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DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Indian Polity

Lecture - 05
Nature of Indian Constitution
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Nature of Indian Constitution

Nature of the Indian Constitution
❖ The nature of the Indian Constitution means what name can be given to the Indian Constitution. Can it be called
federal or unitary or quasi-federal?
❖ The ‘Federation’ word is nowhere mentioned under the Indian Constitution, though the Supreme Court and the
drafting committee called it a Federal Constitution.
NOTE: The Drafting Committee was constituted on 29th August 1947 by the constituent assembly. The drafting
committee was headed by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. This committee presented the draft of the Constitution to the
Constituent Assembly on 4th November 1948 (by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar). The drafted constitution opened up for
discussion in the assembly.
❖ Views of the scholars on the nature of the Indian Constitution:
⮚ Prof. D.D. Basu calls the Indian Constitution a federal constitution.
⮚ Prof. K.C. Wheare calls the Indian Constitution as a quasi-federal constitution.
⮚ Prof. P.K. Tripathi calls the Indian Constitution a unitary constitution.
Supreme Court Landmark Cases
❖ Satpal vs State of Punjab and Others case (1963): In this case, the Supreme Court considered that in
comparison to the Federal or Unitary, Indian Constitution is more quasi-federal.
❖ S.R. Bommai Case vs Union of India Case (1994): In this case, the Supreme Court considered that
federalism is part of the Basic structure of India’s Constitution.

Why is there confusion regarding the nature of the Indian Constitution?

❖ It is customary for Western scholars to regard the US Constitution as the model constitution of the world.
❖ If any constitution of the world does not resemble the US constitution, then they reject that constitution as
being federal.
❖ But no two constitutions of the world can have complete resemblance because every constitution reflects the
conditions of that particular country like the Indian Constitution reflects the culture and society of India.
❖ So, this is a wrong assumption that a constitution is not federal if it does not resemble the American
Constitution.

Any constitution to be called as a federal constitution should satisfy five characteristics:

1. Division of power or distribution of power:
⮚ It means the power of the Central Government and State Government is divided or distributed.
⮚ Therefore, division or distribution of power supposes to form of government i.e., Central and State
government but these two are not subordinate to each other.
⮚ They are coordinating units, both these units are controlled by the Constitution, and not by each other.
2. Supremacy of Constitution:
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⮚ The Constitution cannot be amended either by the Central or State government alone. It is amended
through a joint action on the part of both the Central and State Governments.
⮚ If the Central Government will have the power to amend the Constitution alone then it can take away all
powers of the State Government.
⮚ If the State Government will have the power to amend the constitution, then it will destroy the dual polity
again in favour of the State Government.
⮚ To sustain the division of power it is necessary that the Constitution is amended by both the Central
and State governments.
⮚ There are only certain provisions of the constitution that take part in the division of power, those
provisions can be amended only by joint action and the rest of the provisions can be amended by the
Centre alone.
The following set of provisions take part in the division of power:
❖ Article 54, Article 55: Election of President.
❖ Article 73: Extent of the Executive power of Union.
❖ Article 162: Extent of the Executive power of State.
❖ Seventh Schedule: The division of powers between Union and State is notified through three list:
1. Union List
2. State List
3. Concurrent List
❖ Representation of States in Parliament.
❖ Article 368: It is related to the amendment to the Constitution.
❖ Other than the above sets, the Constitution can be amended by the Parliament only, then it does not go to
the State Legislature.
3. Federal Constitution should necessarily be a written constitution:
⮚ The Federal Constitution must seek the supremacy of the Constitution that is why the federal Constitution
should be a written Constitution.
⮚ Unless the division of power is clearly mentioned the federation cannot function properly.
⮚ Federal Constitution should be a written constitution for the following reasons:
✓ Supremacy of the Constitution cannot be maintained unless it is a written constitution.
✓ The division of power must be clearly demarcated in order to ensure the smooth functioning of the
federation.
4. Rigidity of the Constitution:
⮚ It means the provision for amending the Constitution is difficult but not impossible.
⮚ The constitution can be only amended by the joint action of the State Government and Central
Government and it is a difficult process.
⮚ A major part of the Indian Constitution is flexible and only a small part of the Indian Constitution is rigid.
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5. Authority of Courts:
⮚ There should be an authority independent of the Central and State governments with the power to resolve
disputes that may arise between the Central and State governments or between the State Governments
themselves.
⮚ There shall be an independent authority preferably a Court of law which shall act as the final interpreter
of the Constitution, whose decision shall be final and binding.

NOTE: The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th provisions are to maintain the 1st provision that is the division or distribution
of power.
❖ Since all the above five conditions are satisfied in the Indian Constitution hence, the Indian Constitution
is federal in character.

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