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India,
a union of states, is a Sovereign,
Secular, Democratic Republic with a
Parliamentary system of Government. The
Indian polity is governed in terms of the
Constitution, which was adopted by the
Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949
and came into force on 26 November
1950.
The
President is the constitutional head of
Executive of the Union. Real executive
power vests in a Council of Ministers with
the Prime Minister as head. Article 74(1)
of the Constitution provides that there
shall be a Council of Ministers headed by
the Prime Minister to aid and advise the
President who shall, in exercise of his
functions, act in accordance with such
advice. The Council of Ministers is
collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha,
the House of the People.
In
the states, the Governor, as the
representative of the President, is the
head of Executive, but real executive
power rests with the Chief Minister who
heads the Council of Ministers. The
Council of Ministers of a state is
collectively responsible to the elected
legislative assembly of the state.
The
Constitution governs the sharing of
legislative power between Parliament and
the State Legislatures, and provides for
the vesting of residual powers in
Parliament. The power to amend the
Constitution also vests in
Parliament.
The
Union Executive consists of the President,
the Vice-President and Council of
Ministers with the Prime Minister at the
head to aid and advise the
President.
President
The
President is elected by members of an
Electoral College consisting of elected
members of both Houses of Parliament and
Legislative Assemblies of the states, with
suitable weightage given to each vote. His
term of office is five years.
Among
other powers, the President can proclaim
an emergency in the country if he is
satisfied that the security of the country
or of any part of its territory is
threatened whether by war or external
agression or armed rebellion. When there
is a failure of the constitutional
machinery in a state, he can assume to
himself all or any of the functions of the
government of that state.
Vice-President
The
Vice-President is elected by the members
of an electoral college consisting of
members of both Houses of Parliament in
accordance with the system of proportional
representation by means of a single
transferable vote. He holds office for
five years. The Vice-President is
Ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
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Council
of Ministers
The
Council of Ministers comprises Cabinet
Ministers, Minister of States (independent
charge or otherwise) and Deputy Ministers.
Prime Minister communicates all decisions
of the Council of Ministers relating to
administration of affairs of the Union and
proposals for legislation to the
President. Generally, each department has
an officer designated as secretary to the
Government of India to advise Ministers on
policy matters and general administration.
The Cabinet Secretariat has an important
coordinating role in decision making at
highest level and operates under direction
of Prime Minister.
The
Legislative Arm of the Union, called
Parliament, consists of the President,
Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. All legislation
requires consent of both houses of
parliament. However, in case of money
bills, the will of the Lok Sabha always
prevails.
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Rajya
Sabha
The
Rajya Sabha consists of 245 members. Of
these, 233 represent states and union
territories and 12 members are nominated
by the President. Elections to the Rajya
Sabha are indirect; members are elected by
the elected members of Legislative
Assemblies of the concerned states. The
Rajya Sabha is not subject to dissolution,
one third of its members retire every
second year.
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Lok
Sabha
The
Lok Sabha is composed of representatives
of the people chosen by direct election on
the basis of universal adult suffrage. As
of today, the Lok Sabha consists of 545
members with two members nominated by the
President to represent the Anglo-Indian
Community. Unless dissolved under unusual
circumstances, the term of the Lok Sabha
is five years.
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State
Governments
The
system of government in states closely
resembles that of the Union. There are 25
states and seven Union territories in the
country.
Union
Territories are administered by the
President through an Administrator
appointed by him. Till 1 February 1992,
the Union Territory of Delhi was governed
by the Central government through an
Administrator appointed by the President
of India. Through a Constitutional
amendment in Parliament, the Union
Territory of Delhi is now called the
National Capital Territory of Delhi from 1
February 1992. General elections to the
Legislative assembly of the National
Capital Territory were held in November
1993.
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Political
System
A
recognised political party has been
classified as a National Party or a State
Party. If a political party is recognised
in four or more states, it is considered
as a National Party.
The
Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Janata
Dal, Communist Party of India and
Communist Party of India (Marxist) are the
prominent National Parties in the Country.
Telugu Desam in Andhra Pradesh, Asom Gana
Parishad in Assam, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
in Bihar, Maharashtrwad Gomantak Party in
Goa, National Conference in Jammu and
Kashmir, Muslim League in Kerala, Shiv
Sena in Maharashtra, Akali Dal in Punjab,
All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil
Nadu, Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi
Party in Uttar Pradesh and All-India
Forward Block in West Bengal are the
prominent state parties.
Eleven
Lok Sabhas have been constituted so far.
Except for the short-lived Sixth and Ninth
Lok Sabha, the Congress Party ruled the
country. The Sixth Lok Sabha functioned
for about two years and four months and
the Ninth Lok Sabha functioned for one
year and two months.
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Judicial
System
The
Supreme Court is the apex court in the
country. The High Court stands at the head
of the state's judicial administration.
Each state is divided into judicial
districts presided over by a district and
sessions judge, who is the highest
judicial authority in a district. Below
him, there are courts of civil
jurisdiction, known in different states as
munsifs, sub-judges, civil judges and the
like. Similarly, criminal judiciary
comprises chief judicial magistrate and
judicial magistrates of first and second
class.
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Supreme
Court
The
Supreme Court has original, appellate and
advisory jurisdiction. Its exclusive
original jurisdiction extends to all
disputes between the Union and one or more
states or between two or more states. The
Constitution gives an extensive original
jurisdiction to the Supreme Court to
enforce Fundamental Rights.
Appellate
jurisdiction of the Supreme Court can be
invoked by a certificate of the High Court
concerned or by special leave granted by
the Supreme Court in respect of any
judgement, decree or final order of a High
Court in cases both civil and criminal,
involving substantial questions of law as
to the interpretation of the constitution.
The President may consult the Supreme
Court on any question of fact or law of
public importance.
The
Supreme Court of India comprises of the
Chief Justice and not more than 25 other
Judges appointed by the President. Judges
hold office till 65 years of age.
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High
Courts
There
are 18 High Courts in the country, three
having jurisdiction over more than one
state. Bombay High Court has the
jurisdiction over Maharashtra, Goa, Dadra
and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Guwahati High Court, which was earlier
known as Assam High Court, has the
jurisdiction over Assam, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram and
Arunachal Pradesh. Punjab and Haryana High
Court has the jurisdiction over Punjab,
Haryana and Chandigarh.
Among
the Union Territories, Delhi alone has had
a High Court of its own. The other six
Union Territories come under jurisdiction
of different state High Courts.
The
Chief Justice of a High Court is appointed
by the President in consultation with the
Chief Justice of India and the Governor of
the state. Each High Court has powers of
superintendence over all courts within its
jurisdiction. High Court judges retire at
the age of 62.
The
jurisdiction as well as the laws
administered by a High Court can be
altered both by the Union and State
Legislatures. Certain High Courts, like
those at Bombay, Calcutta and Madras, have
original and appellate jurisdictions.
Under the original jurisdiction suits,
where the subject matter is valued at
Rs.25,000 or more, can be filed directly
in the High Court. Most High Courts have
only appellate jurisdiction.
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Lok
Adalats are voluntary agencies for
resolution of disputes through
conciliatory method.
Legislative
Relations Between the Union and States
Under
the Constitution, Parliament has the power
to make laws for the whole of or any part
of the territory of India. The State
Legislatures have the power to make laws
for the States. The subjects on which
legislation can be enacted are specified
in the Seventh Schedule of the
Constitution.
Parliament
has the exclusive right to legislate in
respect of items appearing in List I,
called the "Union List''. This list
includes area such as defense, foreign
affairs, currency, income tax, excise
duty, railways, shipping, posts and
telegraphs, etc.
State
Legislatures have the exclusive power to
make laws in relation to items appearing
in List II called the "State List''.
This includes items like public order,
police, public health, communications,
agriculture, lotteries, taxes on
entertainment and wealth, sales tax and
octroi, etc.
Both
Parliament and the State Legislatures have
the power to legislate in items appearing
in List III of the Constitution which is
known as "Concurrent List''. This
list includes items like electricity,
newspapers, criminal law, marriage and
divorce, stamp duties, trade unions, price
controls, etc.
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