Collegium System (First, Second, & Third Judges Case)

 The collegium system is a forum including the Chief Justice of India and four senior-most judges
of the SC, which recommends appointments and transfers of judges.
 Judges of the higher judiciary are appointed only through the collegium system, and the
government has a role only after names have been decided by the collegium.
 This system has evolved through judgments of the SC, and not by an Act of Parliament or by a
provision of the Constitution.
Appointment of SC judges
 The CJI and judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President under clause (2) of
Article 124 of the Constitution.
 Whenever a vacancy is expected to arise in the office of a judge of the Supreme Court, the CJI
will initiate a proposal and forward his recommendation to the law minister to fill up the vacancy.
 The opinion of the CJI for appointment of a judge of the Supreme Court should be formed in
consultation with a collegium of the four senior-most judges of the apex court.
 The opinion of members of the collegium in respect of each of the recommendations as well as the
senior-most judge in the Supreme Court from the High Court from which a prospective candidate
comes, would be made in writing. The CJI must transmit his opinion as also the opinion of all
concerned to the government of India as part of record.
 After receipt of the final recommendation of the CJI, the law minister will put up the
recommendations to the Prime Minister, who will advise the President in the matter of
appointment.
Appointment of HC judges
 The High Court stands at the head of a state’s judicial administration.
 Article 214 of the Indian Constitution provides for a High Court for each state. The Seventh
Constitutional Amendment Act of 1956 authorised the Parliament under Article 231 to establish a
common High Court for two or more states and a Union Territory.
 Articles 214 to 231 of the Constitution deals with the organisation, independence, jurisdiction,
powers, procedures and other issues related to the High Courts.
 The Chief Justice and judges of the High Courts are appointed by the President under Article
217(1) of the Constitution.
 To be eligible for appointment as a HC judge one must be a citizen of India, have held a judicial
office in India for ten years or must have practised as an advocate of a High Court or two or more
such courts in succession for a similar period.
First Judges Case (S.P. Gupta vs Union of India) (1981)
 It declared that the “primacy” of the Chief Justice of India (CJI)s recommendation on judicial
appointments and transfers can be refused for “cogent reasons.”
 The ruling gave the Executive primacy over the Judiciary in judicial appointments for the next 12
years.
Second Judges Case (Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association vs Union of India)
(1993)
 SC introduced the Collegium system, holding that “consultation” really meant “concurrence”.
 It added that it was not the CJI’s individual opinion, but an institutional opinion formed in
consultation with the two senior-most judges in the SC.
Third Judges Case (1998)
 SC on President’s reference expanded the Collegium to a five-member body, comprising the CJI
and four of his senior-most colleagues.

Emergency
National Emergency
 Article 352 of the Constitution provides for the provision of National Emergency which can be
applied if any extraordinary situation arises that may threaten the security, peace, stability and
governance of the country.
 An emergency can be imposed in situation of War, External aggression; or Internal rebellion.
 Article 352 provides that if the President is ‘satisfied’ on the grounds that the security of India is
threatened due to outside aggression or armed rebellion, he can issue a proclamation to that effect
regarding the whole of India or a part thereof.
 In Minerva Mills vs Union of India, it has been held that there can be no bar to judicial review of
determining the validity of the proclamation of emergency issued by the President under Article
352(1). The court’s powers are limited only to examining whether the limitations conferred by the
Constitution have been observed or not. It can check if the satisfaction of President is on valid
grounds or not. If the President is satisfied that grounds for national emergency exist but the same
is based on absurd, malafide or irrelevant grounds then it won’t be considered that the President is
‘satisfied’.
 Duration: If approved by both houses of Parliament then National Emergency can continue for 6
months and it can be renewed by approval of Parliament after every 6 months.
 Revocation: If the situation improves then the President can revoke the emergency through
another proclamation. Requisition for the meeting can be made by ten per cent or more members
of the Lok Sabha and in that meeting; it can disapprove or revoke the emergency by a simple
majority.
Extension of Executive Powers of the Centre
 According to Article 353, the Union can use its executive power to the extent of giving directions
to the State relating to the manner in which the executive powers shall be exercised by the State.
 As per Article 353 (b), the Union Parliament can make laws relating to the matters in the State
List.
 According to Article 354, the distribution of revenue between the Union and the State can be
altered by the Centre.
 As per Article 83(2), the normal life of the Lok Sabha may be extended by the President by a year
each time up to a period not exceeding 6 months after the proclamation ceases to operate.
State Emergency
 As per Article 356, if the President after receiving a report from the Governor of a State or
otherwise is satisfied that such a situation exists where the Government of a State cannot be
carried in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, he may issue a Proclamation.
 Duration: When a Proclamation is issued under Article 356, it shall be first laid before each House
of the Parliament. Such Proclamation shall remain in operation for 2 months unless before the
 expiry of the said period it has been approved by both Houses of the Parliament according to
Article 356(3).
 Revocation: By a subsequent Proclamation, a proclamation of State Emergency can be revoked.

Difference between Articles 352 and 356

 Under Article 352, the State Legislature and Executive continue to function but the Centre gets the
concurrent powers of the legislation and administration in the matters of the State. Under Article
356, the executive, as well as legislative power, is vested in the Centre and the State Legislature is
dissolved.
 Under Article 352, the relationship between the Centre and all the States changes but in the case of
Article 356 the relationship between the Centre and the State in which President’s Rule is applied
undergo a change.

Centre State Relations

Part XI of the Indian Constitution specifically deals with centre-state relations. It has been bifurcated
into legislative and administrative relations. Further, in Part XII, provisions related to financial
relations are laid down. All three categories have been discussed in detail hereafter.
Legislative relations
Articles 245 to 255 deal with legislative relations between the Union and the states i.e. the Parliament
and state legislatures. It discusses the extent of law-making powers given to the Union and states. On
analysing the provisions, it is evident that the Parliament clearly has superseding powers as compared
to state legislatures. The different provisions lay down the subject matters on which they can
legislate, the effect of inconsistency between state and national law, residuary powers of the
Parliament and many other provisions. It is this chapter that provides for Schedule VII which deals
with the Union List, State List and Concurrent List.
Administrative relations
Articles 256 to 263 deal with administrative relations i.e. Central Government and various state
governments. Though India is federal yet it has unitary features and thus in Article 256 itself, it is
stated that the state governments should ensure that they abide by the laws made by Parliament and
do not perform any executive or administrative function in contravention of the same. The Sarkaria
Commission urged for cooperative federalism in case of administrative relations between the Centre
and states to ensure better relations between the two. The same was important since there often arises
the situation of different parties working at the Central and state levels which creates chaos and
distrust thereby leading to inefficient administration.
Financial relations
Articles 264 to 293 of Part XII of the Constitution deal with financial relations between the Centre
and state. Since India is a federal country, it follows the separation of powers relating to taxes and it
is the duty of the Centre to allocate funds to the states. All such related provisions have been covered
herein. The power of the Centre and states to levy taxes has been mentioned in Schedule VII. Further,
it has many other provisions relating to levy and allocation of taxes by centre and states, grants to
states, surcharges etc. A very recent example of financial centre-state relation is the Goods and
Services Tax which is a dual structure tax. The tax is imposed and collected by both the Centre and
state and then is distributed between the Centre and states. To simplify, CGST and SGST are received
by Centre and state respectively and IGST is received by the Centre and redistributed between states.
This is a precise example of cooperative federalism in the financial sphere.

Schedule VII
Article 246 has already been discussed and it is clear that three lists exist. These three lists are
provided in Schedule VII of the Constitution. The Union list has 100 items, the state list has 61 items
and the concurrent list has 52 items. Schedule VII also encourages cooperative federalism since it
clearly distinguishes the legislative powers of the Centre and states but also provides certain subjects
on which the opinion of both Centre and state should be taken into consideration.
Article 246
The provision deals with the subject matters on which the Centre and states can make laws. List-I
deals with subjects on which the Centre can make laws. List-II deals with subjects on which states
can make laws. List-III deals with laws on which both can make laws. This promotes legislative
relations between the Centre and states.
Article 246A
The provision relates to GST. No authority had the power to levy GST since the same was not
mentioned in the Seventh Schedule. Therefore, by the 101st Constitution Amendment Act, 2016,
GST was made valid. It is important since India follows a dual GST structure in which both the
Centre as well as the states have an important role to play.

Election Commission of India

The election commission is an independent body that the Constitution of India set up to ensure a free
and fair election. The election commission of India is in charge of hosting the Lok Sabha elections.
The constitution has vested the election commission to direct, superintendent, and control the
elections of the parliament, state legislature, the President, and the Vice President of India’s office.
The election commission of India is one body that is common to both the Central government and the
state governments. However, the election commission does not deal with the elections of
municipalities and panchayats in the different states. For these elections, a separate election
commission has been provided by the constitution of India.
Powers
 To choose the territorial areas of the electoral constituency throughout the country, based on the
Delimitation Commission Act of the Parliament.
 To prepare and revise the electoral rolls and register all eligible voters.
 To decide the schedule and date for the election and scrutinise the nomination papers.
 To recognise the different political parties and allocate their election symbols to them.
 The election commission acts as a court to end all the disputes that concern the granting of
recognition to political parties and assigns them election symbols.
 Appoint officials to look into disputes that may concern electoral arrangements.
 Create a program that shall publicise the policies regarding all political parties on different media
platforms, such as the TV and radio, during the elections.
 Advise the President on matters that may concern the disqualification of MPs, and advise the
Governor on issues that may involve the disqualification of MLAs.
 The election commission can cancel polls in cases such as booth capturing, rigging, violence, etc.

Functions
 The commission looks after the elections to the offices of the President and the Vice-President,
state legislators, and the parliament.
 Scheduling the election timings to hold periodic and timely elections for general and by-elections.
 Deciding the spot of the polling stations, assigning voters to their polling stations, a spot for
counting centres, and making arrangements in the polling stations and counting centres and other
related matters.
 To issue the Electronic Photo Identity Card (EPIC) and create the electoral roll.
Composition
Article 324 of the Indian constitution has made some provisions regarding the composition of the
election commission. It includes the following –
 The President of India is in charge of appointing the Chief Election Commissioner and the other
election commissioners
 If any other EC is appointed, the CEC serves the role of the election commission’s Chairman
 The President can appoint regional commissioners to assist the commission as well, such as a
commissioner can be appointed chiefly to look after the Karnataka election commission
 The President decides the tenure of the office and conditions of service of all the election
commissioners

Doctrine of Pleasure
The pleasure doctrine is a concept derived from English common law.
Under it, the crown can dispense with the services of anyone in its employ at any time.
Article 310 of Indian Constitution: It says every person in the defence or civil service of the Union
holds office during the pleasure of the President, and every member of the civil service in the States
holds office during the pleasure of the Governor.
Article 311: It imposes restrictions on the removal of a civil servant; it provides for civil servants
being given a reasonable opportunity for a hearing on the charges against them.