is the Anti-Defection Bill, being used
as a tool to mend the members of various parties 1985 which is being used
from defecting to other parties,
away from their original party, for their hunger
of power, Coalitions and defection
<br>

Democratic Processth 399

on hand-in-hand, where the former is built by a junk of the latter. This was
introduced keeping in view of the unethical defections which happencd during the
nast. Political leaders often being rcferred as opportunist tend to change their
narties in search of money and power. Members who are elected only because
of the party will turn rebel against their own party to join a party which is short
of members to form a Government.
This antivirus has been used many times in the past to curb defection:
a

by scraping the defection of 1/3rd members called as 'split'.

t has only got better defection
king it'wholesale allowed but not retail defection'. In past there have
a
heen instances where coalitions fell due to defection by its members to form
new Government. The introduction of Anti-Deiection law has decreased the number
of defectors and reduced the fall of Governments.

CONCLUSION
a mnay call themselves as allies but are
The concerned parties of coalition
can put
actually opportunists. You present them with an issue which, if pursued,
to grab it, pressurize
them in an advantageous position, they will not think twice
the government, bargain totheir advantage, and then
tom-tom about their achieve
ment to secure larger vote banks. In the process, one party gets side-lined while
the other takes the driver's seat.
any coalition, members of one
Compromise is another name for coalition. In
to stay together.
party often have to compromise with their ideologies and ethics
political
Our politicians use the coalition name to safeguard their vested
interests and to blackmail each other in the coalition. Recent
years we have seen
coalition governments getting threats from the coalition
party of ditching the
Government to fulfill their political goals.
A
coalition with a common manifesto without
any threatening from any sides,
working with a common goal is a dream of today and
tomorrow. National parties
often tend to exploit the weaker regional parties
as they have had less action in
the national scene before.
At the root of it all is the fact that the public votes for regional parties often
born on shoddy principles of caste, religion, language, region and gender. Caste
politics should see an end to experience the brighter light of democracy.
or
Minority coalitions propped up by external support whether conditionally
unconditionally, are not likely to be stable.
Factional splits tend to be accommodated in the pursuit of office-seeking
interest. Surplus majority or large-size coalitions are stable than minimal-winning
Coalitions. Coalition between an anchor party and satellite parties tend to be
stable.a
of the
With these even though coalition represents the democratic face
a
long lasting life would not at all be a problem for
Nation, a coalition with
country
Governance. Repeated elections do not show the democratic face of the
but shows the poor sustainability of coalitions Government and
vulnerability of
Governments to give in to allies which also causes tax payers money.
<br>

400 Indinn Constitutional Law : The Ney Challenges

10.5 GRASS ROOT DEMOCRACY

Introduction
Meaning of Grass Root Democracy
Grass Root Democracy: Indian Perspective
Constitutional Provisions Regarding the Grass Root Democracy in
India
Local bodies in Rural Area: The Panchayats
Constitutional provisions regarding Panchayats
Local bodies in Urban Area: The Municipalities
Constitutional provisions regarding Municipalities
Features of the new Panchayati Raj System
Powers and functions of Panchayats
Some important functions of the Panchayats are

Powers of Panchayats
Problems and prospects of Panchayati Raj institutions
Weaknesses of Gram Panchayats
Conclusion

Introduction
The Indian democratic structure includes three levels of governance - na
tional or federal, state or regional, and the grassroots level called the Panchayati
Raj and Nagar Palika systems.
The Panchayati Raj system covers the village, the Tehsil and the district, and
the Nagar Palika system serves towns and cities, If democracy means peopie s
participation in running their affairs, then it is nowhere more direct, clear and
significant ihan at the local level, where the contact between the people and their
representatives, between the rulers and the ruled is more constant, vigilant and
manageable.
Lord Bryce said: "The best school of democracy and the best guarantee tor
its success is the practice of local self-government",
Decentralisation is a prime mechanisnthrough which democracy becomes
truly representative and responsive. The democratic ideuls of decentralization,
development, and increased, continuous and active popular participation in the
process of nation-buildingcan be secured only throughthe working of an efficient
system of local government. Without a well organized system of local govern
ment, no democratic political system can be expected to become stable arnd
really developed.
<br>

Democratic Proccssitsh 401

Meaning of Grass Root Democracy

Grassroots democracy is a tendency towards designing political processes
where as much decision-making authority as practical isshifted tothe organization's
lowest geographic or social level of organization.
Grassroots organisations can have a variety of structures; depending on the
type of organisation and what the members want. These can be non-structured
and non-hierarchical organisations that are run by all members, or by whichever
member wishes to do something.
Grassroots organizations can inhabit so-called participatory systems.
Grassroots systems differ from representative systems that allow local communi
ties or national memberships to elect representatives who then go on to make
decisions.

Grass Root Democracy: Indian Perspective

In India there has been a change in the entire rural life, thus changing the
traditional backward society into a modern democratic society. It was expected
that these institutions would prepare the village plan in such a manner that their
backwardness could be effectively halted and the villages would develop a pro
gressive outlook and mode of life. Thus the need to have a grass root demoC
racy was felt in India as well.
Parts IX and IXA were added to the constitution by the 73rd Amendment and
74h Amendment in 1992 popularly known as the Panchayati Raj and Nagarpalika
Conslitution Amendment Acts. These provisions are a sanction to democracy at
grass root level by inserting the two new parts relating to Panchayats and Urban
Local Bodies.
ntbe They provide constitutional guarantee to basic and essential features or the
self-governing democratic institutions in rural aid urban areas including regular
elections to Panchayats, reservation of seats to SCs, STs, and women and
devolution of financial and administrative powers. These provisions are in accor
dance with the Article 40of the Indian Constitution which provides for organizing
village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be
necessary to enable them to function as units of self government.
Panchayati Raj: An Evolutionary Perspective Panchayats as institutional
vehicles for development have been part of the Indian system for ages. In an
cient times, Panchayati Raj system prevailed during the Chola period. In fact,
Rippon's Resolution of 1881 and 1882 can be teken to be the origin of
modern
local government in India. It was seen as Gram Swaraj by
Mahatma Gandhi.
isieso Interestingly, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was not in favour of the Panchayati Raj
institutions; yet, he agreed to give it a place in
IV through Directive the Constitution of India in Part
Principles of State Policy.
Alt In the year following
the independence (1947),
aurated the Community Development Programme Prime Minister Nehru inau
(CDP) which was followed by
the National Extension Sevice in 1953. EBut both
neither of the iwo was free from the control the programmes had a flaw :
of bureaucracy.
prompted the Government to appoint a committee headed by This shortcoming
Balwant RayMehta
<br>

Ncw Challcngcs
402 Indian Constitutional Law: The
a three-ticr system oí Panchaya Rai
in 1957. The committee recommended
from village iu iie dricvel
-
Gram Panchayat at the village level, Panchayat
at district level.
the
Samiti at the block level and Zilla Parishad
Raj was
As per the Balwant Ray Mehta Committee Scheme, Panchayati
launched on 2nd October 1957 in Nagaur district of Rajasthan. Andhra
Pradesh
and many state governments followed Rajasthan. Yet, by the mid-sixties
the hype
to strengthen the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) gave way to
a
growing ten
zero.
dency of centralization and the PRIs descended to ground
a
in 1977, the Janata Government iried to revive the PRIs. Accordingly
committee headed by Ashok Mehta was appointed to review the working of the
PRIs. The conmillee Suggested a minor change in the Balwant Ray Mehta
heme. The three tier system of PRIs was to be replaced by a two tier i.e. Zilla
Parishad at the district level and Mandal Panchayat (consisting of a number of
villages) below it. In addition, the committee also recommended the creation of
Nyaya Panchayat. However, owing to the disintegration of the Janata Govern
ment in 1980, the recommendations of the Asoka Mehta Committee could not be
implemented.
For tlhe next five years or So, no progress was made. One committee under
the chaimanship of G.V.K. Rao reported in 1985, suggesting appropriate im
provement in the representative character and strengthening of the capability of
the people's representatives and administrative personnel in the PRIs. In 1986,
the L.M. Singhvi Committee of the Department of Rural Development, Govern
ment of India, recommended constitutional status for Panchayati Raj.

Constitutional Provisions Regarding the Grass Root Democ

racy in India
In July-August 1989 the then Congress government
Constitutional Amendment Bill with a view to introduced the 64th
However, the bill wasdefeated in streamline the Panchayati Raj.
the Rajya Sabha. V.P. Singh government also
tried to push a bill in 1990 on Panchayati
Raj, it lapsed with the dissolution of
Lok Sabha. Panchayati Raj under
the 73rd Constitutional Amendment At last P.V. the
Narasimha Rao's govemment
was passed by Parliament onenacted the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, which
23rd December 1992 and became effective on
24th April 1993.
They provide constitutional guarantee
to basic and essential features or
self-governingdemocratic institutions ne
elections to Panchayats, reservation in rural and urban areas including regular
of seats to SCs, STs,
devolution of financial and
administrative powers. These and women and
dance with the Article 40 of the 'ndian provisions are in accor
village panchayats and endow Constitution which provides
them with such powers and authority for organizing
necessary to enable as may be
them to function as unitS
The Constitutional Amendment ensures, of self government.
Block and Village levels, an a three tier structure at
election commission to hold the Zilla,
state levei finance commission election periodically, a
for localbodies, reservation to find out ways and means to increase resOurces
of 1/3of seats in all the position
of the three tier ro
<br>

Democratic Process 403

women, reservation of seats for SC/ST in proportion to their population in all the
positions of the three tiers, establishment cf Gram Sabha for enhancing people's
participation for their own development, and establishment of planning committee
for local bodies; and an earmarked list of 29 items under 11th schedule.
More than fifty percent of these grassroot representatives are from the down
trodden and marginalized sections of the society, namely women (one third of the
tota), the sCs, STs and OBCs (as per their proportion of the population). This
kind of constitutional provision has created a scope for accompiishing develop
ment with social justice, which is mandate of the newPanchayat FRaj sysiem. The
new system brings all those who are interested to have voice in decision making
through their participation in Panchayat Raj Institutions. The Panchayati Raj
system is basis for the "Social Justice" and "Empowerment" of weaker section
on which the development initiative have to be built upon for achieving overall,
tWO parts:
human welfare of the society. The local self government is divided into
Rural Level
Village Panchayat
Block Development Committee or Taluka Samiti
Zilla Panchayat or Zilla Parishad
Urban Level
Nagar Panchayat for towns
Municipal council for small cities
Municipal Corporations for big cities.
state legislatures will make
These will form the third tier of govemment. The
Municipalities and conferring
their own laws for establishing Panchayats and
for villages. States with less than
hem with powers and authorities Panchayats
2 million population do not need Panchayats.
at grass root level by inserting
These provisions are a sanction to democracy
the two new parts relating to Panchayats
and Urban Local Bodies. These have
been discussed in detail below:
Local Bodies In Rural Area: The Panchayats
a new part lX consisting of 16 articles
The 73rd Amendment in 1992 added
and the 11th schedule to the Indian
Constitution. It is entitled as The Panchayats'
to 243-0 According to it the Gram
and consists of provisions from Articles 243
System to perform functions and
Sabha is the foundation of Panchayati Raj a Panchayati
powers entrusted to it by the legislature. It provides for three-tier
RajSystem in village, intemediate and district level.
Areas with population less
level. The Panchayat will have
than 20 lacs need not constitute the intermediate
after the lapse of this
t
3 a
assured duration of 5 years, with election mandat0y
period.
Constitutional Provisions regarding Panchayats
Definitions as per Article 243
context otherwise requires,
In this Part, unless the
<br>

404 Indian Constitutional LW:Thc New Challengcs

"district" means district

a
in a State;
"Gram Sabha'" means body
a
consisting of persons registered in the
within the area of
electoral rolls relating to village comprised
a

Panchayat at the village level;

"intermediate level" means a level between the village and district to be
levels specified by the Governor of State by public notification
a
the intermediate level for the purposes of this Part;
"Panchayat" means an institution (by whatever name called) of self
government constituted under Article 243B, for the rural
areas:
"Panchayat area" means the territorial area of Panchayat;
a

"population" means the population as ascertained at the last preced

ing census of which the relevant figures have been published;
"village" means a village specified by the Governor by public notifica
tion to be a village for the purposes of this Part and includes a group
of villages so specified.
Gram SabhaArticle 243A: Gram Sabha may exercise such powers and
A

perform such functions at the village level as the Legislature of a State may, by
law, provide.
Constitution of Panchayats Article 243B: There shall be constituted in
every State, Panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels in accor
dance with the provisions of this Part.
Notwithstanding anything in Clause (1), Panchayats at the intermediate level
may not be constituted in a State having a population not exceeding twenty lacs.
D
Composition of Panchayats Article 243C:
1. Subject to the provisions of this Part, the Legislature of a State may, by
law, make provisions with respect to the composition of Panchayats:
Provided that the ratio between the population of the teritorial area of a
Panchayat at any level and the number of seats in such Panchayat to be
filled (by] election shall, so far as practicable, be the same throughout the
State.
2. the seats in a Panchayat shall be filled by persons chosen by direct
All
election from territorial constituencies in the Panchayat area and, for this
purpose, each Panchayat area shall be divided into territorial constituen
cies in such manner that the ratio between the population off each con
stituency and the number of seats allotted to it shall, so far as practi
cable, be the same throughout the Panchayat area.
3. The Legislature of a State may, by law, provide for the representation -
[Link] io S a) of the Chairpersons of the Panchayats at the village
level, in the
Panchayats at the intermediate level or. in the case of a State not
having Panchayats at the intermediate level, in the Panchayats at the
district level;
b) of the Chairpersons of the Panchayats at the intermediate level, in
the Panchayats at the district level:81t 22
<br>

stec Democratic Processttslete: ) cihst i 405

c) of the members of the House of the People and the Members of the
Legislative Assembly of the State representing constituencies which
comprise wholly or partly Panchayat area at a level other than the
village level, in such Panchayat;
d) of the members of the Council of States and the members of the
Legislative Council of the State, where they are registered as elec
-
tors within
i.
a Panchayat area at the intermediate level, in Panchayat at the
intermediate level;
a Panchayat area at the district level, in Panchayat at the district
level.
a
The Chairperson of Panchayat and other members of Panchayat
a
in
whether or not chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies
the Panchayat area shall have the right to vote in the meetings of the
Panchayats.
-
5 The Chairperson of
manner as
a) a
Panchayat at the village level shall be elected in such
the Legislature of State may, by law, provide; and
a

elected
b) a
Panchayat at the intermediate level or district level sha!l be
by, and from amongst, the elected members thereof.
Reservation of seats Article 243D -
1
Seats shall be reserved for
a) the Scheduled Castes; and
b) the Scheduled Tribes, in
every Panchayat and the number of seats
SO reserved shall bear, as nearly as
may be, the same proportion to
Panchayat
the totalnumber of seats to be filled by direct election that
in
area or
as the population of the Scheduled Castes in that Panchayat
area bears to the total
of the Scheduled Tribes in that Panchayat
may be allotted by rotation to
population of that area and such seats
different constituencies in a Panchayat.
2
Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved under
women belonging to the Scheduled
clause (1) shall be reserved for
Castes or, as the case may be, the Scheduled Tribes.
for women
3 Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved
total
belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the
every Panchayat shall
number of seats to be filled by direct election in
be reserved for women anda such seats
may be allotted by rotation to
different constituencies in Panchayat.
4. The offices of the Chairpersons in the Panchayats at the village
or any
other level shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled may, by
a
Tibes and women in such manner as the Legislature of State re
law. provide: Provided that the number of offices of Chairpersons
served for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the
may be,
ST Panchayats at each level in any State shall bear, as nearly as
<br>

New Chllcnges
406 Indian Constitutional Law: The
in the Panchayats
samne proportion to the total number of such offices or
the Scheduled Castes in the State
at each level as the population of the population of the
Scheduled Tribes in the State bears to the total
of the one-third of the total number of
State: Provided further that not less than
at each level shall be reserved
offices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats
for under this clause shall
Provided aiso that the number of offices reserved
Panchayats at each level.
be allotted by rotation to different
(1) and (2) and the reservation
5. The reservation of seato Under Clauses
for women) under
of office of Chairpersons (other than theonresevai.n
Clause (4) shall cease to have effect the expiration of the period
specified in Article 334.
a from making
6. Nothing in this Part shall prevent the Legislature of State
any provision for resevation of seats in any Panchayat or offices of
Chairpersons in the Panchayats at any level in favour of backward class
of citizens.
Duration of Panchayats, etc. Article 243E:
1. Every Panchayat, unless sooner dissolved under any law for the time
being in force, shall continue for five years from the date appointed for
its first meeting and no longer.
2.
No amendment of any law for the time being in force shall have the effect
of causing dissolution of a Panchayat at any level, which is functioning
immediately before such amendment, till the expiration of its duration
specified in Clause (1).
3. An election to constitute a Panchayat shall be completed -
a) before the expiry of its duration specified in clause (1);
b) before the expiration of a period of six months from the date of its
dissolution: Provided that where the remainder of the period for which
the dissolved Panchayat would have continued is less than six months,
it shall not be necessary to hold any election
under this clause for
constituting the Panchayat.
4 A Panchayat constituted upon the dissolution of a Panchayat
before the
expiration of its duration shall continue only for the remainder of the
period for which the dissolved Panchayat would have
continued under
Clause (1) had it not been so dissolved.
Disqualifications for membership Article 243F
person shall be disqualified for being
A

chosen as, and for being, a

member of a Panchayat -
ys a) if he is so disqualified by or under any law for the time beiig in
purposes of elections to the Legislature force
totufor the of State con
cerned: Provided that no person shall be disqualified the
y
Ns
on the ground
that he is less than twenty-five years of age. if he
age of twenty-one years; as
attained the
b) if he isso disqualified by or under any
of
the State.
lawmade by the Legislature
<br>

Democratic Process itasoblaal 407

2. any question arises as to whether a member of a Panchayat has

If

become subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in Clause (1),

the question shall be referred for the decision of such authority and in
such manner as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide.
Powers, authority and responsibilities of Panchayats Articie 243G
may, by
Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the Legislature of a State
law. endow the Panchayats with such powers and authority and may be neces
sarv to enable them to function as institutions of self-agovernment and such law
may contain provisions for the devolution of powers and responsibilities upon
Panchayats at the appropriate- level; subject to such conditions as
may be speci
fied therein, with respect to
a) the preparation of plans for economic development and social justice,
b) the implementation of schemes for economic development and social
in relation to the
justice as may be entrusted to them including those
matters listed in the Eleventh Schedule.
243H
Powers to impOse taxes by, and Funds of, the Panchayats Article
The Legislature of a State may, by law, -
a) authorise a Panchayat to levy, collect and appropriate such
taxes, dutieS.
tolls and fees in accordance with such procedure and
subject to such
limits;
b) assign to a Panchayat such taxes, duties, tolls and fees levied and
purposes and subject to
collected by the State Government for such
Such conditions and limits;
c) provide for making such grants-in-aid to the Panchayats
from the Con
solidated Fund of the State; and
d) provide for constitution of such Funds for crediting all
moneys received,
with
respectively, by or on behalf of the Panchayats and also for the
drawal of such moneys there from,
as may be specified in the law.
Constitution of Finance Commission to review financial position Article
2431
1. The Governor of a State shall, as SOon as may be within one year from
the commencemeni of the Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act,a
1992, and thereafter at the expiration of every fifth year, constitute
Finance Commission to reviw the financial position of- the Panchayats
and to make recommendations to the Governor as to
a. the principles which should gove)
the distribution between the State and the Panchayats of the net
proceeds of the taxes, duties, tolis and fees leviatle by the Siate.
ia ss which may be dlvided between them under this Par and the
allocation between the Panchayats at all levels of iheir respec
tive shares of such proceeds;
#the determination of the taxes, duties, tolls andfees which may
<br>

Indian Constitutional Law :The New Challenges

408
Panchayats;
be assigned to, or appropriated by, the
Consolidated Fund
i. the grants-in-aid to the Panchayats from the
of the State;
of the
the measures needed to improve the financial position
Panchayats;
C any other matter referred to the Finance Commission by the Gover.
nor in the interests of sound finance of the Panchayats.
of the
2. The Legislature of a State may, by law, provide for the composition
Commission, the qualifications which shall be reguisite for appointment
as members thereof and the manner in which they shall be selected.
3. The Commission shall determine their procedure and shall have such
powers in the performance of their functions as the Legislature of the
State may, by law, confer on them.
4. The Governor shall cause every recommendation made by the Commis
sion under this article together with an explanatory memorandum as to
the action taken thereon to be laid before the Legislature of the State.
Audit of accounts of Panchayats Article 243J: The Legislature of a State
may, by law, make provisions with respect to the mintenance of accounts by the
Panchayats and the auditing of such accounts.
Elections to the Panchayats Article 243K
1. The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral
rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to the Panchayats shall be
vested in a State Election Commission consisting of a State Election
Commissioner to be appointed by the Governor.
2 Subject tothe provisions of any law made by the Legislature of a State,
the conditions of service and tenure of office of the State Election Com
missioner shall be such as the Governor may by rule determine: Pro
vided that the State Election Commissioner shall not be removed from
his office except in like manner and on the like grounds as a Judge of
a High Court and the conditions of service of the State Election Commis
sioner shall not be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment
3. The Govermor of a State shall, when so requested by the State Election
Commission, make available to the State Election Commission such staff
as may be necessary for the discharge of the functions conferred on the
State Election Commission by Clause (1).
4. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution,
the Legislature of a State
may, by law, make provision with respect to all matters
relating to, or in
connection with, elections to the Panchayats.
Application to Union territories Article 243L: The provisions of this Part
shall apply to the Union territories and shall, in their application to a Union
territory, have effect as if the references to the Governor of a State were
ences to the Administrator of the Union territory refer
appointed under Article 239 and
references to the Legislature or the Legislative Assembly of a State were refer
ences, in relation to a Union territory having a Legislative Assembly, to that
<br>

Democratic Proccss 409

Legislative Assembly: Provided that the President may, by public notification d

rect that the provisions of this Part shall apply to any Union territory or part
ihereof subject to such exceptions and modifications as he may specify in the
notification.
Part not to apply to certain areas Article 243M
4
Nothing in this Part shall apply to the Scheduled Areas referred to in
Clause (1), and the tribal areas referred to in Clause (2), of Article 244.
-
2 Nothing in this Part shall apply to
a) the States of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram;
h) the Hill Area in the State of Manipur for which District Councils exist
under any law for the time being in force.
3. Nothing in this
Part -
a) relating to Panchayats at the district level shall apply to the Hill areas
of the District of Darjeeling in the State of West Bengal for which
Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council exists under any law for the time
being in force;
b) shallbe construed to affect the functions and powers of the Darjeeling
Gorkha Hill Council constituted under such law.
4. Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution,
o a) the Legislature of a State referred to in Sub-clause (a) of Clause (2)
O may, by law, extend this Part to the State, except the areas, if any,
referred to in Clause (1), if the Legislative Assembly of that State
passes a resolution to that effect by a majority of the total member
boe e ship of that House and by a majority of not iess than two-thirds of
the members of that House present and voting;
b) Parliament may, by law, extend the provisions of this Part to the
-9ou Scheduled Areas and the tribal areas referred to in Clause (1) sub
ont to 21cject to such exceptions and modifications as may be specified in
oolSuch law, and no such law shall be deemed to be an amendment of
this Constitution for the purposes of Article 368.
Continuance of existing laws and Panchayats Article 243N: Notwith
standing anythingin this Part, any provision of any law relating to Panchayats in
force in a State immediately before the commencement of the Constitution (Sev
enty-second Amendment) Act, 1992, which is inconsistent with the provisions of
this Part, shallcontinue to be in force until amended or repealed by a competent
Legislature or other competent authority or unti' the expiration of one year from
such commencement, whichever is earlier:
o Provided that all the Panchayats existing immediately before such com
mencement shall continue till the expiration of their duration, unless sooner dis
solved by a resolution passed to that effect by the Legislative Assembly of that
State or, in the case of a State having a Legislative Council, by each House of
the Legislature of that State.
2ar
Bar to to interference by courts in electoral matters Article 2430
r
Notwithstanding anything in this Constituion, tanaw prB r9m is esilai
<br>

410 Indian Constitutional Law: Thc New Challenges

or the
validity of any law relating to tho delimitalion of constituencies
a) the or purporting to be made
allotment of seats to such constituencies, made
in question in any Court;
under Article 243K, shall not be called
in question except by an
b) no election to any Panchayat shall be called
in such manner as ís
election petition presented to such authority and
provided for by or under any law made by the
Legislature of a State.
Rural Areas
The three-tier Panchayati Raj System in

DISTRICT or ZILLA PANCHAYAT

BLOCK PANCHAYAT OR TALUKA PANCHAYAT

GRAM OR VILLAGE PANCHAYAT

GRAM SABHA

A. Zilla Panchayat
Itextends over a district and is the highest level. Each block Panchayat
under a ZP elects one/two/three members directly (depending on number of
voters within it). Presidents of all the Block Panchayats are also ex-officio mem
bers of the ZP. In some states the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and
Member of Parliament (MP) of the district/constituency are also ex-officio mem
bers. It prepares plans for development of its district. It works for social and
economic welfare of people.
B. Block Panchayat or Panchayat Samiti:
Each Gram Panchayat under a Block Panchayat elects one/two/three mem
bers directly to the Block Panchayat. GP pradhans are ex-officio members of the
Block Panchayats. This organization works for the development of a Block
C. Gram Panchayat:
A Gram as defined under the Act (meaning a [Link] a
cluster of villages)
is divided into a minimum of five constituencies (again depending on
of voters the Gram is having).
the number
A
gram Sabha is a general body of a village. It
includes all men and women above the age of 18 years. Their names should be
in the voters list. It by direct election
elects the Panchayat. The Sarpanch is also
directly elected by the Gram Sabha. Body of these elected members is
called
the Gram Panchayat. Size of the GPs varies widely from state to state. In states
like West Bengal, Kerala etc. a GP has about 20000 people on an average,
whle
in many other states it is around 3000 only.
D. Gram Sabha:
In most of the states, each constituency of
the members of the Gram
Panchayat is [Link] Gram Sabha and all the voters of
are members of this body. A gram a
the same constituency
Sabha is general body of a village. t
includes all men and women above the age of 18 vears. Their names should be
<br>

02ti Dettocratic Proccss stuirizige sls 411

in the voters ist. However, in some states this is called Ward Sabha/Palli Sabha
etc. in West Bengal it is called Gram Sansad (village parliament). Gram Sabha
in West Bengal has a differcnt meaning. Here all the voters of the Gram Panchayat
as whole constitute the Gram Sabha
a

Local Bodies in Urban Area: The Municipalitics

It
Part IXA was added to the constitution by the 74th Amendment in 1992.
added 18 articles and the 12th schedule to the constitution entitled "the Municiit
nalities'ie. Article 243P to 243 ZG. Like the Panchavati Raj at the rurai level
also provides a constitutional sanction to the urban self governing institutions
ensuring regular elections and enabling them to play greater role in the devel
a
opment of the urban areas.

Constitutional Provisions regarding Municipalities

It provides for three types oi
Constitution of Municipalities Article 2430 every
Municipal Corporations and reservation of seats in
Municipality for SCs,
STs, and women.
1. There shall be constituted in every State,
a. a Nagar Panchayat (by whatever
name called) for a transitional
a area to ari
area, that is tO say. an area in transition from rural
urban area;
area; and
tb.
a
Municipal Council for a smaller urban
a
Municipal Corporaticn for a
larger urban area, in acco
cC.
Part:
dance with the provisions of this
may not be constituted in
Provided that a Municipality under this clause may, having regard to
as
such urban area or part theicof the Governor being provided or pro
the size of the area and the municipal services
an industrial establishment in that area and
posed to be provided by notification, specify to
Such other factors as ie may deem fit by public
lbe an industrial township.
In this article, "a transitional area", "a smaller
urban area" or "a larger
2. may, having regard to
urban area" means such area as the Governor
population therein, the
the population of the area, the density of the percentage of employ
revenue generated for local administration, the or such
ment in non-agricultural activities, the economic importance
notification for the
other factors as he may deem fit, specify by public
f e purposes of this Part.
243R
Composition of Municipalities Article
1. Save as provided inClause (2), all the seats in a Municipality shall be
Glled bv persons chosen by direct election from the territorial constituen
purpose each Municipal area shall
cies in the Municipal area and for this
to known as wards.
be [Link] territorial Constituencies be
The Legislature of a Statemay, by law, prVide oi 2IRSB
8c
l
<br>

412 Indian Constitutional Law : The New Challenges

-
Asa. for the representation in a Municipality of
i. persons having special knowledge or experience in
Municipal administration;
ii. the members of the House of the People and the
members of the Legislative Assembly of the State rep
resenting constituencies which comprise wholly or partly
the Municipal area;
ii, the members of the Council of States and the mem
bers of the Legislative Council of the State registered
as electors within the Municipal area;
iv. the Chairpersons of the Committees constituted under
Clause (5) of Article 243S: Provided that the persons
referred to in paragraph (i) shall not have the right to
vote in the meeting of the Municipality;neo
b. the manner of election of the Chairperson of a Municipality.

Constitution and composition of Wards Committees, etc. Ar

ticie 243S
1. There shall be constituted Wards Committees, consisting of one or more
Wards,within the territorial area ofa Municipality having a population of
three lacs or more.
2. The Legislature of a State may, by law, make provision with respect to
ont n a. the composition and the territorial areaof a Wards Committee:
b. the manner in which the seats in a Wards Committee shall be
ii h2nes filled.
3.
A member of a Municipality representing a ward within the territorial area
of the Wards Committee shall be a member of that Commmittee.
4. Where a Wards Committee consists of -
a. one ward, the member representing
that ward in the Municipality;
or
b. two or more wards, one of
the members representing such
wards in the Municipality elected by the members of the Wards
Committee,
shall be the Chairperson of that Committee.
5. Nothing in this article shall be deemed to prevent the Legislature
of a
State from making any provision for the Constitution of Committees in
addition to the Wards Committees.

Reservation of seats Article 243TstO

1. Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled
Tribes inevery Municipality and the number of seats so reserved shall
bear, as nearty as may be, the same proportion to the total number of
seats to be filled by direct election in that Municipality as the population
<br>

d
Democratic Proccss
ts 413
of the Scheduled Castes in the Municipality area or
of the Scheduled
Tribes in the Municipal area bears to the total population
of that area and
such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a
Municipality.
p2. Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved under
Clause (1) shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled
Castes or as the case may be, the Scheduled Tribes.
3. Not leSs than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for
women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes of
the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Munici
pality shall be reserved for women and such seats may be allotted by
rotation to different constituencies in a Municipality.
4. The officers of Chairpersons in the Municipalities shall be reserved for
the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and women in such man
ner as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide.
5. The reservation of seats under Clauses (1) and (2) and the reservation
of offices of Chairpersons (other than the reservation for women) under
Clause (4) shall cease to have effect on the expiration of the period
specified in Article 334.
6 Nothing in this Part shall prevent the Legislature of a State from making
or offices of
319 aiany provision for reservation of seats in any Municipality citi
Chairpersons in the Municipalities in favour of backward class of
zens.

Duration of Municipalities, etc. Article 243U

Every Municipality, unless sooner dissolved under any law for the time
1.
being in force, shall continue for five years from the date appointed for
its first meeting and no longer:
Provided that a Municipality shall be given a reasonable Opportunity of
being heard before its dissolution.
2. No amendment of any law for the time being in force shall have the effect
of causing dissolution of a Municipality at any level, which is functioning
immediately before such amendment, till the expiration of its duration
specified in Clause (1).
3 An election to constitute a Municipality shall be completed,
a. before the expiry of its duration specified in Clause (1);
b. before the expiration of a period of six months from the date of
its dissolution:
Provided that where the remainder of the period for which the dissolved
Municipality would have continued is less than six months, it shall not be
Btils necessary to hold any election under this clause for constituting the
Municipality for such period.
4 A
Municipality constituted upon the dissolution of a Municipality before
e
the expiration of its duration shall continue only for the remainder of the
<br>

414 Indian Constitutional Law :The New Challcnges

Municipality would have continued under
period for which the dissolved
so dissolved.
Clause (1) had it not been
243V
Disqualifications for membership Articie as and for being a
person
1. A disqualified for being chosen
shall be
a Municipality -
member any law for the time being
a. if he is so disqualified by or under
in force for the purposes of elections
to the Legislature of
the State concerned: on the ground
Provided that no person shalI be disqualified
years age, if he has
that he is less than twenty-five years; of
attained the age of twenty-one
or under anv law made by the
b. if he is so disqualified by
Legislature of the State.
2. If any question arises
as to vwhether a member of a Municipality has
mentioned in Clause
become subject to any of the disqualifications of such authority
(1), the question shall be referred for the decision
a may, by law,
and in such manner as the Legislature of State
provide.

of Municipalities etc.
Powers, authority and responsibilities
Artizle 243W
Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Legislature of a State may,
-
by law, endow
a. the Municipalities with such powers and authority as may be neces
sary to enable them to function as institutions of self-government and
such law may contain provisions for the devolution of powers and
responsibilities upon Municipalities, subject to such conditions as may
be specified therein, with respect to -
i. the preparation of pians for economic development and social

justice;
the performance of functions and the implementation of
ii.
schemes as may be entrusted to them including those in
relation to the matters listed in the Twelfth Schedule;
b. the Committees with such powers and authority as may be necessary
to enable them to carry out the responsibilities conferred upon them
including those in relation to the matters listed in the Twelfth Sched
ule.

Power to imnpose taxes by, and Funds of, the Municipalities

Article 243XUE
The Legislature of a State may, by law, -
a.
authorise a Municipality to levy, collect and appropriate such taxes, d
<br>

Democratic Process b
415

ties, tolls and fees in accordance with such procedure and subject to
such limits:
b. assign to a Municipality such taxes, duties, tolls and fees levied and
collected by the State Government for such purposes and subject to
such conditions and limits,
C. provide for making such grants-in-aid to the Municipalities rom the
Consolidated Fund of the State; and
d. provide for constitution of such Funds for crediting all moneys received.
respectively, by or on behalf of the Municipalities and also for the with
drawal of such moneys there from, as may be specified in law.

Finance Commission Article 243Y

1. TheFinance Commission constituted under Article 2431 shall aiso review
the financial position of the Municipalities and make recommendation to
the Governor as to -
a. the principles which should govern -
i. the distribution between the State and the Municipalities

of the net proceeds of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees

leviable by the State, which may be divided between
them under this Part and the allocation between the
Municipalities at alllevels of their respective shares of
such proceeds;
ii. the determination of the taxes, duties, tolis and fees
which may tbe assigned to, or appropriated by. the
Municipalities;
[Link] grants-in-aid to the Municipalities from the Consoli
dated Fund of the State;
b. the measures needed to improve the financial position of the
Municipalities;
any other matter referred to the Finance Commission by the
C.
Governor in the interests of sound finance of the Municipalities.
2. The Govermor shall cause every rocommendation made by Commission
under this article together with an explanatory memorandum as to the
action taken thereon to be laid before the Legislature of the State.

Audit of accounts of Municipalities Article 243Z

The Legislature of a State may, by law, make provisions with respect to the
maintenance of accounts by the Municipalities and the auditing of such accounts.
tonta Elections to the Municipalities Article 243ZA
G o 1. The supeintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral
s
at: rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to the Municipalities shall be
vested in the State Election Commission referred to in Article 243K.
ssi 2. Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the Legislature of a State
<br>

Challenges
416 Indian Constitutional Law: The New
or in
may, by law, make provision with respect to all matters relating to,
connection with, elections to the Municipalities.

Application to Union territories Article 243ZBoe

The provisions of this Part shall apply to the Unionif territories
and shall. in
as the references to fhe
their application to a Union territory, have effect Union territory
Govemor of a State were references to the Administrator of the or the Legislative
appointed under Article 239 and references to the Legislature
a Union territory having a
Assembly of a State were references in relation to
Legislative Assembly, to that Legislative Assembly: Provided that the President
may, by public notification, direct that the provisions of this Part shall apply to any
Union territory or part thereof subject to such exceptions and modifications as he
may specify in the notification.

Part not to apply to certain areas Article 243ZC

1. Nothing inthis Part shall apply to the Scheduled Areas referred to in
Clause (1), and the tribal areas referred to in Clause (2), of Article 244.
2. Nothing in this Part shall be construed to affect the functions and powers
of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council constituted under any law for the
time being in force for the hill areas of the district of Darjeeling in the
oe State of West Bengal.
3. Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, Parliament may, by law,
extend the provisions of this Part to the Scheduled Areas and the tribal
areas referred to in Clause (1) subject to such exceptions and modif
cations as may be specified in such law, and no such law shall be
deemed to be an amendment of this Constitution for the purposes of
Article 368.

Committee for district planning Article 243ZD

1. There shall be constituted in every State at the district level a District
Planning Committee to consolidate the plans prepared by the Panchayats
and the Municipalities in the district and to prepare a draft development
plan for the district as a whole.
2. The Legislature of a State may, by law,
make provision with respect to
a. the composition of
the District Planning Committees;
b. the manner in which the seats in such Committees
shall be
filled:
Provided that not less than four-fifths of the total number of
members of such Committee shall be elected by, and from
amongst, the elected members of the Panchayat at the district
hs io usiee level and of the Municipalities in the district in proportion to the
0e9pasratio between the population of the ural areas and of the urban
areas in the district; n0o9!
aS eiiC.i the functions relating to district planning which may be assigned
to such Committees;
<br>

hh Democratic Proccss 417

d. the manner in which the Chairpersons of such Committees

shall be chosen.
3. Every District Planning Committee shall, in preparing the draft develop
-
ment plan,
a. have regard to -
i. matters of common
interest between the Panchayats and
the Municipalities including spatial planning, sharing of
water and other physical and natural resources, the
integrated development of infrastructure and environ
mental conservation;
ii.
the extent and type of available resources whether fi
nancial or otherwise;
b. consult such institutions and organisations as the Governor may,
by order, specify.
4. The Chairperson of every District Planning Committee shall forward the
development plan, as recommended by such Committee, to the Govern
ment of the State.

Committee for Metropolitan planning Article 2432ZE

1. Therc shall be constituted in every Metropolitan area a Metropolitan
Plannin:g Committee to prepare a draft development plan for the Metro
politan area as a whole.
to
2. The Legislature of a State may, by law, make provision with respect
a. the composition of the Metropolitan Planning Committees;
b. the manner in which the seats in such Commnittees shall
be
filled:
Provided that not less than tvIO-thirds of the members of such
Committee shàll be elected by, and from amongst, the elected
members of the Municipalities and Chairpersons of the
Panchayats in the Metropolitan area i:a proportion to the ratio
between the population of the Municipalities and of the
Panchayats in that area;
G. the representation in such Committees of the Government
of
Indiaand the Govemment of the State and of such organisations
and institutions as may be deemed necessary for carrying out
the functions assigned to such Committees;
Mict
d. the functions relating to planning and coordination for the
ropolitan area which may be assigned to such Committeos;
e. the manner in which the Chairpersons of such Coinmittees
sha!! be chosen.
draft de
3. Every Metropolitan Planning Committee shall, in preparing the
velopment plan,
a. have regard to
<br>

418 Indian Constitutional' Law:The Ncw Challcngcs

and the
the plans prepared by the Municipalities
Panchayats in the Metropolitan aica;
Oi9valb eiu ril primatters of common interest between the Municipalities
plan
and the Panchayats, including co-ordinated spatial
ning of the area, sharing of water and other physical
steet oasw and natural resourcas, the integrated development of
conservation:
dsla tt:l infrastructure and environmental
30t Sii. the overall. objectives and priorities set by the Govern
10s Un 9Hasit ment of India and Government of the State:
v. he extent and nature of investments likely to be made
-i) [Link] 200*291 [Link] the Metropolitan area by agencies of the Govern
ment of India and of the Government of the State and
or oiner
6R aava att es enc other available reSOurces whether. financial
wise;
oitto b. consult such institutions and organisations as the [Link],
by order, specify. bobnemo091 8s 1siq inormgolovgb
4 The Chairperson of every Metropolitan Planning Committee shall forward
the development plan, as recommended by such Committee, to the
Government of the [Link] rniilogoio M

ro 9o3imtno3
Continuance of existing laws and lunicipalities} Article 243ZF
Notwithstanding anything in this Part, any provision of any law relating to
Municipalities in force in a State immediately before the commencement of the
Constitution. (se:enty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1992, which is inconsistent with
the provisions of this Part, shall continue to be in force until amended or repealed
by a competent Legislature or other competent authority or until the expiration of
one year from such commenCement, whichever is earlier:
Provided that all the Municipalities existing immediately before such com
mencement shall continue till the expiration of their duration, unless sooner dis
solved by a resolution passed to that efect by the Legislative Assembly of that
State or, in the case of a State having a Legislative Council,
n
by each House of
the Legislature of tliat State! 10
iii0 13 wigd

Bar to interference by Courts in electoral matters Article 243ZG

NGiwithstanding anything in this Constitution1 bns suni
a. the validity of any law relating to the delimitation of
constituencies or the
it allotmnent seats to such constituencies made or purporting to be maie
of

2rath under] Article 243ZA shall not be called in question in any Court;
abat D no election to any Municipality shallbe called in question excert by an
election petition presented to such authority and in such rnanner as iS
provided for by or under any law made by the Legislature of a State.

Features of
the New Panchayati Rai Svstem normcolsv
The 73 rd Constitutional Amendment Act envisages Gramsabha as the foun
<br>

29099s:gi )) #nDemocratic 419

dation of the PRI system to perform the functions of and powers entrusted to it
by the state legislatures. The amendment provides for a three- tier PRI syslern
at thevillage, intemediate and district levels. Small states with population below
20 lakh have been given the option to not to constitute the intermediate level. The
Act provides that the Panchayat bodies will have an assured duratiorn of 5 years
with mandatory elections after this period. Ec
However it might be noted that under the Act the establishmenf of Panchayat
on the PRIs are vested in
and the devolution of necessary powers and authority
state governments. In view uf this it may be said that the success of the PRIs
as a unit of democracy and thereby ushering an all round development of rural
areas will much depend on the intention and support of the state governments.
Without sincere intention and political will these institutions would be misused by
rural elites and the poor and illiterate masses. will remain as mute supporters.
e
Powers and Functions Of Panchayatstonut ovocte stt
alie9Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Legislature of a Siate may,
endow the Panchayats with such powers and authority as may be necessary to
enable them to function as institutions of self-government and such law may
contain provisions for the devolution of powers and responsibilities upon
Panchayats at the appropriate level, subject to such conditions as may be speci
fied therein, with respect to:
1. The preparation of plans for economic development and social justice;
1sv 2. The implementation of schemes for economic development and social
justice' as may be entrusted to them including those in relation to the
riue ievmatters listed in the Eleventh Schedule. The matters listed in 11th Schedule
are as follows:
a. Agriculture and extensioi:
b. Land improvement
C. Watershed development
d. Animal husbandrv, Poultry and Diary
e. Fisheries, Social foresiny and small scale industries
Fural Housing, Khadi, Drinking water and Sanitation
eimtnes [Link] Health etc 'owers to impose iiXes and
Funds.

Some important functions f the panchayats are

noits1. Construction and maintenance of upproach, roz1s, minor roads and look
ring, after the drainage facilities.
2. Arrangements for medicai reliei rrimary education, maternityend child

6t o3. Helping the farmers in ma!::SJf agriculture .ncluding horticulture. animal

husbandry, fisheries, pig-forms etc. in the f:!lowing vay:.! toyaits
2i (a) Procuring the seeds and manura for:them; e9iuesOm artT
<br>

420 Indian Constitutional Law: The New Challcngcs

(b) Procuring agricultural implements for them;

rates:
(c) Arranging for the sale of agricultural products at reasonable
and
(d) Establishment of subsidiary and cottage industries.
of marriagcs,ite
4. Keeping record of births and deaths and regisiration
5. Arrangements for street lighting and sanitation.
6. Arrangements for the night watchmen for the safoiy of the villagers.
7. Arrangements for the common grazing grounds and keeping wells, tanks
and other public places in a clean condition.
8. To make arrangements for reading rooms and libraries.
9, Establishment of co-operative societies and develop a spirit of co-opera
tion among villageis.
Besides the above functions, the Villages Panchayats are also expected to
perform discretionary functions such as planting of trees on road side, cattle
bieeding,' famine relief etc. Complaints against local government officials can
also be forwarded by them. They also help in the rehabilitation of freed bonded
labour, enforcement of ceiling Jaws, distribution of surplus land and implementa
tion of the law relating to minimum wages for agricultural labourers.

Powers of Panchayats
Article 243 H empowers the legislature of a State to authorize a Panchayat
to levy, collect and appropriate such taxes, duties, tolls and fees in accordance
with such prbcedure and subject to such limits and assign to a Panchayat
such
taxes, duties, tolls and fees levied and collected by the State Government for
such purposes and subject to such Conditions and limits. More over the articie
provide for making such grants-in-aid to the Panchayats
from
Fund of the State. The PRIs are entitled for Constitution ofthe Con:liiated
suct Funds for
crediting all moneys received, respectively, by or on betialf of
also for the withdrawal of such money from the Fanchayats and
the funds
Article 2431 provides for,
1
The establishment of a Finance Commnission for reviewing
sition of Panchayats. The Governor oi a state financial p0
shallwithin one year from
the commencement of the Act, constitute a Finance
2.
Commission.
li shall be the duty of the finance Commission to the principles, which
should govem- The distribution between
the State and the Panchayats of
thenet proceeds of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees leviable by the State,
which may be divided between them
under this Part and the allocation
between the Panchayats at al! levels of
proceeds;
their respective shares of such
3. The delciminauon of
the taxes, duties, tolls
assigned to, or appropriated by, the Panchayat;and fees which may be
Fanchayats from the Consolidated Fund of The grants-in-aid to the
the State;9rfei!
4. The measures needed to improve tie financial position
of the Panchayats,
<br>

Democratic Pr0cess 421

5. Any other matter referred to the Finance Commission by the Gover.

nor in the interests of sound finance of the Panchayats District
Planning Committee.
Article 243 ZD provides for District Planning Comrnittees [DPC] cornprising
representatives elected by the district Panchayat. It further says that the function
of this DPC is
1. to consolidate but not to prepare the district plan.
2. They are to consolidate the plans that have been made by each village
Panchayat for the village and, by each intermediary Panchayat for the
intermediary level, which is described differently in diferent States, as
Taluk or block or union.
3. All these different plans are to be brought together in the DPC where
they are to be "consolidated" into a draft district.
4. By way of capacitybuilding, Article 243ZD provides for a large proportion
of the members of the DPCto be nominated by the State government.
5. But, if the State government draws upon local human resources, such as
college teachers, ex-servicemen, retired civil servants, retired engineers
8or even serving ones, doctors, serving or retired, then the community
and its best representatives, inciuding businessmen, get involved in the
o process of developing their own district.

Problems And Prospects Of Panchayati Raj institutions

Panchayai Raj was indeed one of the nost reinarkat le social and politicai
reforms since independence. However, PRIs today fate a number of daunting
challenges. Across all states there is a lack of genuine devolution of funds,
functions and functionaries in Panchayati Raj. Added to that are social challenges
that work against the emergence of leadership from marginalized sections of
society, such as women, Dalits and tribals. Further, there is a lack of role clarity
among Gram Panchayats, Block Panchayats and District Panchayats. The socio
political changes expected by the introduction of Panchayati Raj system ie
mained largely unfulfilled for long.
Particularly the objectives like social equality, gender equity and the change
at grass-root level leadership envisaged as the main among the objectives of
Panchayati Raj were not fulfilled in a meaningful manner. In this regard it was felt
that the marginalized groups like the women and other backward castes in the
society continue to face many hurdles and found it difficult to participate at the
grass-root level developmental process.
To reach a viable Panchayat three hurdles have to be overcome. These
have remained what they always have been.
1. The domination of the bureaucracy over the PRIs. Representation of
atm members of parliament and state legislaturos are often became counter
poinits Productive. There are clash of interest between the legislatures and PR
sgioi:representatives particularly for getting votes.
[Link] Act does not define role of political parties clearly. it doesn't mention
<br>

422 Indian Constitutional Lavw: The New Challengcs

that political parties can enter the election

arena in their formal capacitv
The Act is silent about the relationship between PRIs and local bureau
cracy
3 The lack of adequate financial
resources to carry out the administration
Grant-in-aids is the major component of the PRIS revenue. This necd to
be suppiemented with the adequate collection of taxes by the PRIs and
a
compulsory transfer of some of the state govenment's revenue on the
recommendation of the state finance commission duly established for the
purpose.
4 The lack of training
programmes for the participant.s of the PRIs. Without
proper training, they lack the direction and know-how of the adminisira.
tion.
5 The Act doesn't speil out specific grounds for dissolution of PRIs by
states. This gives scope for the states to dissolve PRis on political con
siderations..
Although the PRs has so many positive features, yet the elite control over
the system has not permitted them to work as per the objectives enshrined in
Indian Constitution. The need is to evolve a comprehensive concept of PRI
system. For this PRIs have to play three important roles: l2d oii bae
1. It should bring about decentralization of administrative powers in the
sense that it has to encourage self-governance and mass participation in its
working
[Link] PRls have to contribute towards strengthening the planning process
at the micro level and overall rural development
3. It has to improve the access of the masses to the highest level of deci
sion-making process.
wt4. The PRI should ensure the empowerment of the poor and marginalized
people and protect them from exploitation of dominant class. 13i NI9D02
5. PRI members have to be trained for their new role. This is because they
have limited knowledge about the Panchayat Act and its provisions, objectives
and functions of PR bodies, the dynamics of rural society and the growth poten
tial of their areas. Bureaucracy has to become more committed to PRIs
itc: 6. Since political interference and over politicization of PRIs
lead to dysfunc
Ional, effort should be made to encourage unanimous election. n to the PRIbodies
without affecting village harmony. o:
h2 esh:3r wnen eB: O! uR0c3
In several states PRI election lead to
violence and local
kind of disharmony and politicization affecis the legitimacy tensions
[Link]
and spirit of demo
cratic decentralization. Hence, there is an urgent need to encourage
non-partisan
elections and procedures of PRIs. Otherwise it will lead to friction and violence.
Some states have already initiated this welcoming custom. Grass root democ
racy would seem to have been established in India through 73 rd
amendment of
the constitution. But even the Act has not resolved the problem of clearly defining
the role of local bureaucracy and the elected representatives. Unfortunately the
Act has not even defined the role of political parties or asob oA
sT
<br>

423
A
oritical review of the 73rd Amendment and the aSsessment of the wavs in
which different States have followed or resisted the stipulations outlined in the
4003 reforms reveals that the grass root democraCy in India still sufferc from
three limitations- federal constraints, a resistant bureaucracy and local elite cao
ture.
Roviewing experiences from, different states, siudies conducted by Over.
Seas Development
Institute [ODI] gives some propositions about the conditions
can lead to improved accountability for poor and
under which decentralization are:
marginai groups in society. They
1. Active participation among broad elemenis of society, involving
activities such as vating, campaigning, attending meetings, run
ning for office, lobbying represutatives, etc.
2. Fiscal and political support from higher level authorities within

legitimacy
rneonb oitt 3. Ihe. existence of competitive political parties whose
poor.
on the suppot of the
6bnt boucivor depends at least in pat
to nut orit 4.0Deeper economic transformations, which embolden traditionally,
subordinate groups to challenge local authority [Link]
CI 1 According to C. S. Prasad, "In
a
democratic set-up the role of individual is
important but where a community has become depressed, it is the corporate
efforts of men that alone holds promise for any remarkable progress. The 'Gram
Panchayat' has, therefore, a special. relevance for the Indian situation today in
a
which the individual finds himself reduced to a much too insignificant phenom
enon to go it alone. In the march of prosperi.y, he has but to make himself a part
of some organized medium". The organized medium can be nothing but the
panchayats. These panchayats can effectively deal with the countless problems
the village life is beset [Link]
ou
According to some studics it has been shown that political activism to imple
ment PRs the unequal social structure and rigid caste system prevalent in lndian
villages coupledwith power-hungry local bureaucracy kill the spirit ofthe system.
Unfortunately in some other states lack nf political will and administrative
apathy killed the real devolution of power sVy
G0 t617
Yet another problem connectéd to this is had been the love-hate relationship
between the local level bureaucracy and the elected represeritative of PRIs. Botn
use to move in different directions, due to lack of proper co- ordination and clarity
of functions More over there is also a tendencytowarcs Doit cization of local

o
Weaknesses of Gram PanchavatsnE I13qolavsb fysil:uarinco ni
The Gram Panchayats have worked near, acles in maany fields but there
are certain weaknesses of Panchayats too.
0291
Firstly, most of the representatives do not have the requisit e cation and
training to lgok after the varied functions of Panchayats effectively or to shoulder
Lne executive, judicial or socia responsiilit!!
10 iOilS/\i7TI0h D17 i .F4
<br>

424 Indian Constitutional Law: The New Challcnges

a Gram Panchayat extends over an
Secondly in its present form, resources of the Panchayats arc
unmanageably large area. Thidly, the financial
very inadequate.
Fourthly the net-work of government agencies and
functionaries at thie sub
divisional and the block-level lack cohesiveness.
Fifthly, the dirty politics has marred the efficient functioning of
Panchayats.
are mostly under the influ
Panchayats arc the seats of power in villages. They
ence of powerful and strong sections of people and only serve their interests.
And lastly, the Panchayats have bcen Concentrating
to the traditional func
etc.
tions. Many fields like drinking water supply, improvement uicommunication
have altogether been left untouched by the Panchayats.

Conciusion
India has the largest concentration of rural population than any other country
in the world. Development of villages is development of country. It is the dream
of every Indian tosee a developed India. But it is hard to build a developed India
if we ignore the 70 percent of rural India and keep them away from the fruits of
development.
Panchayati Raj has changed drastically after the 73rd amendment. It is
especially the founding values and specific objects of the new constitutional
amendments that had an unprecedented impact. In the welfare state like India
and in ie wake of introduction of various development programmes, administra
tion is expected to function as a catalytic agent of development and change. It
is more so at tne grassroots level; it becomes highly rolevant in items of redress
and amelioration cf grievances of the common-man, and proper use of resources,
so that the ideal of bridging the gaps among various sections becomes possible.
It is a matter of common belief that the administration at the grass root level
has not measured up to the expeiation of the general masses. It is so, because
of the fact that either it i under heavy influence of political leaders or it treats
itself as the top brass of the society and fails to develop confidence among
masses for a rural development. An assessment of the role of administration is
important in more than one way in this context. The founding fathers of Indian
Constitutio nave laid solid ideological foundations sovereignty,
democracy, SO
cialism, secularism, equality and justice. Though at the level of performance,
the.e are certain deficiencies therein.
Eventually, there are questions about the viability and role of administration
as instrument of development. However, it is important to analyze
whether rural
bureaucracy has acquired the status of a nevw class in itself or it is successful
in contributing to development administration. To
deal with these issues, we have
to pay particular attention to both the content of what can be called developmnent
and to the interpretation of democracy.
B
To reach a viable Panchayats three hurdles have to
be overcome. These
have remained what they always have been.
First, is the domination of the bureaucracy over the PRIs. The agent for
implementation of all major programmes has-been the bureaucracy. Various parallel
<br>

slas6 Democratic Proccssil 425

hodies such as the DRDA have grossly undermined the importance of the PRIs.
Either they have to be disbanded or made accountable to the PRIs.
Second is the lack of adequate financial resources to cary vut the admin
istration. grant-in- aids is the major component of the PRis revenue. This need
A

to be supplemented withsome the adequate collection of taxes by ihe PRIs and a

compulsory transfer of of the state govenment's revenue on the recom
mendation of the state finance commission duly established for the purpose.
The last hurdie ís related to the lack of training programmes for the partici
D2nts of the PRIs. VWithout proper training, they iack the direction of the admin
istration. To conciude, admitting that the PRIs in india are weak and assuming
shat it vill not be smooth sailing for them even after the 73t% Amendment, they
do have an important role to play in India's development.
Aiready, the PRIs have several achievements to their credit. These institu
tions have enhanced the political consciousness of the people and initiated a
process of democratic seed drilling in the Indian scil. What the government
should attenpt now is gradually to delimit the role of bureaucracy, to promote
local leadership, to renove structural deficiencies encourage PRIs to strengthen
thoir tinancialresources, bring ín effcctive [Link] among these institutions
Ad between PRIs and the state governments and give them effective powers in
relation to planning and its implementation, For this, the will to decentralize and
dolcgatc, on the part of the state governments, is a prerequisite.
With the introduction of the proposcd net work of Panchayati Raj system,
roughly seven lac people at the grass root level would be elected and in
one step
a
power would be given to those to whom it belonged. This would be "giant leap
forward" towards re-enforcing the foundations of democracy in the body politic.
But after seventeen years of experience it has been found that much has
remained to be achieved. The PRI in India is suffers from deficiency in staff
having expertise and specialization. The system also iacks the much needed
participative culture and therefore neglects effective communication, joint consul
tation, democratization and decentralization. Hence, it continues to suffer from
favouritism, nepotism, overlapping, corruption etc. Therefore, to meet this chal
lenge, it is essential to strengthen administrative system pertains to training of
different stakeholders.
The rural poor can derive benefits from welfare and development schemes
only when they get administrative support. Thus, what is needed is to harmonize
of different approaches to facilitete the development process and improve the
administration of PRIs.
Thousnds of villages face the problems of drinking water, housing, watering
and sanitation facilities. Millions of rural people are roofless and hungry. Malnu
tritiot, disease, starvation and idleness are on a high scale. They do not have
medica! or health facilities. The villages have remained isolated because of the
lack of a proper road transport system and communication.
Compaing to rural scene, the urban center is growing rapidly. The developa
Ment process was, however slow and uneven over the vast rural areas for
variety of reasons and this created dangerous imbalance in the country.
<br>

426 Indian Constitutional Law:: The New Challenges

. all
India badly needs apid progress in the vast countryside by changing out
ruled
undesirable conditions the great poverty and rapid population increase to be
gradualness, At the grass root level, the Panchayati Raj system needs
rejuvenaled, revamped and strengthened. The weaknesses that have crept have
to be removed. There is an inevitable need to overhaul the existing
system

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