Salient features and the nature of the Indian Constitution: federal with a unitary bias

LUG-104 Constitutional Law-I, Unit I: Salient features of the Constitution of India, the nature of the Indian Constitution, the Preamble. · LLB · 60 min

The most frequently examined topic in Unit I. The lecture lists the salient features of the Constitution (the lengthiest written constitution, a blend of rigidity and flexibility, parliamentary government, a federal structure with a strong centre, single citizenship, an independent and integrated judiciary, universal adult franchise, secularism, fundamental rights, directive principles, fundamental duties, emergency provisions) and then concentrates on the question asked in six of the eight papers: is the Indian Constitution federal or unitary? It sets out the federal and the unitary features, the views of Wheare, Jennings, Austin and Ambedkar, and the cases: State of West Bengal v Union of India (1963), State of Rajasthan v Union of India (1977) and S.R. Bommai v Union of India (1994).

Objectives

List and explain the salient features of the Constitution of India with the Articles that embody each.
Explain the essential features of a federation and show which the Indian Constitution has.
Identify the provisions that give the Constitution a unitary bias (Articles 1-3, 249-253, 256-257, 312, 352-360, 368) and explain why they were adopted.
Compare the views of Wheare (quasi-federal), Jennings (federation with a strong centralising tendency), Austin (cooperative federalism) and Ambedkar.
Apply State of West Bengal (1963), State of Rajasthan (1977) and S.R. Bommai (1994) to the question whether India is a federation.

Slides

The lengthiest written constitution
Blend of rigidity and flexibility; parliamentary form of government
The federal features
The unitary features (1): the Union and the States
The unitary features (2): legislative, administrative and emergency powers
Wheare, Jennings, Austin and Ambedkar: what kind of federation?
State of West Bengal v Union of India (1963): the States are not sovereign
State of Rajasthan v Union of India (1977): the Constitution is 'amphibian'
S.R. Bommai v Union of India (1994): federalism is a basic feature
The other salient features: citizenship, judiciary, franchise, secularism, republic
The other salient features: rights, directives, duties, emergency, local government
How the examiner asks it

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