Separation of

Powers

Supreet Kaur Sethi

Enrollment no.-207
 TOC

1]INTRODUCTION
2]HISTORY
3]MEANING
4]FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT ORGANS
5]CASE LAWS
6]CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION

The doctrine of separation of power is an idea which talks about the functioning of government at its
best when the powers are not solely given to a single authority but is subdivided into different
branches.
Separation of powers mainly deals with the function of each organ of the state and its implication on
other organs.
In India, functions are separated from powers rather than the other way around. The idea of the
separation of powers is not properly followed in India, unlike in the US. The court has the authority to
overturn any unlawful legislation that the legislature passes thanks to a system of checks and
balances that has been put in place.
HISTORY

01
The term “separation of powers” or “trias–politica “ was initiated by Charles de
Montesquieu.His publication, Spirit of the Laws , is considered one of the great works in the
history of political theory and jurisprudence, and it inspired the Declaration of the Rights of
Man and the Constitution of the United States

02
But Aristotle was the first one who wrote about it, not in an obvious manner. In his book,
analysis has been found of three parts or we can say branches

03
Montesquieu believed that the decentralisation of power should be done or else the justice
becomes capricious. The three organs Legislative, executive and judiciary should work
independently and there should be no overlap between the powers of these organs
MEANING

The doctrine of separation of powers follows the principles of

politics. The concept of this doctrine is to remove the abuse of
power by the authorities. This doctrine says that no organ of the
government can exercise the power other than what is given to
them.
FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT ORGANS

It is impossible for any of the organs to

perform all the functions systematically
and appropriately. So for the proper
functioning of the powers, the powers
are distributed among the legislature,
executive and judiciary.
EXECUTIVE
1

The executive is the administrative head of the

government. It is called the mainspring of the
government because if the executive crack-up, the
government exhausts as it gets imbalanced. In the
limited sense, the executive includes the head of the
minister, advisors, departmental head and his
ministers
 LEGISLATIVE
2

The main function of the legislature is to enact a law. Enacting a law

expresses the will of the State and it also acts as the wain to the
autonomy of the State. It is the basis for the functioning of the
executive and judiciary. It is spotted as the first place among the
three organs because until and unless the law is framed the
functioning of implementing and applying the law can be exercised.
JUDICIARY

It refers to those public officers whose

responsibility is to apply the law
framed by the legislature to individual
cases by taking into consideration the
principle of natural justice,
fairness.India has a single integrated
judicial system. The Judiciary in India
has a pyramidal structure with the
Supreme Court (SC) at the top. High
Courts (HC) are below the SC, and
below them are the district and
subordinate courts.
 CASE LAWS

Kesavananda Bharati
Sripadagalvaru and
Ors. v. State of Kerala
and Anr(1973)

01 03
I.C Golakhnath vs
Ram Jawaya Kapur v State of
State of Punjab(1967)
Punjab(1955)
02
 This doctrine has a great
significance as it protects the
liberty of the individual from the
arbitrary rule and prevents the
organs from usurping the
essential functions of other
organs.It can be argued that this
idea or notion is not compatible
to work in its literal meaning,
CONCLUSION but it can do so and succeed by
laying emphasis on the checks
and balances that are placed so
as to make it a good government
in it's true form and make it
possible to eradicate power
manipulation and misuse by the
different sections and domains of
the government. It is seen that
states do not follow this doctrine
in a strict sense, and it is very
impractical to follow the doctrine
of separation of powers. India
with the help of this doctrine
checks and looks after the
functions of the three organs of
the government.