ABSTRACT
The Constitution of 26 January 1950 (as adopted by the Constituent Assembly two months earlier) declares that the People of India have constituted a Sovereign, Democratic Republic, which secures justice, liberty, equality and fraternity for its citizens. As of late 2015 the Constitution consisted of 448 articles, 12 schedules and 100 amendments, the most recent of which was assented to in May 2015. Federal government (‘the Centre’) is carried out under the authority of the President, a constitutional head of state, who is elected for a five-year term (and is eligible for re-election) by an electoral college comprising elected members of both houses of the national Parliament and of the state legislatures. Executive authority is exercised on the advice of the Council of Ministers, which is responsible to Parliament and must command sufficient support there in order to conduct government effectively. The Prime Minister, appointed by the President, recommends the other ministers for presidential appointment. The Vice-President of India is elected by a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament and is, ex officio, Chairman of the upper house, the Rajya Sabha (see on Parliament below). There is an independent judiciary. Fundamental rights are guaranteed by the Constitution, Hindi is declared the official language of the Union (although more than 20 other languages, including English, are also recognized for official purposes) and there are sufficient other details to give India one of the longest written fundamental laws in the world. Amendment of the Constitution is by parliamentary legislation, except in certain cases (e.g. some judicial matters, distribution of powers between the Union and the states), where ratification by not less than one-half of the state legislatures is required. The Union consists of states and territories. Under the original 1950 Constitution the organization of the federal republic was more complex, with four types of state. In 1956, when the creation of linguistic territorial units was conceded, the former so-called ‘part A’ and ‘part B’ states (the latter distinguished from the former by having a rajpramukh rather than a governor) were made States, while the old ‘part C’ states and the single ‘part D’ state became Union Territories. The territories (there are six Union Territories and Delhi, which was given special status as the National Capital Territory in 1991) are directly administered by the President, who appoints a chief executive-Delhi and Pondicherry also have legislatures and popular ministries, like the states. The states, of which there are now 29, enjoy a similar institutional structure to the Centre, with a Governor, appointed by the President for five years, exercising executive authority through a Chief Minister and cabinet answerable to a Legislative Assembly. These state legislatures (unicameral in all but seven states) enjoy law-making authority in all subjects listed in the State List contained in the seventh schedule of the Constitution. There are 66 areas on the List, including local government, the police, public health and education, while the Concurrent List of over 40 joint responsibilities includes criminal law, marriage and divorce, and labour law. The Union List, however, contains nearly 100 subjects, including areas such as external affairs, defence and communications, and is the default repository of any items not specified on the other two lists. Also, if Union and state law are in conflict, the former prevails, while in a time of emergency Parliament may invade the competencies normally vested in the states. Considerable reserve powers, therefore, have
accrued to the Centre. Meanwhile, another constitutional advantage for the Centre over the states is the device known as President’s Rule, whereby the national executive has the authority to revoke the powers of the state institutions (except the judiciary) and impose direct rule.
