SALIENT FEATURES OF OUR CONSTITUION
1. FEATURES –
LENGTHIEST :
·
Constitutions are classified into written, like the
American Constitution, or unwritten, like the British Constitution. The Constitution of India is the lengthiest of
all the written constitutions of the world.
· The Constitution contained a Preamble, 395 Articles (divided into 22 Parts) and 8 Schedules. Presently (2016), it consists of a Preamble, about 465 Articles (divided into 25 Parts) and 12 Schedules2.
2. DRAWN FROM VARIOUS SOURCES :
1. BLEND OF RIGIDITY AND FLEXIBILITY :
·
Constitutions are also classified into rigid and
flexible. A rigid Constitution is one that requires a special procedure for its
amendment, as for example, the American Constitution.
·
A flexible constitution, on the other hand, is one
that can be amended in the same manner as the ordinary laws are made, as for
example, the British Constitution.
2. FEDERAL SYSTEM WITH UNITARY BIAS :
• The
Constitution of India establishes a federal system of government. It contains all
the usual features of a federation, viz., two government, division of powers,
written Constitution, supermacy of Constitution, rigidity of Constitution,
independent judiciary and bicameralism.
• However,
the Indian Constitution also contains a large number of unitary or non-federal
features, viz., a strong Centre, single Constitution, single citizenship,
flexibility of Constitution, integrated judiciary, appointment of state
governor by the Centre, all-India services, emergency provisions, and so on.
3. PARLIAMENTARY FORM OF GOVERNMENT :
I. . The Constitution of India has opted for the British
parliamentary System of Government rather than American Presidential System of
Government.
I.
The parliamentary system is also known as the
‘Westminster’10 model of government, responsible government and cabinet
government
I.
Presence of nominal and real
executives;
4. SYNTHESIS OF PARLIAMENTARY SOVEREIGNTY AND JUDICIAL SUPREMACY. :
• The
doctrine of sovereignty of Parliament is associated with the British Parliament
while the principle of judicial supremacy with that of the American Supreme
Court.
5. INTEGRATED AND INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY :
• The Indian
Constitution establishes a judicial system that is integrated as well as
independent. The Supreme Court stands at the top of the integrated judicial
system in the country.
• Below it,
there are high courts at the state level. Under a high court, there is a
hierarchy of subordinate courts, that is, district courts and other lower
courts.
• This single system of courts enforces both the central laws as well as the state laws, unlike in USA, where the federal laws are enforced by the federal judiciary and the state laws are enforced by the state judiciary.
6. FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS :
• Part III of the Indian Constitution guarantees six11 fundamental rights to all the citizens:
1. Right to
Equality (Articles 14–18),
2. Right to
Freedom (Articles 19–22),
3. Right
against Exploitation (Articles 23–24),
4. Right to
Freedom of Religion (Articles25–28),
5. Cultural
and Educational Rights (Articles 29–30),
- Right to Constitutional Remedies (Article 32).
7. DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY :
• According
to Dr B R Ambedkar, the Directive Principles of State Policy is a ‘novel
feature’ of the Indian Constitution.
• They are
enumerated in Part IV of the Constitution. They can be classified into three
broad categories— socialistic, Gandhian and liberal–intellectual.
8. FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES :
• The
original constitution did not provide for the fundamental duties of the
citizens.
• These were
added during the operation of internal emergency (1975–77) by the 42nd
Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976 on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh
Committee.
• The 86th
Constitutional Amendment Act of 2002 added one more fundamental duty.
• The Part
IV-A of the Constitution (which consists of only one Article—51- A) specifies
the eleven Fundamental Duties viz., to respect the Constitution, national flag
and national anthem; to protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of the
country; to promote the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people; to
preserve the rich heritage of our composite cultureand so on.
FEATURES :
• Secular
State : The term ‘secular’ was added to the Preamble of the Indian
Constitution by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976.
• Universal
Adult Franchise : The Indian Constitution adopts universal adult
franchise as a basis of elections to the Lok Sabha and the state legislative
assemblies. Every citizen who is not less than 18 years of age has a right to
vote without any discrimination of caste, race, religion, sex, literacy,
wealth, and so on. The voting age was reduced to 18 years from 21 years in 1989
by the 61st Constitutional Amendment Act of 1988.
• Single
Citizenship
• Independent
Bodies : The Indian Constitution not only provides for the
legislative, executive and judicial organs of the government (Central and
state) but also establishes certain independent bodies. They are envisaged by
the Constitution as the bulworks of the democratic system of Government in
India.
15. EMERGENCY PROVISIONS :
• The Constitution envisages three types of emergencies,
namely:
a) National emergency on the ground of war or external aggression or armed
rebellion16 (Article 352);
b) State emergency (President’s Rule) on the ground of failure of
Constitutional machinery in the states (Article 356) or failure to comply with
the directions of the Centre (Article 365); and
c) Financial emergency on the ground of threat to the financial stability or credit of India (Article 360).
d) During an
emergency, the Central Government becomes all- powerful and the states go into
the total control of the centre. It converts the federal structure into a
unitary one without a formal amendment of the Constitution.
16. THREE-TIER GOVERNMENT :
• Originally, the Indian Constitution, like any other federal constitution, provided for a dual polity and contained provisions with regard to the organisation and powers of the Centre and the states.
• Later, the
73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts (1992) have added a third-tier of
government (i.e., local) which is not found in any other Constitution of the
world.
• The 73rd
Amendment Act of 1992 gave constitutional recognition to the panchayats (rural
local governments) by adding a new Part IX17 and a new Schedule 11 to the
Constitution. Similarly, the 74th Amendment Act of 1992 gave constitutional
recognition to the municipalities (urban local governments) by adding a new
Part IX-A18 and a new Schedule 12 to the Constitution.
17. Co-operative Societies :
>> The 97th Constitutional Amendment Act
of 2011 gave a constitutional status and protection to co-operative societies.
In this context, it made the following three changes in the Constitution:
1. It
made the right to form co-operative societies a fundamental right (Article 19).
2. It included
a new Directive Principle of State Policy on promotion of cooperative societies
(Article 43-B).
3. It added a
new Part IX-B in the Constitution which is entitled as “The Cooperative
Societies” (Articles 243-ZH to 243-ZT).
CRITICISM OF THE CONSTITUTION :
• A
Borrowed Constitution
• A Carbon
Copy of the 1935 Act
• Un-Indian
or Anti-Indian
• An
Un-Gandhian Constitution
• Elephantine Size
• Paradise of the Lawyers
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