INDIAN CONSTITUITION //MOST EFFECTIVE NOTES ON INDIAN CONSTITUITIONAL BODIES//BY- TRIPURAEXAMS
Constitutional History
1. The Government of India Act 1935is considered as the one which initiated to give a written constitution to the country. The Chairman was Lord Linlithgow.
2. Cripps Mission 1942
3. Cabinet Mission Plan 1946: The Constituent Assembly was set up under this plan to draft India’s Constitution. First meeting of the Constituent Assembly held on 9th December, 1946. Second and third meeting held on 11th and 13th December, 1946 respectively.
4.
PanditNeheru presented the ‘Objective Resolution’ on 13th
December, which later on formed the Preamble of the Constitution of India.
5. The Assembly consisted of 389 members of whom 292 were elected through provincial legislative assemblies, 93 from princely states and 4 from Chief Commissioner’s areas.
6.
After separation of
Pakisthan, 299 members left in the Assembly and of that 284 members signed the Constitution on 26th November 1949
(11th session of constituent assembly). On this date the
Constitution was adopted and signed by the President Dr. Rajendra Prasad and
the date is also known as National Law Day.
7.
There were total 22
committees, among which, the most important was the Constitution Drafting
Committee chaired by Dr. B R Ambedkar. Another important committee was for
Fundamental Rights and Minorities chaired Sardar Patel.
8. On 26th January, 1950 the Constitution of India completely came into force and this is considered as Republic Day.
9. The Constituent Assembly adopted National Anthem on 24th January’ 1950. Vandematgharam and Jana Gana Mana were sung in the last session of the constituent assembly. It continued as a provisional Parliament from 27thNovembet , 1949 to March 1952.
10.
Width-Length ration of national flag is 2:3
11. Sources of Indian Constitution(only the important ones):
12. Law making procedure, parliamentary Government (Bicameral Govt. structure), single citizenship - UK Constitution.
13. Fundamental rights & Judiciary system – Constitution of USA
14. Directive Principles of state Policy – Irish Constitution
15. Procedure of Amendment of constitution – Constitution of South Africa
Salient Features of Indian Constitution:
1. Longest written constitution in the world. Originally it had 395 Articles, 22 parts and 8 schedules.
2. ‘Partly rigid and partly flexible’ – Article 368: Procedure of Amendment of Constitutional law.
3. Parliamentary form of Government: Lower House and Upper House (Bicameral Parliament)
4. Quasi Federal Structure
5. Fundamental Rights
6. Directive Principles of State Policy: Socialist, Gandhian and Liberal
7. Independent and Integrated Judiciary
8. Universal Adult Franchise
9. Secular
10. Single Citizenship
11. Fundamental Duties
12. Emergency Provisiosn
Preamble
1.
One must revise the complete text of
the preamble, key wards and their meaning.
2.
Berubari
Union Case – SC held that Preamble is not part of the Constitution
3.
Keshavananda
Bharti Case – SC held that Preamble is part of the Constitution
4.
42nd
Amendment Act. 1976, changes in the Preamble: socialist, Secular and Integrity -
these three words added.
5.
‘Socialist’ in Preamble means Social
and Economical equality
6.
Fraternity as mentioned by the
Preamble is promoted by the constitution through Single citizenship and
Fundamental Duties.
7.
‘Economic Justice’ as one of the
objectives of the Indian Constitution has been provided in the Preamble and
DPSP.
8.
The Preamble shows four components:
a.
Source of Authority of the Constitution – people of India
b.
Date of Adoption of the Constitution – 26th November, 1949
c.
Nature of Indian State – Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic and Republic
State.
d.
Objective of the Constitution – Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity
Formation of New States
1.
Article 2: Admission or Establishment of new states. (It relates to the states
which in not an existing state of the Union)
2.
Article 3 deals with the formation of new states, alter the boundary
etc. (deals with internal readjustment of the existing states. Note:
Formation of Telengana and Simandhra comes under Article 3).
3.
Article 4 states that laws made under
Article 2 and 3 are not constitutional amendments – means that such laws can be
passed by simple majority.
4.
Process of formation of new state or
other changes under Article 3:
a.
This Bill can be introduced in the
Parliament only with the prior recommendation of the President.
b.
Before recommending, President has to
refer to the state legislature for their views
c.
The Parliament or the President is not
bound by the views of the state legislature.
5.
JVP (Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai
Patel and PattabhiSitarammaiah) commission was appointed by the Constituent Assembly
on the issue of recognition of states in November 1947.
6.
First State formed on linguistic basis
in India was Andhra State.
7.
State Recantation committee was set up
in 1953 - Fazal Ali was the Chairman
8.
State Recognition Committee submitted
its report on 1955.
9.
Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya added by the North-Eastern Areas
(Reorganization) Act, 1971 (w.e.f. 21-1-1972).
10.
Andhra Pradesh
Reorganization Act 2014 – came into effect from 2nd June, 2014
11.
Changes take
place in first and fourth Schedule.
Citizenship
1. Acquisition
of citizenship by birth (after 26th Jan 1950), descent,
registration, naturalization, by incorporation of territories.
2. Loss of
citizenship by renunciation, termination, deprivation
3. 9th
January celebrated as PravashiBharatiya Divas, the commemorates the arrival of
Mahatma Gandhi in India in 1915. In 2014 Malaysian Minister for Natural Resources and Environment G Palanivel, who is president
of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), was the chief guest.
Fundamental
duties
Fundamental Duties are contained in Part IV A of the Constitution
in Article 51 A. It was included in The Constitution (Forty Second Amendments)
Act, 1976. (Read the fundamental duties from the study
material).
Initially there were 10 fundamental duties.
Clause 51 A (k) was included by 86th Amendment Act, 2002, thus
making it total 11 fundamental duties.
Fundamental Rights: Article 12-35
1. Part III of the Constitution and Article 12 defines the term ‘state’. Part III is also known as ‘Magna Carta’ of India.
2. Six Fundamental rights are
available
3. Laws inconsistent with
Fundamental rights are void as per Article 13 – provides the supremacy of
Fundamental Rights.
4. Article 14-18 contains:
Right to Equality.
a. Article 14 guarantees
equality before law and equal protection of laws for all individuals residing
within the territory of India.
b. Article 15 provides that the State shall not
discriminate any citizen on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex and the
place of birth.
c. Article 16 provides
equality of opportunity in the matters of public employment.
d. Article 17 provided
prohibition of the Practice of Untouchability.
e. Titles other than military and academic are abolished under Article 18.
5. Article 19-22 contains the
Right to Freedom
a. Article 19 (1) (a) – Freedom
of speech and expression
b. Article 19 (1) (b) – Right
to assemble peacefully without arms.
c. Article 19 (1) (c) – Right
to form association or unions
d. Article 19 (1) (d) – Right
to move freely throughout the territory of India
e. Article 19 (1) (e) – Right
to reside and settle in any part of India
f.
Article 19 (1) (g) – Right to practice and profession or to carry on
any occupation, trade or business. (Note: Article 19 (1) (f) was omitted)
g. Article 20 deals with the protection in respect of convictions for offenses
h. Article 21 guarantees protection of life and personal liberty.
i.
Article 2 1 A guarantees the right to education, inserted by 86th
Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002. This amendment also inserted 11th
fundamental duty under Article 51A(K) under which all citizen of India or
parents shall provide opportunities for education to their children between age
of 6 to 14.
j. Article 22 deals with the protection against arrest and detention.
6. Article 23-24: Right against Exploitation: Article 23 prohibits traffic in human beings and Article 24 prohibits employment of children.
7. Article 25-28 contain Right to Religious Freedom
8. Article 29-30 contains Cultural and Educational Rights. Article 29 deals with the protection of interests of the minorities and Article 30 deals with right of minorities to establish educational institutions.
9. Article 32 contains Right
to Constitutional Remedies. Dr. B R Ambedkar referred this article as ‘Heart
and Soul’ of our constitution. G Palanievel, Minister of Natural Resources and
Environment, Malaysia, was the chief guest for 2014. Event held in Delhi.
10. The Constitution (42nd
amendment) Act, 1976 imposed certain restrictions on the right to property and the
Constitution of (44th Amendment) Act, 1978 has removed it from the
fundamental right and now placed under Legal rights under Article 300A
11. Amendment of fundamental rights can be done by parliament, but
without disturbing the basic structure of the constitution.
12. Suspension of fundamental
rights: Under Article 358, when National Emergency
is proclaimed on the grounds of external aggression or war (and not armed
rebellion), the Fundamental right under Article 19 is automatically suspended.
The constitution empowers the President to suspend any or all the fundamental
rights by issuing a separate proclamation during the national emergency. The 44th amendment act, 1978
prohibits suspension of Article 20 and 21.
13. No separate mention of Freedom of press. It is inherent in Article
19: Freedom of expression
Directive Principles of State Policy
1.
Article 36 to 51 contained in Part IV
of the Constitution of India are inspired by Irish Constitution.
2.
Article 39A: Equal justice and free
legal aid. Added in 42nd Amendments.
3.
Article
40: The State shall take steps to organize village panchayats and endow them
with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function
as units of self-government.
4.
Article
41 directs the state to secure Right to work (MGNREGA), to education and public
assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness etc.
The President of
India: Provision made by Article 52
1. The President is the constitutional head and first citizen of India
2. Chapter 1 of the Part IV of the Constitution contains the provisions regarding the President
3. Qualifications: Citizen of
India, At least 35 years of age, shall be eligible to become a member of the
House of People, shall not hold office of Profit under the Union or state Govt.
4. President is elected by Electoral
College which consisting of the elected members of the Parliament and State
Legislative Assemblies and UTs of Delhi and Pondicherry.
5. The term of office of the
President is 5 years
6. The President appoints –
the Prime Minister and other ministers, CAG of India, Judge of High Courts and
Supreme Courts, Governors of the States, Chief Election Commissioners and other
Election Commissioners, Finance Commission, Attorney General of India, Chairman
and members of UPSC.
7. The President hasthe power to summon, prorogue the meetings of the Parliament and dissolve the Lok Sabha.
8. He has the powerto grant pardons.
9. He has the power to
declare emergency under Articles 352 (National Emergency), 356(President’s rule
in state) and 360(Financial emergency).
10. He is the supreme
Commander of Armed forces.
11. The President has the right to seek information from the Prime Minister under Article 78 of the Constitution.
12. The President can be impeached under Article 61 of the Constitution of India
Parliament
1. As per Article 79, the Parliament
of India consists the President and two houses: Council of states (Rajya Sabha/
Upper House) and The House of People (Lok Sabha/Lower house)
2. Joint sitting of the
Parliament is presided by the Lok Sabha speaker
3. As per Article 101 , a person can’t be a member of both Parliament and Sate Legislature
4. A person is disqualified to become a member of the Parliament if he is: not a citizen of India, unsound mind, undercharged insolvent, holds office of profit.
5. If a member of Parliament is absent for a period of 60 days without permission his seat may be declared as vacant.
6. The Parliament should meet at least once in a period of 6 months.
7. The quorum of Rajya Sabha
is 25 members
8. Union ministers are responsible to the Parliament.
9. As per Article 100 all questions of either house shall be determined by a majority of votes of the members present and voting. The Speaker or the person acting as the speaker shall not have the right to vote but he can cast his vote if there is a tie.
10. The quorum to either House of the Parliament is one tenth of the total number of the members of the Houses. If there is no quorum the speaker or the chairman shall adjourn the House until a quorum.
11. As per Article 99 every member of the Parliament shall make Oath before the President or some other person appointed by the President.
12. The Speaker of Lok Sabha may resign by sending his resignation to Dy. Speaker and vise a verse.
13. As per Article 89, the
Vice President is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
14. As per Article 87, the President of India at the commencement of the first session after each general election and at the commencement of the first session in the year shall address Parliament assembled together.
15. President of India may prorogue either houses of the Parliament. He may also dissolve the house of People.
16. The President of India summons the Parliament. Period of six months shall not be elapsed between two sittings.
17. Qualification: Citizen of
India, He has 30 years of the age for Rajya Sabha and 25 years for Lok Sabha,
other qualification prescribed by the Parliament.
18. The Period of duration of Loksabha is 5 years and may be extended to maximum of one year at the time during the proclamation of Emergency.
19. As per Article 83 of the Constitution Rajya Sabha shall not be dissolved. One-third of the members of the Rajya Sabha shall retire on the expiration of every 2 years.
20. As per Article 81, House
of the People shall consists 530 members from states and 20 members from UTs and
2 nominated members (optional nominated by President).
21. As per Article 80 Council
of states shall consist of 238 members and 12 nominated members by President.
The Union Government
1. Article 74 and 75 deals with the provisions regarding the Union Council of Ministers
2. PM is the Head of the
Council of Ministers, PM is the Head of the Government.
3. The Council Ministers shall aid and advise the President.
4. The Union Council of Ministers consists three categories of Ministers: Cabinet Ministers, State Ministers, Deputy Ministers.
5. Ministers must have membership in either house of the Parliament.
6. If a person who is not a member of either house of the Parliament is elected as minister, he should be either house with a period of 6 months from the date of assumption of office.
7. Article 75 (1): the
President appoints the PM and other Ministers are appointed by the President on
the advice of the PM
8. Article 75 (3): The Union Council of Ministers shall collectively responsible to the House of People.
9. The Cabinet Ministers play crucial role in decision making and they are head so various departments in the Ministry like Home, Defense, Finance, Foreign affairs, Railways etc.
10. State Ministers are the heads of some crucial departs of the ministry.
11. Deputy Ministers help Cabinet Ministers.
12. The real executive head of the Union Govt. is the Prime Minister.
13. The word ‘Cabinet’ is included by the Constitution (Forty Forth Amendment) Act, 1978.
14. Sakaria Commission – on
Central State relation
Union judiciary: Supreme Court
1. Article 124: Establishment and Constitution of Supreme Court
2. The Supreme Court consists
of Chief Justice and not more than 30 other Judges. All of them are appointed
by the President. Hon’ble Justice H L Dattuis the chief Justice of India. H J
Kania was the first CJI of India. At present there are total 29 judges in SC
including CJI.
3. The Judges of the Supreme
Court hold office until 65 years
4. Qualification: a citizen
of India has at least 5 years experience as judge of High Court or at least 10
years as an advocate of the High Court.
5. Original, Appellate and
Advisory jurisdiction
6. A Judge of the Supreme Court can be removed on the ground of misbehavior or incapacity by an order the President supported by the majority of the total membership to that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting.
7. Third Schedule of Constitution: Other or affirmation for a Judge of Supreme Court.
8. In case of the office of
the Chief Justice of India is vacant or by his absence the President may
appoint other Judge of the Court to perform the duties of the office.
9. The Supreme Court shall be Court of Record. (Article 129)
10. The Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction in case of any dispute between the Govt. of India and one or more states; or between two or more states.
11. Under Article 136 the SC may grant special leave to appeal from any judgement, decree or sentence passed by any court in India except the court constituted under any law related to Armed Forces.
12. N The SC has the power to issue orders or writs including the writs in the nature of the Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Prohibition, Quo Warranto and Certiorari as per the law of the Parliament (Article 139)
13. The law declared by SC shall be binding on all the courts in India (Article 141)
14. The SC has the power of Judicial Review. It can declare any law of legislature or decisions of the executive as unconstitutional if they are against the provisions of the constitution.
Panchayati
Raj
1. The Constitution (73rd
Amendment) Act, 1993 added provisions to the Constitution regarding Panchayats.
2.
The 7th Amendment Act
removed the original Part IX of the constitution. Later it was introduced as Part
IX of the constitution contains provisions regarding Panchayats.
3. The Eleventh Schedule (corresponding
to Articel243G) was also included which provides 29 items within the perview of
the Pachayats.
4. Gram Sabha consists registered voters
of village.
5. The powers and functions of Garam
Sabha are provided by law of the Sate. (Article 234A).
6.
Panchayats shall be constituted at
village level, intermediate and districtlevels. However, intermediate level
panchayats may not be constituted in a state having a population not exceeding
20 lakhs(Article 243 B)
7. All the seats in a Panchayat shall be
filled by person chosen by direct election. (Article 243 C)
8.
The Chairperson of the Panchayat at
the village level shall be elected in the manner provided by the law of state.
9.
The Chairperson of the Panchayat at
the intermediate or district level shall be elected by the elected members from
among them .
10.
In every Panchayat seats shall be reserved for
Scs and STs according to their population.
11.
One third of the seats that are
reserved for SC and ST shall be reserved for women belonging to SC and ST.
12.
One third (includes seats reserved for
SC and ST women) of the total number
seats shall be reserved for women.
13.
The office of the Chairperson at all
levels of Panchayats shall be reserved for SC, ST and Women as per the law of
the state. (Article 243 D)
14. The duration of Panchayat is 5 years
from the date of its first meeting. (Article 243 E)
15.
The powers, authority and
responsibility of Panchayats and powers to impose taxes by panchayats shall be
as per the law of the state.
16.
As per Article 243 I, the Governor of
the State constitutes Finance Commission once for every five years to review
financial position of the Panchayats.
17.
Article 243 J: maintenance of accounts
and audit of accounts shall be as per the law of states.
18. Article 243 K: The State Election Commission
conducts elections to all panchayat. It consist State Election Commissioner
appointed by the Governor.
19.
The provisions of this part (Part IX)
also apply to Union Territories.
Urban Local Bodies:
1. The Constitution (74th
amendment) Act, 1993 added provisions to the Constitution regarding
Municipalities.
2. 12th Schedule was also
included which has 18 items under the purview of Municipalities.
3.
Part IXA: Article 243 P to Article ZG
of the Constitution contain provisions regarding Municipalities.
4.
Municipality means as institution of
self-government constituted under Article 243 Q of the Constitution.
5.
As per Article 243Q of the
Constitution Nagar Panchayat for a transitional area (are transition from rural
to urban); Municipal Council for a smaller urban area; municipal Corporation
for a larger urban area shall be constituted.
6.
Article 243R: all seats in the
Municipality shall be filled by person chosen by direct election.
7. Ward Committees consisting one or more
wards, shall be constituted within area of Municipality having population of
three lakhs or more.
8.
Article 243 T: In every Municipality
seats shall be reserved for SC, ST according to their population in Municipal
Area.
9. One third of the seats that are
reserved for SC, ST shall be reserved for women belonging to SC and ST.
10.
Article 243 U: The duration of every
Municipality is five years from the first date of its meeting.
11.
The Finance Commission Constituted
under Article 243I reviews the financial position of the Municipalities and
makes recommendations to the Governor of the Sate.
12.
The State Election commission conducts
elections to the Municipalities.
The State executive
1. As per Article 164 , the CM is
appointed by the Governor. Governor also appoints Advocate General of the
State, Chairman and members of State Public Service Commission. President
consults the Governor in appointing judges of High Court and the Governor
appoints the district court judges.
2.
If a person who is not a member of
Legislative Assembly becomes a CM, he should be elected to the Legislative
Assembly within a period of six months.
3.
The salaries and allowances of the
Ministers are determined by the act of the State Legislature and charged on the
Consolidated Fund of the State.
State Judiciary: High Court
1.
State Judiciary consist High court and
Subordinate Courts.
2.
Article 214-231 of Part VI of the
Constitution of India dealt with the provisions regarding the appointment,
removal, qualification, salary, tenure and power of the Judges of High Courts.
3.
The President of India appoints Chief
and other Judges of High Court
4.
The Governor appoints the Judges of
the District courts.
5.
The Presidents of India consults the
Chief Justice of India, the Chief Justice of HC and the Governor of the state
concerned while appointing Judges.
6.
The HC consist Chief Justice and such number
of other judges determined by the Act of the Parliament.
7.
The Chief Justice and other Judges can
be removed by the Parliament by impeachment.
8.
The Chief Justice and other Judges
hold the office until 62 years. However,
they may resign by addressing a letter to the President.
9.
Qualification: a citizen of India, he
must held Judicial office for atleast 10 years or atleast 10 years service as
advocate of HC
10.
Original Jurisdiction of HC: disputes
related to election of Members of Parliament and State Legislative, enforcement
of fundamental rights, revenue matters, will, marriage, divorce, contempt of
court.
11. There are 24 High Courts in India.
Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur HCs are added in 2013. Calcutta HC is the oldest
HC of India
12.
Two or more states can be put under
the jurisdiction of one HC. In that case it is called ‘Bench’
State Legislative Assembly:
1.
Article 168 to 213 of Part VI of the
Constitution deal with the provisions regarding the State Legislature.
2.
The State Legislature consists
Governor and either of the Houses or both Houses of legislature (Legislative
Assembly and Legislative Council/Bidhan Sabha and BidhanParishad)
3.
Seven states Karnataka, J & K,
Maharashtra, UP, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh and Telengana have Legislative
Council. All other states have Unicameral Legislature.
4. The Legislative Assembly consist the members
elected by the people by direct election.
The membership ranges from 60 to 500. Sikkim has minimum number as 32.
5.
Qualification: citizen of India, 25
years and such other qualifications prescribed by the Act of Parliament.
6.
Tenure is 5 years from the date of its
first session after the general election. This can be extended to a maximum of
6 months during the emergency. It should hold its meeting at least once in a
period of 6 months.
7.
The Governor dissolves the Assembly on
the advice of the Council of Ministers.
Total number of
Schedules as of now: 12
1st
Schedule: List of states and union territories. (Now
there will be 29 states and 7 UTs)
2nd
Schedule: Salary and Emoluments of the Union Executives
and the Judge of SC and HC
3rd
Schedule: Form of oath and affirmations of members of
legislature, ministers and judge
4th
Schedule:Allocation of seats to States and UTs in the
Rajya Sabha
5th Schedule: Administration and
control of Scheduled Areas and STs
6th
Schedules: Administration of Tribal Areas of North Eastern States (Primarily
Tripura & Arunachal Pradesh)
7th
Schedule: Distribution of Powers between the Union and the State Govt. (Union
List, State List, Concurrent List)
8th
Schedule: Description of 22 Official languages recognized by the Constitution
of India
9th Schedule: Validation of certain
acts and regulations
10th
Schedule: Anti-defection law
11th Schedule: Powers, authority and
responsibilities of Panchayats (total 29 subjects)
12th Schedule: Powers, authority
and responsibilities of Urban Local Bodies (total 18 subjects)
Other important
areas to be covered:
a.
Constitutional Bodies: CAG (Article 148), Election Commission
(Article 324), National Commission for SC (Article 338), National Commission
for ST (Article 338), Finance Commission (Article 280), UPSC (Article 315) and
State Public Service Commission.
b. CAG (Article 148), Attorney General of
India (Article 76), Solicitor General of India.
c. Non-constitutional statutory bodies:
National Commission for Women, National Commission for Minorities, National
Commission for Bankward Classes, National human Rights Commission, Central
Vigilance Commission, Delimitation Commission, Law Commission (Current 20th
law commission tenure is 01.09.2012 to 31.08.2015), Central Information
Commission and State Information Commission: RTI Act 2005, National Development
Council,
d. Planning commission
e. Lokpal and Lokayukt
f. Article 370 of Part XXI gives special
status to J & K and has a separate constitution.
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