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India,
a union of states, is a Sovereign, Secular,
Democratic Republic with a Parliamentary
system of Government. The Indian polity is
governed in terms of the Constitution, which
was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on
26 November 1949 and came into force on 26
November 1950.
The
President is the constitutional head of
Executive of the Union. Real executive power
vests in a Council of Ministers with the
Prime Minister as head. Article 74(1) of the
Constitution provides that there shall be a
Council of Ministers headed by the Prime
Minister to aid and advise the President who
shall, in exercise of his functions, act in
accordance with such advice. The Council of
Ministers is collectively responsible to the
Lok Sabha, the House of the People.
In
the states, the Governor, as the
representative of the President, is the head
of Executive, but real executive power rests
with the Chief Minister who heads the
Council of Ministers. The Council of
Ministers of a state is collectively
responsible to the elected legislative
assembly of the state.
The
Constitution governs the sharing of
legislative power between Parliament and the
State Legislatures, and provides for the
vesting of residual powers in Parliament.
The power to amend the Constitution also
vests in Parliament.
The
Union Executive consists of the President,
the Vice-President and Council of Ministers
with the Prime Minister at the head to aid
and advise the President.
President
The
President is elected by members of an
Electoral College consisting of elected
members of both Houses of Parliament and
Legislative Assemblies of the states, with
suitable weightage given to each vote. His
term of office is five years.
Among
other powers, the President can proclaim an
emergency in the country if he is satisfied
that the security of the country or of any
part of its territory is threatened whether
by war or external agression or armed
rebellion. When there is a failure of the
constitutional machinery in a state, he can
assume to himself all or any of the
functions of the government of that state.
Vice-President
The
Vice-President is elected by the members of
an electoral college consisting of members
of both Houses of Parliament in accordance
with the system of proportional
representation by means of a single
transferable vote. He holds office for five
years. The Vice-President is Ex-officio
Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
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Council
of Ministers
The
Council of Ministers comprises Cabinet
Ministers, Minister of States (independent
charge or otherwise) and Deputy Ministers.
Prime Minister communicates all decisions of
the Council of Ministers relating to
administration of affairs of the Union and
proposals for legislation to the President.
Generally, each department has an officer
designated as secretary to the Government of
India to advise Ministers on policy matters
and general administration. The Cabinet
Secretariat has an important coordinating
role in decision making at highest level and
operates under direction of Prime Minister.
The
Legislative Arm of the Union, called
Parliament, consists of the President, Rajya
Sabha and Lok Sabha. All legislation
requires consent of both houses of
parliament. However, in case of money bills,
the will of the Lok Sabha always prevails.
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Rajya
Sabha
The
Rajya Sabha consists of 245 members. Of
these, 233 represent states and union
territories and 12 members are nominated by
the President. Elections to the Rajya Sabha
are indirect; members are elected by the
elected members of Legislative Assemblies of
the concerned states. The Rajya Sabha is not
subject to dissolution, one third of its
members retire every second year.
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Lok
Sabha
The
Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of
the people chosen by direct election on the
basis of universal adult suffrage. As of
today, the Lok Sabha consists of 545 members
with two members nominated by the President
to represent the Anglo-Indian Community.
Unless dissolved under unusual
circumstances, the term of the Lok Sabha is
five years.
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State
Governments
The
system of government in states closely
resembles that of the Union. There are 25
states and seven Union territories in the
country.
Union
Territories are administered by the
President through an Administrator appointed
by him. Till 1 February 1992, the Union
Territory of Delhi was governed by the
Central government through an Administrator
appointed by the President of India. Through
a Constitutional amendment in Parliament,
the Union Territory of Delhi is now called
the National Capital Territory of Delhi from
1 February 1992. General elections to the
Legislative assembly of the National Capital
Territory were held in November 1993.
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Political
System
A
recognised political party has been
classified as a National Party or a State
Party. If a political party is recognised in
four or more states, it is considered as a
National Party.
The
Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Janata Dal,
Communist Party of India and Communist Party
of India (Marxist) are the prominent
National Parties in the Country. Telugu
Desam in Andhra Pradesh, Asom Gana Parishad
in Assam, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Bihar,
Maharashtrwad Gomantak Party in Goa,
National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir,
Muslim League in Kerala, Shiv Sena in
Maharashtra, Akali Dal in Punjab, All-India
Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu, Bahujan
Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party in Uttar
Pradesh and All-India Forward Block in West
Bengal are the prominent state parties.
Eleven
Lok Sabhas have been constituted so far.
Except for the short-lived Sixth and Ninth
Lok Sabha, the Congress Party ruled the
country. The Sixth Lok Sabha functioned for
about two years and four months and the
Ninth Lok Sabha functioned for one year and
two months.
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Judicial
System
The
Supreme Court is the apex court in the
country. The High Court stands at the head
of the state's judicial administration. Each
state is divided into judicial districts
presided over by a district and sessions
judge, who is the highest judicial authority
in a district. Below him, there are courts
of civil jurisdiction, known in different
states as munsifs, sub-judges, civil judges
and the like. Similarly, criminal judiciary
comprises chief judicial magistrate and
judicial magistrates of first and second
class.
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Supreme
Court
The
Supreme Court has original, appellate and
advisory jurisdiction. Its exclusive
original jurisdiction extends to all
disputes between the Union and one or more
states or between two or more states. The
Constitution gives an extensive original
jurisdiction to the Supreme Court to enforce
Fundamental Rights.
Appellate
jurisdiction of the Supreme Court can be
invoked by a certificate of the High Court
concerned or by special leave granted by the
Supreme Court in respect of any judgement,
decree or final order of a High Court in
cases both civil and criminal, involving
substantial questions of law as to the
interpretation of the constitution. The
President may consult the Supreme Court on
any question of fact or law of public
importance.
The
Supreme Court of India comprises of the
Chief Justice and not more than 25 other
Judges appointed by the President. Judges
hold office till 65 years of age.
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High
Courts
There
are 18 High Courts in the country, three
having jurisdiction over more than one
state. Bombay High Court has the
jurisdiction over Maharashtra, Goa, Dadra
and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Guwahati
High Court, which was earlier known as Assam
High Court, has the jurisdiction over Assam,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura,
Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. Punjab and
Haryana High Court has the jurisdiction over
Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.
Among
the Union Territories, Delhi alone has had a
High Court of its own. The other six Union
Territories come under jurisdiction of
different state High Courts.
The
Chief Justice of a High Court is appointed
by the President in consultation with the
Chief Justice of India and the Governor of
the state. Each High Court has powers of
superintendence over all courts within its
jurisdiction. High Court judges retire at
the age of 62.
The
jurisdiction as well as the laws
administered by a High Court can be altered
both by the Union and State Legislatures.
Certain High Courts, like those at Bombay,
Calcutta and Madras, have original and
appellate jurisdictions. Under the original
jurisdiction suits, where the subject matter
is valued at Rs.25,000 or more, can be filed
directly in the High Court. Most High Courts
have only appellate jurisdiction.
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Lok
Adalats are voluntary agencies for
resolution of disputes through
conciliatory method.
Legislative
Relations Between the Union and States
Under
the Constitution, Parliament has the power
to make laws for the whole of or any part of
the territory of India. The State
Legislatures have the power to make laws for
the States. The subjects on which
legislation can be enacted are specified in
the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
Parliament
has the exclusive right to legislate in
respect of items appearing in List I, called
the "Union List''. This list includes
area such as defense, foreign affairs,
currency, income tax, excise duty, railways,
shipping, posts and telegraphs, etc.
State
Legislatures have the exclusive power to
make laws in relation to items appearing in
List II called the "State List''. This
includes items like public order, police,
public health, communications, agriculture,
lotteries, taxes on entertainment and
wealth, sales tax and octroi, etc.
Both
Parliament and the State Legislatures have
the power to legislate in items appearing in
List III of the Constitution which is known
as "Concurrent List''. This list
includes items like electricity, newspapers,
criminal law, marriage and divorce, stamp
duties, trade unions, price controls, etc.
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