DR.

RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW

UNIVERSITY, LUCKNOW
2015-16

POLITICAL SCIENCE PROJECT

POLITICAL SYSTEM OF INDIA

Submitted To: Submitted by:

Dr. Monika Srivastava Margaret Rose

Asst. Professor (Political Science) B.A.LL.B.(Hons.)

Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia National Roll no- 62, Sec-A

Law University 2nd semester

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to express my deep gratitude and sincere thanks to our vice chancellor for
providing us the good facilities and resources.

I extend my hearty thanks to Dr. Monika Srivastava, associate Professor of

political science, who guided me and taught everything so well. I take this
opportunity to express my deep sense of gratitude for her invaluable guidance,
constant encouragement, immense motivation, which has sustained my efforts at
all the stages of this project work.

I can’t forget to thanks my parents for providing me best of the facilities, support
and encouragement. I will remain indebted to them.

I would also like to acknowledge my classmates who helped me and provided

valuable advice which helped me to carry out this project successfully.

THANK YOU

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 CONTENTS

S.NO TITLE PAGE

NO.
i. Research question 4
ii. Objective 4
iii. Research methodology 4
iv. Chapterisation 4-5
1. Introduction 5-6
2. The Executive branch 6-7
 President
 Vice president
 Prime Minister
 Council of Ministers
3. The Legislative branch 8-9
 Rajya sabha
 Lok sabha
4. State governments 9
5. Political parties 9
6. Judicial system 10
 Supreme court
 High court
7. Election commission 11
8. Jammu and Kashmir: special case 11
v. Conclusion 11-12
vi. References 12

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What is political structure of india?
2. What is political system and judicial system of India?
3. Description of courts structure of India.

OBJECTIVE
 The main objective of the project is to study the political system of India.
 To study the judicial system of India.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The Doctrinal methodology of research has been adopted to make this project.
Thus I have taken help from web sources to gain the data for this project.

CHAPTERISATION
 Introduction
 Political structure of India
 The Executive branch
 President
 Vice president
 Prime minister
 Council of ministers
 The Legislative structure
 Rajya sabha
 Lok sabha
 State governments
 Political parties
 Judicial system
 Supreme court

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  High court
 Election commission
 Jammu and Kashmir: special case
 Conclusion

INTRODUCTION

The official name of India is Republic of India. New Delhi is the capital of India.
The Republic of India has three principles short names, in both official and popular
English usage, each of which is historically significant. These names are INDIA,
BHARAT and HINDUSTAN.

It is the 17th largest country by area, the second largest country with population of
1.2 billion, an electorate of 814 million (2014) and the most populous democracy
in the world. Bounded by Indian Ocean on the south, Arabian Sea on the south-
west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east. It shares land borders with Pakistan
to the west, China, Bhutan and Nepal to the south-east. In the Indian Ocean, India
is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and Maldives.

India is the home of world five religions- Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism,

Christianity, and Sikhism.

Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism are the religions which are originated
here.

It remained the colony of Britain from the mid of 19th century till it became an
independent nation in 1947 after struggle for independence that was marked by
non-violent resistance that was led by Mahatma Gandhi.

The current constitution came into force on 26 January 1950 and advocates the
trinity of justice, liberty and equality for all citizens. The Constitution of India is
the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world, containing
444 articles, 12 schedules and 98 amendments, with almost 120,000 words in its
English language version.

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The constitution of India has been one of the most amended national documents in
the world with almost 100 changes. Many of these amendments have resulted from
a long-running dispute involving the Parliament and the Supreme Court over the
rights of parliamentary sovereignty as they clash with those of judicial review of
laws and constitutional amendments.

India's lower house, the Lok Sabha, is modelled on the British House of Commons,
but its federal system of government borrows from the experience of the United
States, Canada and Australia.

POLITICAL STRUCTURE OF INDIA

THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH

 Federal system of India is governed in terms of the constitution of India.

 India is also referred to as the Sovereign, Secular, and Democratic and has a
Parliamentary form of Government.
 The nation is basically the union of 29 states and 7 union territories that
works according to the Indian constitution, which was adopted on the 16th of
November 1949.
 President is the head of the executive union.
 The prime minister is the head of the council of ministers.
 The real political and social power resides in the hands of the prime
minister.

PRESIDENT

 The president is elected by the members of both houses of parliament and

legislative assemblies of state. The current President is Pranab
Mukherjee.
 President term of office is five years.
 President has the power of proclaiming emergency in the country which
enables the Lok Sabha to extend its life beyond the normal five-year term
if he/she is not satisfied with the situation of the country.

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  President can assume any of the functions of the government when there
is a failure of constitutional machinery in the state.
 The president also appoints the prime minister of the country.
 The president of India also holds executive, judicial and legislative
powers.

VICE PRESIDENT

 The vice-president is elected in the same way as the president, and

holds office for five years.
 The vice- president is Ex-officio Chairman of upper house i.e. Rajya
Sabha.

PRIME MINISTER
 The head of the government is the Prime Minister who is appointed by
the President on the nomination of the majority party in the lower
house or Lok Sabha.
 In May 2014, Narendra Modi, leader of the the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), became PM, having never previously held office at national
level.

COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

 Ministers are then appointed by the President on the recommendation

of the Prime Minister and these ministers collectively comprise the
Council of Ministers.
 The council of ministers comprises cabinet ministers, minister of
states (independent charge or otherwise) and deputy ministers.
 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.

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THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

RAJYA SABHA

 The upper house in the Indian political system is the Rajya Sabha or
Council of States.
 The Rajya Sabha consists of 245 members. Of these, 233 represent
states and union territories and 12 members are nominated by the
president for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature, science,
and social services.
 Elections to the Rajya Sabha are indirect; members are elected by the
elected members of legislative assemblies of the concerned states.
 The largest state representation is that of Uttar Pradesh with 31
members.
 Terms of office are for six years, with one third of the members facing
re-election every two years. The Rajya Sabha meets in continuous
session and, unlike the Lok Sabha, it is not subject to dissolution.

LOK SABHA

 The lower house in the Indian political system is the Lok Sabha or
House of the People.
 The Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of the people chosen by
direct election on the basis of universal adult suffrage.
 The Lok Sabha consists of 545 members- made up of 530 elected from
the states, 13 elected from the territories and 2 members belonging to
Anglo-Indian communities.
 By far the largest state representation is that of Uttar Pradesh with 80
members. At the other end of the scale, three states have only one
representative each.
 Each Lok Sabha is formed for a five year term, after which it is
automatically dissolved.

The two houses share legislative powers, except in the area of supply
(money) where the Lok Sabha has overriding powers. In the case of
conflicting legislation, a joint sitting of the two houses is held. If there
is a conflict which cannot be resolved even by the joint committee of
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 the two houses, it is solved in the joint session of the Parliament,
where the will of the Lok Sabha almost always prevails, since the Lok
Sabha is more than twice as large as the Rajya Sabha.

STATE GOVERNMENTS

 The system of government in states closely resembles that of the union.

There are 29 states and seven union territories in the country.
 Union territories are administered by the president through an
administrator appointed by him.
 Through a constitutional amendment in parliament, the union territory
of Delhi is now called the National Capital Territory of Delhi from 1
february 1992.

POLITICAL PARTIES

 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.
 Congres, Bhartiya Janta Party, Janta Party, 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,Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, 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
Block are the prominent state parties.
 In a democracy where a significant proportion of the electorate is
illiterate, the use of recognisable symbols for political parties is
important. The Indian Congress Party is represented by a hand, while the
Bharatiya Janata Party is represented by a lotus. The symbol of the new
Aam Aadmi party is a broom.

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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.

SUPREME COURT

 The Supreme Court has original, appellate and advisory jurisdiction.

 The constitution gives an extensive original jurisdiction to the Supreme
Court to enforce Fundamental Rights.
 The president of India 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.

HIGH COURT

 There are 24 high courts in the country, three having jurisdiction over
more than one state.
 The chief justice of a High Court is appointed by the president in
consultation with the chief justice of India and 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 High Court can be
altered both by the union and state legislatures.
 Most High Courts have only appellate jurisdiction.

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ELECTION COMMISSION

 It was established on 25th January 1950

 First election was held in 1952
 1760 lakhs people took part in which 85% are illiterate and 15% are
literate.
 Shiv Kumar Sen was the 1st chief election commissioner.
 Dr. Nazim Zaidi is the current election commissioner of India.
 World’s busiest election commissioner.
 Average election per year-5

JAMMU AND KASHMIR: SPECIAL CASE

 It is the only state in India which enjoys special autonomy under the
article 370 of the constitution of India.
 According to which no law can be enacted by the parliament of India
except in field of defence, communication and foreign policy.
 Supreme Court jurisdiction has been extended over Jammu and
Kashmir.
 Indians from other states can’t purchase property in Jammu and
Kashmir.
 Under armed forces act, Indian armed forces have been enforced.

CONCLUSION
Politics in India is much rougher and much more corrupt that in the democracies of
Europe and North America. Assassination is not uncommon: the revered Mahatma
Gandhi in 1948, the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, and the Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 were all murdered. Communal, caste and regional tensions
continue to haunt Indian politics, sometimes threatening its long-standing
democratic and secular ethos. The language used by political candidates about each
other is often vivid.

Recent years have seen the emergence of so-called RTI activists - tens of
thousands of citizens, often poor, sometimes almost illiterate, frequently highly
motivated - who use the Right To Information legislation of 2005 to promote
transparency and attack corruption in public institutions. In the first five years of
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the legislation, over a million RTI requests were filed and so threatening to
authority have some of the RTI activists become that a number of have been
murdered.

More recently than the RTI movement, there has been a related - if rather different
in caste and class terms - movement around the demand for an anti-corruption
agency (called Lokpal). This movement has been led by the hunger-striker Anna
Hazare and draws most of its support from the growing Indian middle-class which
feels alienated from politics since the votes are to be found in poor, rural
communities while the power is to be found in rich, urban elites.

In spite of all its problems, India remains a vibrant and functioning democracy that
is a beacon to democrats in many surrounding states.

REFERENCES

1. http://www.slideshare.net/Abad-1/political-system-of-india-29414893
2. http://www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/Indianpoliticalsystem.html
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_Commissioner_of_India
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_India
5. http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/india/politics.htm

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