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FEDERALISM IN INDIA BY:- ADV. PRADNYA PATIL
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FEDERALISM
IN INDIA
AUTHORED
BY:- ADV. PRADNYA PATIL
What
is Federalism?
Federalism is derived from the Latin
word “foedus”, which means “covenant, pact, and treaty”. Federalism is a
principle that defines a system wherein the government divides its power
between the National Government and State Government. It is a dual machinery
system upon which a government works. There is a distribution of powers between
the central authority and various state authorities.
The principle followed by these types
of government is “Separation of Power”. India works on the principle of two
levels of government system in which it divides its power between Central
Government and State Government. The constitution of India which envisages the
Parliamentary form of Government is federal in structure with unitary features.
The main branches of the Federal Government are the legislative, the executive,
and the judiciary.
Principles
of Federalism in the Constitution
Federalism is based on two
principles:
Separation of Power
Checks and balances
The Federal form of Government highly
maintains these two principles. The power of each machinery of government is
distributed and none of the machinery interferes with the work of others. The
first judgment concerning the principle of separation of power was given in the
case Ram Jawaya v State of Punjab[1],
where the Supreme Court noted that "The principle of separation of power
was not fully accepted in India". However, the same principle found a
clear place in the Indian context from the case of Indira Nehru Gandhi Vs. Raj
Narain[2].
The principle of checks and balances
in the federal system is required for the proper functioning of all levels of
organs of government. Each organ of government checks the functioning of other
organs so that the other organ may not violate the principle of separation of
power and no organ becomes too powerful. Some examples of checks and balances
are:
The judiciary may exercise judicial
review upon the legislature and executive.
The executive has the power to
appoint judges for courts.
Legislation may review the
functioning of the judiciary.[3]
Function of
Federalism
The basic function of federalism is
to maintain the separation of power between the Central Government and State
Government. Central Government makes laws from the areas listed in List I of
the Seventh Schedule (e.g, Foreign Affairs, Extradition, Foreign Jurisdiction,
etc) and State Government makes laws from the areas listed in List II of the
Seventh Schedule (e.g, Public order, Public health, and sanitation, etc). List
III is the Concurrent List, it talks about the areas where both governments
have the autonomy to make law.
Another function of federalism is to
maintain justice by the supremacy of the Supreme Court. Also, there are proper checks
and balances under this form of government so that no branch becomes more
powerful in suppressing the other. According to James Madison “If men were
angels. No government would be necessary”.
Federal
Features of the Indian Constitution
1. Two sets of Government
There are 2 sets of government in
India and that is union government and central government. The central
government looks after the whole country and the state government mainly works
for the states. The working of both governments are different.
2. Division of Powers
Powers between central government and
state government have been divided by the Constitution of India. The seventh
schedule of the Indian constitution provides how the division of powers is made
between state and central government. Both central and state governments have
separate powers and responsibilities.
The 7th schedule of the Indian
constitution consists of the union list, state list, and concurrent list.
Union list
It contains all the matters on which
only the central government can make laws.
State list
It contains all the matters on which the
state government can make laws.
Concurrent list
It contains all the matters on which
both central and state governments can make laws.
Written Constitution
India has one of the largest constitutions
in the world which consists of 395 articles 22 parts and 12 schedules. Every
article of the Indian constitution is clearly written down and has been discussed
in full detail.
Supremacy of the Constitution
The Constitution of India is regarded
as the supreme law of the land. No law can be made or passed against the
constitution of India. The Constitution of India is above all citizens and
organizations of the country.
Supreme judiciary
The Supreme Court of India is
regarded as the superior court of the country. The decision of the Supreme
Court is binding upon all courts and it has the power to interpret the articles
of the constitution.
Bicameral-legislation
In India, the legislature is
bicameral. It has two houses that are Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The upper
house of the parliament which represents the states is the Rajya Sabha and the
lower house of the parliament which represents the people in general is Lok
Sabha.
The constitution of India consists of
federalism features such as division of power, supreme judiciary, two sets of
government, bicameral-legislation, etc which clearly shows its federal nature.
The division of power between state and central government shows the federal
nature of India and the supremacy of the judiciary shows the absolute power of
the Supreme Court that its decision is supreme and binding upon all courts.
However, the powers given to the central government have more weight in
comparison to the state government.[4]
What makes
India Quasi-Federal?
There are many examples that clearly show
that the Indian constitution has federal features but it also shows that it has
been evident with quasi-federal features too. Some of the examples that show
that India is a quasi-federal are followed
– Division of power between the
central and state government but the central government has been given more
power than the state government.
– Parliament can override the laws
which are passed by the states for the reason of national interest.
– Residual powers are vested with the
central government.
– Major taxation powers are also
vested with the central government.
– Parliament does not represent the
states equally, however, in a pure federal government the upper house of the
legislature has equal representation from the constituent states. But in our Rajya
Sabha, the states do not have equal representation. The populous state has more
representatives in the Rajya Sabha than the less populous states.
– In India, citizens are allotted
single citizenship which is not a feature of pure federal government. As in
true federal nation, citizens are allotted dual citizenship. First, they are
the citizens of their provinces then they are the citizens of their nation.[5]
Conclusion
Indian structure of Government is
federal with some feature of Unitary form of Government. Union and State follow
the principle of separation of power but not in the strict sense. Principle of
Distribution of powers is usually followed in India. This makes India a federal
country of its own types. For easy convenience, it is described as
Quasi-Federal Country.
Article Information
FEDERALISM IN INDIA BY:- ADV. PRADNYA PATIL
Authors: ADV. PRADNYA PATIL
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2024/04/15
- Issue 7
About Journal
International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
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