MPPSC Paper II Polity
Human Rights Commission
Establishment of Human Right Commission The National Human Rights Commission is a statutory (and not a constitutional) body. It was established in 1993 under a legislation enacted by the Parliament, namely, the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. This Act was amended in 2006. The commission is the watchdog of human rights in the country, that is, the rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the international covenants and enforceable by courts in India. The specific objectives of the establishment of the commission are : To strengthen the ... Read more
Union Public Service Commissions-UPSC
Union Public Service Commissions Public Service Commissions for the Union as per Article-315 Subject to the provisions of this article, there shall be a Public Service Commission for the Union Any such law as aforesaid may contain such incidental and consequential provisions as may be necessary or desirable for giving effect to the purposes of the law. The Public Service Commission for the Union, if requested so to do by the Governor of a State, may, with the approval of the President, agree to serve all or any of the needs of the State. References in this Constitution to the ... Read more
Evolution of Indian Constitution
Although the systems of ancient India do have their reflections in the Constitutions of India, the direct sources of the Constitution lie in the administrative and legislative developments of the British period. Regulating Act of 1773 This Act was based on the report of a committee headed by the British Prime Minister Lord North. Governance of the East India Company was put under the British Parliamentary control. The Governor of Bengal was nominated as Governor General for all the three Presidencies of Calcutta Bombay and Madras. Warren Hastings was the first such Governor General. A Supreme Court was ... Read more
Preamble and its significance
The Constitution of India begins with a Preamble which describes the nature of the Indian State and the objectives it is committed to secure. K.M. Munshi describes the Preamble as the political horoscope of the constitution. Thakur Dass Bhargawa says Preamble is the most precious part and the soul of the constitution. The Preamble reads: We, the People of India having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic and to secure to all its citizens; Justice, social, economic, political; Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; Equality of status and opportunity; and to promote ... Read more
Basic Structure of Indian Constitution
Basic Structure The basic structure doctrine is an Indian judicial principle that the Constitution of India has certain basic features that cannot be altered or destroyed through amendments by the parliament. Key among these “basic features”, are the fundamental rights granted to individuals by the constitution. The doctrine thus forms the basis of a limited power of the Indian Supreme Court to review and strike down constitutional amendments enacted by the parliament which conflict with or seek to alter this “basic structure” of the constitution. In 1965, The “basic features” principle was first expounded by Justice J.R. Mudholkar in his ... Read more
Fundamental Rights and Duties
The Indian constitution originally provided 7 categories of fundamental rights. But one fundamental right, that to property was removed from the list of fundamental rights by 44th amendment. Right to property now is an ordinary legal right. Thus there are now 6 categories of fundamental rights. These are: (1) Right to equality (Arts. 14-18). In this category there are five rights Equality Before Law:- Equality before law is well defined under the Article 14 of the Constitution which ensures that every citizen shall be likewise protected by the laws of the country. It means that the State will not distinguish ... Read more
Directive Principles of State Policy
An important feature of the constitution is the Directive Principles of State Policy. Although the Directive Principles are asserted to be “fundamental in the governance of the country,” they are not legally enforceable. Instead, they are guidelines for creating a social order characterized by social, economic, and political justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity as enunciated in the constitution’s preamble. Article 37 of the Constitution declares that the DPSP “shall not be enforceable by any court, but the principles therein laid down are nevertheless fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the state to ... Read more
Schedules of the Constitution
Indian Constitution though originally had eight schedules at its commencements, Four more schedules were added by different amendments acts of the constitution, now making a total tally of twelve. Schedules are basically tables which contains additional details not mentioned in the articles. The post gives a brief idea about all the 12 Schedules of Indian Constitution. FIRST SCHEDULE —The States. —The Union territories. SECOND SCHEDULE PART A— Provisions as to the President and the Governors of States. PART B— [Repealed.] PART C— Provisions as to the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of the People and the Chairman and ... Read more
Constitutional Amendment methods and important constitutional amendments.
Amendments to the Constitution are made by the Parliament, the procedure for which is laid out in Article 368. An amendment bill must be passed by both the Houses of the Parliament by a two-thirds majority and voting. In addition to this, certain amendments which pertain to the federal nature of the Constitution must be ratified by a majority of state legislatures. As of July 2017 there have been 118 amendment bills presented in the Parliament, out of which 98 have been passed to become Amendment Acts. Bills seeking to amend the Constitution are of three types:— (1) Bills that are ... Read more
Union Legislature : Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha: 0rganisation and Functions
Parliament is the central institution through which the will of the people is expressed, laws are passed and government is held to account. It plays a vital role in a democracy, and endeavours to be truly representative, transparent, accessible, accountable and effective in its many functions. The Parliament has two Houses–Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. Rajya Sabha is upper House and represents the States of India while the Lok Sabha is lower House. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha: 0rganisation and Functions; The Council of States (Rajya Sabha) is the Upper House of our Parliament. It consists of not more than ... Read more