The Central executive: Council of Ministers, Prime Minister and collective responsibility (Articles 73-78)
LUG-104 Constitutional Law-I, Unit V: Central executive (Articles 73–75). · LLB · 60 min
Articles 73 to 78 describe how the Union's executive power is actually exercised: its extent (Article 73), the Council of Ministers that aids and advises the President (Article 74), the appointment, tenure, size and responsibility of Ministers (Article 75), the Attorney-General (Article 76), the conduct of government business (Article 77) and the Prime Minister's duties to the President (Article 78). The lecture explains the conventions on appointing a Prime Minister, the 91st Amendment's fifteen per cent cap, the six-month rule for non-member Ministers (S.P. Anand v. H.D. Deve Gowda), collective and individual responsibility, and the case law from Ram Jawaya Kapur to Manoj Narula that the examiner expects.
Objectives
- Explain the extent of the Union's executive power under Article 73 and its relation to Parliament's legislative power.
- Describe how the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers are appointed, the conventions in a hung House, and the six-month rule of Article 75(5).
- Explain collective responsibility under Article 75(3) and individual responsibility under Article 75(2), with U.N.R. Rao and the parliamentary practice.
- Apply the 91st Amendment limits on the size of the Council and the disqualification of defectors.
- Describe the functions of the Council of Ministers, the Attorney-General under Article 76, and the Prime Minister's duties under Article 78.
Slides
- Article 73: extent of the executive power of the Union
- Article 74: the Council of Ministers to aid and advise
- Article 75: appointment of the Prime Minister and the Ministers
- Article 75(5): the six-month rule and S.P. Anand v. H.D. Deve Gowda
- The 91st Amendment: size of the Council and defectors
- Article 75(3): collective responsibility
- Article 75(2): individual responsibility and the pleasure of the President
- Functions of the Council of Ministers
- Article 76: the Attorney-General for India
- Articles 77 and 78: conduct of business and the Prime Minister's duties
- How the examiner asks it
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