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Subject: Polity

  • Water wars of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

    An ongoing jala jagadam (fight over water resources), as it has been described by regional media, once again drew the police forces of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana into a tense standoff over release of water from the Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir.

    Krishna River Dispute

    • Both states have disagreements over the sharing of the Krishna River water continue to shape politics in the region.
    • AP alleges that Telangana has been drawing Krishna water from four projects — Jurala, Srisailam, Nagarjuna Sagar, and Pulichintala without approvals from the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB).
    • The KRMB an autonomous body that was set up after the bifurcation of the state, to manage and regulate the waters in the Krishna basin.

    What is the issue?

    • The water that is used for power generation, Andhra says, is being wasted by releasing it into the Bay of Bengal, even as farmers in the Krishna delta ayacut are yet to begin sowing of the kharif crop.
    • Telangana says it would continue with the hydropower generation to meet its requirements of power.
    • At the same time, it has taken strong exception to the irrigation projects of the Andhra Pradesh government, especially the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project (RLIP), which it claims is illegal.
    • Telangana has called for a 50:50 allocation of water from the Krishna River.

    How is the water split between the states currently?

    • After Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh, the two states agreed to split the water share 66:34 on an ad hoc basis until the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-2 decided the final allocation.

    Why is Telangana making the big hydel push?

    • The Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project that was inaugurated in 2019 requires a huge amount of power to draw water from the Godavari River.
    • Also, the Telangana government says that it needs hydel energy to power its Nettempadu, Bheema, Koilsagar and Kalwakurthy lift irrigation projects.
    • Despite protests by Andhra, the Telangana CM has chosen to operate all hydel power stations at full capacity because hydel power is cheaper, and imposes a smaller burden on the already stretched state budget.

    What is the solution to the disagreement, then?

    • Telangana wants the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-2 to permanently settle the water dispute.
    • In the meantime, it wants the KRMB to convene a full-fledged board meeting on a mutually agreed date this month to address its grievances against Andhra Pradesh.

    What political factors are at play behind the dispute?

    • The two CMs have maintained cordial relations and have even met on several occasions to discuss long-standing issues arising out of the bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh.
    • Critics have, however, alleged that the two CMs are fanning regional sentiments purely for political gains.

    Back2Basics: Interstate (River) Water Disputes (ISWDs)

    • These are a continuing challenge to federal water governance in India.
    • Rooted in constitutional, historico-geographical, and institutional ambiguities, they tend to become prolonged conflicts between the states that share river basins.
    • India has 25 major river basins, with most rivers flowing across states.
    • As river basins are shared resources, a coordinated approach between the states, with adequate involvement of the Centre, is necessary for the preservation, equitable distribution and sustainable utilization of river water.
    • Within India’s federal political structure, inter-state disputes require the involvement of the Union government for a federal solution at two levels: between the states involved, and between the Centre and the states.
    • The Interstate River Water Disputes Act, 1956 (IRWD Act) was enacted under Article 262 of the Constitution of India on the eve of reorganization of states to resolve the water disputes that would arise in the use, control and distribution of an interstate river or river valley.
    • Article 262 of the Indian Constitution provides a role for the Central government in adjudicating conflicts surrounding inter-state rivers that arise among the state/regional governments.

  • West Bengal to set up Legislative Council

    The West Bengal Assembly has passed a resolution to set up Legislative Council with a two-thirds majority.

    What is a State Legislative Council?

    • The SLC is the upper house in those states of India that have a bicameral state legislature; the lower house being the State Legislative Assembly.
    • As of Jan 2020, 6 out of 28 states have a State Legislative Council. These are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh The latest state to have a council is Telangana.

    Why need another house?

    • The Legislative Council has three main functions: to represent the people, to legislate and to scrutinise the executive government as a ‘House of review’.
    • The Legislative Council provides an alternative and complementary system of representation to that of the Legislative Assembly.

    Creation and abolition

    • According to Article 169, the Parliament can create or abolish the SLC of a state if that state’s legislature passes a resolution for that with a special majority.
    • The existence of an SLC has proven politically controversial.
    • A number of states that have had their LCs abolished have subsequently requested its re-establishment; conversely, proposals for the re-establishment of the LC for a state have also met with opposition.

    Its composition

    • The size of the SLC cannot be more than one-third of the membership of the State Legislative Assembly.
    • However, its size cannot be less than 40 members.
    • These members elect the Chairman and Deputy Chairman from the Council.

    MLCs are chosen in the following manner:

    • One third are elected by the members of local bodies such as municipalities, gram panchayats, Panchayat samitis and district councils.
    • One third are elected by the members of the Legislative Assembly of the State from among the persons who are not members of the State Legislative Assembly.
    • One sixth are nominated by the Governor from persons having knowledge or practical experience in fields such as literature, science, arts, the co-operative movement and social services.
    • One twelfth are elected by graduates of three years’ standing residing in that state.
    • One twelfth are elected by teachers who had spent at least three years in teaching in educational institutions within the state not lower than secondary schools, including colleges and universities.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.Consider the following statements:

    1. The Legislative Council of a State in India can be larger in size than half of the Legislative Assembly of that particular State.
    2. The Governor of a State nominates the Chairman of Legislative Council of that particular State.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) Only 1

    (b) Only 2

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

    Powers and functions

    • The Constitution of India gives limited power to the State Legislative Council.
    • The State Legislative Council can neither form nor dissolve a state government.
    • The State Legislative Council also have no role in the passing of money bills.
    • But some of the powers it has is that the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the State Legislative Council enjoy the same status as Cabinet Ministers in the state.

    Issues with LC

    • It was argued that a second House can help check hasty actions by the directly elected House, and also enable non-elected persons to contribute to the legislative process.
    • However, it was also felt that some of the poorer states could ill afford the extravagance of two Houses.
    • It has been pointed out that the Councils can be used to delay important legislation and to park leaders who have not been able to win an election.

  • Government creates Ministry of Cooperation

    The Union Government has created a new Ministry of Cooperation with an aim to strengthen the cooperative movement in the country.

    With the creation of the Ministry of Cooperation, there will now be a total of 41 central government ministries. Several of these ministries also have separate departments and organizations under them.

    What defines a Cooperative?

    • A cooperative is “an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned enterprise”.
    • Cooperatives are democratically owned by their members, with each member having one vote in electing the board of directors.

    Ministry of Cooperation

    • The ministry has been created for realizing the vision of ‘sahkar se samriddhi’ (through cooperation to prosperity).
    • The NGO Sahakar Bharati, whose founder member Satish Kashinath Marathe is a part-time director on the RBI board, says it was the first to pitch for the creation of a separate ministry for the cooperative sector.
    • It will provide a separate administrative, legal and policy framework for strengthening the cooperative movement in the country.
    • It will help deepen cooperatives as a true people-based movement reaching up to the grassroots.
    • The ministry will work to streamline processes for ‘ease of doing business’ for cooperatives and enable the development of multi-state cooperatives (MSCS).

    Why need such Ministry?

    • In our country, a Co-operative based economic development model is very relevant where each member works with a spirit of responsibility.
    • This creation has signalled its deep commitment to community-based developmental partnerships.

    Second new ministry created so far

    • The Ministry of Cooperation is the second ministry to be created since 2019 after the Modi government came to power for the second time.
    • Soon after taking charge, the government had created the Jal Shakti ministry.
    • However, it was not altogether new as the Ministry of Cooperation.
    • It was created by integrating two existing ministries dealing with water — Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, and Drinking Water & Sanitation ministry.

  • Draft Anti-trafficking Bill 2021

    The Ministry of Women and Child Welfare has invited suggestions and comments for its Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021 which it has released.

    A re-attempted legislation

    • A previous draft had been introduced in 2018 and had been passed by Lok Sabha despite stiff opposition from both parliamentarians as well as experts.
    • It was later never introduced in Rajya Sabha.
    • Experts say that nearly all the concerns raised in 2018 have been addressed in this new draft Bill.

    Draft Anti-trafficking Bill 2021

    The Bill has increased the scope of the nature of offences of trafficking as well as the kind of victims of these offences, with stringent penalties including life imprisonment, and even the death penalty in cases of an extreme nature.

    Types of offenders

    • The scope of the Bill vis offenders will also include defence personnel and government servants, doctors and paramedical staff or anyone in a position of authority.

    Penalty

    • In most cases of child trafficking, especially in the case of the trafficking of more than one child, the penalty is now life imprisonment.
    • While the penalty will hold a minimum of seven years which can go up to an imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of Rs 5 lakh.
    • In certain cases, even the death penalty can be sought.

    Definition of exploitation

    • Exploitation has been defined to include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation including pornography.
    • It also includes any act of physical exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or forced removal of organs, illegal clinical drug trials or illegal bio-medical research.

    Victims covered

    • The Bill also extends beyond the protection of women and children as victims to now include transgenders as well as any person who may be a victim of trafficking.
    • It also does away with the provision that a victim necessarily needs to be transported from one place to another to be defined as a victim.

    Investigation Agency

    • The National Investigation Agency (NIA) shall act as the national investigating and coordinating agency responsible for the prevention and combating of trafficking in persons.

  • Issues in Ladakh after abolition of Art. 370

    When Jammu and Kashmir were bifurcated into two UTs, Ladakh was seen welcoming the reorganization. However, different demands are coming from its two districts of Ladakh, Leh and Kargil.

    Leh and Kargil, not alike

    • The leaders from Kargil demanded that the district should remain part of J&K.
    • The Leh-based Ladakh Buddhist Association has put forth its demand for an autonomous hill council under the Sixth Schedule, modelled on the lines of the Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam.
    • But what Leh leaders did not bargain for was the complete loss of legislative powers.
    • Earlier, the two districts each sent four representatives to the J&K legislature. After the changes, they were down to one legislator — their sole MP— with all powers vested in the UT bureaucracy.
    • Unlike the UT of J&K, Ladakh was a UT without an assembly.

    What are their concerns?

    • What both Ladakh districts fear is the alienation of land, loss of identity, culture, language, and change in demography.
    • They fear that it will follow their political disempowerment.

    Hill Development Councils

    • Leh and Kargil have separate Autonomous Hill Development Councils, set up under the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils Act, 1997.
    • However, the AHDCs have no legislative powers.
    • The councils are elected and have executive powers over the allotment, use and occupation of land vested in them by the Centre, and the powers to collect some local taxes, such as parking fees, taxes on shops etc.
    • But the real powers are now wielded by the UT administration, which is seen as even more remote than the erstwhile state government of J&K.

    What is the sixth schedule?

    • The Sixth Schedule is a provision of Article 244(A) of the Constitution, originally meant for the creation of autonomous tribal regions in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.
    • Hill councils under this provision have legislative powers.

    Evolving demands

    • But with no progress on Leh’s demand for Sixth Schedule protections, the Leh leadership has now upped its demands.
    • Other issues under discussion are protections for language, culture, land and jobs, plus a long-standing demand for a route between Kargil and Skardu in territory under Pakistan in Gilgit- Baltistan.

  • How the GNCTD (Amendment) Act affects functioning of Delhi Assembly

    The article highlights the implications of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD)(Amendment) Act, 2021 on functioning of Assembly and its committees.

    Context

    The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD)(Amendment) Act, 2021 has been criticised as a retrograde law. However, what deserves equal attention is the Act’s assault on the functioning of Delhi’s Legislative Assembly.

    Background of GNCTD Act

    • The GNCTD Act was enacted in 1992.
    • Under the Act, Delhi Legislative Assembly was given the power to regulate its own procedure, as well as the conduct of its business.
    • This sought to realise a delicate balance reflecting Delhi’s unique constitutional position: neither full state nor a centrally governed Union Territory.

    How amendment affects functioning of Assembly

    • Its standards of procedure and conduct of business have been firmly tethered to that of the Lok Sabha, depriving Delhi’s elected MLAs of an effective say in how their Assembly should be run.
    • The Amending Act prohibits the Assembly from making any rule enabling either itself or its committees to consider any issue concerned with “the day-to-day administration of the capital” or “conduct inquiries in relation to administrative decisions”.
    • The most significant impact of this shall be on the exercise of free speech in the Assembly and its committees.
    • The amendment impeded the Assembly from performing its most basic legislative function — that of holding the executive to account by restricting its ability to freely discuss matters happening in the capital.

    Impact on committees

    • The deliberations and inputs of committees often pave the way for intelligent legislative action.
    • In a way, they act as the eyes and ears for the whole House, which has neither the time nor the expertise to scrutinise issues in depth.
    • It would be impossible for committees to perform this function without the power to conduct inquiries.
    • Pre-emptively injunct a committee from conducting an inquiry “in relation to the administrative decisions” (an extremely broad exception) completely negates the ability of committees to function effectively as the Assembly’s advisors and agents.
    • The quality of legislative work emanating from the Assembly is thus ultimately bound to suffer.

    Consider the question “What are the reasons for frequent disputes between Delhi government and the Lt. Governor? Would the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD)(Amendment) Act, 2021 succeed in ending that trend?” 

    Conclusion

    The amendment deprive the Delhi Assmbly of its very basic functions and render it a ‘legislature’ in name only. Surely, Delhi’s voters deserve better than that. The Government need to reconsider the provisions of the amendment act.

  • Rule of Law vs Rule by Law

    What makes the Rule of Law different from the Rule by Law? It is the idea of justice and equity that separates the two. The article explains the principles that emerge as the basis of the Rule of law and the role of the judiciary in ensuring their constitutionality.

    Understanding law

    • Law, in its most general sense, is a tool of social control that is backed by the sovereign.
    • However, such a definition of law can be used not only to render justice, it can also be used to justify oppression.
    • Therefore it is argued that a law cannot really be classified as a “law” unless it imbibes within itself the ideals of justice and equity.
    • So, any law backed by a sovereign must be tempered by certain ideals or tenets of justice.
    • Only a state that is governed by such law, can be said to have the Rule of Law.
    • The British colonial power used the law as a tool of political repression, enforcing it unequally on the parties, with a different set of rules for the British and for the Indians.
    •  It was an enterprise famous for “Rule by Law”, rather than “Rule of Law.

    Four principles of rule of law

    • Clarity and accessibility: Laws must be clear and accessible, the people at least ought to know what the laws are.
    • Another implication of this principle is that they should be worded in simple, unambiguous language.
    • Equality: An important aspect of equality before law is having equal access to justice.
    • This guarantee of equal justice will be rendered meaningless if the vulnerable sections are unable to enjoy their rights because of their poverty or illiteracy or any other kind of weakness.
    • Another aspect is the issue of “gender equality”.
    • Participation of people: The third principle, the “right to participate in the creation and refinement of laws”.
    • The very essence of a democracy is that its citizenry has a role to play, directly or indirectly, in the laws that govern them.
    • In India, it is done through elections.
    • The idea that people are the ultimate sovereign is also to be found in notions of human dignity and autonomy
    • Strong independent judiciary: The fourth principle stemsp from the idea that the judiciary is the “guardian” of the Constitution.
    • The judiciary is the primary organ which is tasked with ensuring that the laws that are enacted are in line with the Constitution.

    Independent judiciary and role of media

    • The judiciary cannot be controlled, directly or indirectly, by the legislature or the executive, or else the Rule of Law would become illusory.
    • At the same time, judges should not be swayed by the emotional pitch of public opinion either, which is getting amplified through social media platforms.
    • Judges have to be mindful of the fact that the noise thus amplified is not necessarily reflective of what is right and what the majority believes in.
    • Therefore, media trials cannot be a guiding factor in deciding cases.
    • It is, therefore, extremely vital to function independently and withstand all external aids and pressures.
    • While there is a lot of discussion about the pressure from the executive, it is also imperative to start a discourse as to how social media trends can affect the institutions.

    Conclusion

    The importance of the judiciary shouldn’t blind us to the fact that the responsibility of safeguarding constitutionalism lies not just with the courts. All the three organs of the state, i.e., the executive, legislature and the judiciary, are equal repositories of constitutional trust.

  • Taking note of the Delhi High Court’s judgment on ‘defining terrorism’

    The recent Delhi High Court order granting bail to the student activists charged with the UAPA has brought into focus the issue of misuse of anti-terror laws by the policy. The article deals with this issue.

    Misuse of anti-terror laws

    • In the period 2015-2019, as many as 7,840 persons were arrested under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) 1967 but only 155 were convicted by the trial courts.
    • Under TADA, till 1994, though 67,000 people were detained, just 725 were convicted in spite of confessions made to police officers being made admissible.
    • In Kartar Singh (1994), the Supreme Court of India had observed that in many cases, the prosecution had unjustifiably invoked provisions of TADA.
    • It added that such an invocation of TADA was ‘nothing but the sheer misuse and abuse of the Act by the police’.

     The definition of terrorism

    • There is no universal definition of the term ‘terrorism’ either in India or at the international level.
    •  Accordingly, neither TADA nor UAPA has a definition of the crucial terms ‘terror’ and ‘terrorism’.
    • Section 15 of UAPA merely defines a terrorist act in extremely wide and vague words: ‘as any act with intent to threaten or likely to threaten the unity, integrity, security, or sovereignty of India or with intent to strike terror or likely to strike terror in the people….’.
    • In Yaqoob Abdul Razzak Memon (2013), the Supreme Court said that terrorist acts can range from threats to actual assassinations, kidnappings, airline hijacking, car bombs, explosions, mailing of dangerous materials, use of chemical, biological, nuclear weapons etc.
    • In Hitendra Vishnu Thakur (1994), the Supreme Court had defined terrorism as the ‘use of violence when its most important result is not merely the physical and mental damage of the victim but the prolonged psychological effect it produces … on the society as a whole’.
    • In Kartar Singh (1994), the Supreme Court held that a mere disturbance of public order that disturbs even the tempo of the life of community of any particular locality is not a terrorist act.
    • By this interpretation, the CAA protests in a few localities of Delhi cannot be termed as terrorist activity.
    • In the PUCL judgment (2003), the Supreme Court included within its meaning amongst other things the ‘razing of constitutional principles that we hold dear’, ‘tearing apart of the secular fabric’ and ‘promotion of prejudice and bigotry.
    • Accordingly, in the CAA protest case the Delhi High Court concluded that since the definition of a ‘terrorist act’ in UAPA is wide and somewhat vague, it cannot be casually applied to ordinary conventional crimes.
    • The Delhi High Court said that the act of the accused must reflect the essential character of terrorism.

    Distinction between ‘law and order’, ‘public order’ and ‘security of state’

    • In Ram Manohar Lohia (1966), the Supreme Court explained the distinction between the above three terms.
    • Law and order represents the largest circle within which is the next circle representing ‘public order’, and the smallest circle represents the ‘security of state’.
    • Accordingly, an act may affect ‘law and order’ but not ‘public order’.
    • Similarly, an act may adversely affect ‘public order’ but not the ‘security of state.’
    • In most UAPA cases, the police have failed to understand these distinctions and unnecessarily clamped UAPA charges for simple violations of law and order.

    Conclusion

    Radicalisation generally succeeds only with those who have been subjected to real or perceived injustices. Let us remove injustice to combat terrorism. The creation of a truly just, egalitarian and non-oppressive society would be far more effective in combating terrorism.

  • Issues faced by India’s sexual minorities

    The article highlights the plight of sexual minorities despite the landmark judgments by the Supreme Court.

    Role played by the judiciary

    • The Delhi High Court’s verdict in Naz Foundation vs Government of NCT of Delhi (2009) was a landmark in the law of sexuality and equality jurisprudence in India.
    • The court held that Section 377 offended the guarantee of equality enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution, because it creates an unreasonable classification and targets homosexuals as a class.
    • In a retrograde step, the Supreme Court, in Suresh Kumar Koushal vs Naz Foundation (2013), reinstated Section 377 to the IPC.
    • However, the Supreme Court in Navtej Singh Johar & Ors. vs Union of India (2018) declared that the application of Section 377 IPC to consensual homosexual behaviour was “unconstitutional”.
    • This Supreme Court judgment has been a great victory to the Indian individual in his quest for identity and dignity.
    • It also underscored the doctrine of progressive realisation of rights.

    No legal sanction to same-sex marriage

    • Despite the judgments of the Supreme Court, there is still a lot of discrimination against sexual minorities in matters of employment, health and personal relationship.
    • The Union of India has recently opposed any move to accord legal sanction to same-sex marriages in India.
    • The Union of India stated that the decriminalisation of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code does not automatically translate into a fundamental right for same sex couples to marry. 
    • The U.S. Supreme Court, in Obergefell vs Hodges (2015) underscored the emotional and social value of the institution of marriage and asserted that the universal human right of marriage should not be denied to a same-sex couple.
    • Indian society and the state should synchronise themselves with changing trends.

    Need to amend Article 15 to prohibit discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation

    • Article 15 secures the citizens from every sort of discrimination by the state, on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth or any of them.
    • The grounds of non-discrimination should be expanded by including gender and sexual orientation.
    • In May 1996, South Africa became the first country to constitutionally prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.
    • The United Kingdom passed the “Alan Turing law” in 2017 which ‘granted amnesty and pardon to the men who were cautioned or convicted under historical legislation that outlawed homosexual acts’.

    Way forward

    • Justice Rohinton F. Nariman had directed in Navtej Singh Johar & Ors., the Government to sensitise the general public and officials, to reduce and finally eliminate the stigma associated with LGBTQ+ community through the mass media and the official channels.
    • School and university students too should be sensitised about the diversity of sexuality to deconstruct the myth of heteronormativity.
    • Heteronormativity is the root cause of hetero-sexism and homophobia.

    Conclusion

    It is time for change, but the burden should not be left to the powers that be. The onus remains with the civil society, the citizenry concerned and the LGBTQ+ community itself.

  • The ‘Union government’ has a unifying effect

    The Tamil Nadu government has decided to shun the usage of the term ‘Central government’ in its official communications and replace it with ‘Union government’. This is a major step towards regaining the consciousness of our Constitution.

    India the union

    • Seventy-one years since we adopted the Constitution, it is time we regained the original intent of our founding fathers beautifully etched in the parchment as Article 1: “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States”.
    • The Constituent Assembly did not use the term ‘Centre’ or ‘Central government’ in all of its 395 Articles in 22 Parts and eight Schedules in the original Constitution.
    • What we have are the ‘Union’ and the ‘States’ with the executive powers of the Union wielded by the President acting on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister.

    Where is Central Govt defined?

    • Even though we have no reference to the ‘Central government’ in the Constitution, the General Clauses Act, 1897 gives a definition for it.
    • The ‘Central government’ for all practical purposes is the President after the commencement of the Constitution.
    • Therefore, the real question is whether such definition for ‘Central government’ is constitutional as the Constitution itself does not approve of centralising power.

    Intent of Constituent Assembly

    • On December 13, 1946, Pt Nehru introduced the aims and objects of the Assembly by resolving that India shall be a Union of territories willing to join the “Independent Sovereign Republic”.
    • The emphasis was on the consolidation and confluence of various provinces and territories to form a strong united country.
    • Many members of the Constituent Assembly were of the opinion that the principles of the British Cabinet Mission Plan (1946) be adopted, which contemplated a Central government with very limited powers whereas the provinces had substantial autonomy.
    • The Partition and the violence of 1947 in Kashmir forced the Constituent Assembly to revise its approach and it resolved in favour of a strong Centre.
    • The possibility of the secession of States from the Union weighed on the minds of the drafters of the Constitution and ensured that the Indian Union is “indestructible”.

    Preventing the secession

    • In the Constituent Assembly, B.R Ambedkar, the Chairman of the Drafting Committee, observed that the word ‘Union’ was advisedly used in order to negative the right of secession of States.
    • Ambedkar justified the usage of ‘Union of States’ saying that the Drafting Committee wanted to make it clear that though India was to be a federation, it was not the result of an agreement.
    • Therefore, no State has the right to secede from it. “The federation is a Union because it is indestructible,” Ambedkar said.

    Then criticism of the ‘Union’

    • The usage of ‘Union of States’ by Ambedkar was not approved by all and faced criticisms from Maulana Hasrat Mohani.
    • He argued that Ambedkar was changing the very nature of the Constitution.
    • Mohani made a fiery speech in the Assembly on September 18, 1949 where he contended that the usage of the words ‘Union of States’ would obscure the word ‘Republic’.
    • Mohani went to the extent of saying that Ambedkar wanted the ‘Union’ to be “something like the Union proposed by Prince Bismarck in Germany, and after him adopted by Kaiser William and after him by Adolf Hitler”.

    Dr. Ambedkar’s clarification

    • Ambedkar clarified that the Union is not a league of States, united in a loose relationship; nor are the States the agencies of the Union, deriving powers from it.
    • Both the Union and the States are created by the Constitution, both derive their respective authority from the Constitution.
    • The one is not subordinate to the other in its own field… the authority of one is coordinate with that of the other.

    Features of Indian Union

    • The sharing of powers between the Union and the States is not restricted to the executive organ of the government.
    • The judiciary is designed in the Constitution to ensure that the Supreme Court, the tallest court in the country, has no superintendence over the High Courts.
    • Though the Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction — not only over High Courts but also over other courts and tribunals — they are not declared to be subordinate to it.
    • In fact, the High Courts have wider powers to issue prerogative writs despite having the power of superintendence over the district and subordinate courts.
    • Parliament and Assemblies identify their boundaries and are circumspect to not cross their boundaries when it comes to the subject matter on which laws are made.
    • However, the Union Parliament will prevail if there is a conflict.

    Answer this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following statements:

    1. The Executive Power of the Union of India is vested in the Prime Minister.
    2. The Prime Minister is the ex-offi cio Chairman of the Civil Services Board.

    Which of the given statements is/are correct?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

    A wordplay indeed

    • The members of the Constituent Assembly were very cautious of not using the word ‘Centre’ or ‘Central government’ in the Constitution as they intended to keep away the tendency of centralizing of powers in one unit.
    • The ‘Union government’ or the ‘Government of India’ has a unifying effect as the message sought to be given is that the government is of all.
    • Even though the federal nature of the Constitution is its basic feature and cannot be altered, what remains to be seen is whether the actors wielding power intend to protect the federal feature of our Constitution.
    • As Nani Palkhivala famously said, “The only satisfactory and lasting solution of the vexed problem is to be found not in the statute book but in the conscience of men in power”.