Principal Organs of the Union Government: Envisaged role and actual working of the Executive, Legislature and Supreme Court

• Governor

1. Art 153: Every state must have a governor
2. 
   According to Paul R. Brass -Constitution of India was born not in an atmosphere of hope, but in an atmosphere of fear and trepidation. After Independence, the real and urgent challenge was to Integrate India into one string, as partition and secessionist challenges were still present. Constitution-makers were worried if the situation would lead to the Balkanisation of India. The office of a governor was supposed to play a significant role in keeping the situation under control, as well as check any secessionist trends in the states.
3. Sarkaria commission-lynchpin of co-op federalism
4. Issues-
1. Trust deficit between union and state govt due to discretionary powers of the governor 163
2. 
   Soli Sorabjee in his book - The governor: sage or saboteur has held that the arbitrary exercise of the discretionary power has converted the institution of coop federalism to the institution of bargaining federalism
3. E.g.- recently ex of Karnataka where gov did not call party with single largest votes. Same in Goa and Manipur in 2017. 1988 gov of UP removed Kalyan Singh without chance to prove his majority on the floor of the house, MH Fadnavis was called at 5 am for oath taking ceremony even though he had not proven majority. Later he had to resign in a day.
4. In Maharashtra, for example, the situation was indeed bizarre insomuch as the Governor refusing to accept the date of election of the Speaker recommended by the State government. Consequently, the Assembly could not elect the Speaker.
5. 
   Biswanath Das, member constituent assembly noted that since the governor was appointed by the Centre, it was quite likely that he or she might not be acceptable in an opposition-ruled state, especially if the “power to give administrative pin-pricks is vested in the governor.”

• Way ahead

1. MM Punchi commission- governor should use his discretionary powers sparsely.
2. NCRWC: governor’s loyalty must only be towards constitution and to no one else and his commitment to the well being of the people of his state.
3. 2nd ARC: gov must be impartial and must have a sense of fair play
4. 1st ARC, 1969- CM of the state should be consulted before appointment
5. Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava, a conscientious member of the Constituent Assembly: “He (Go­ vernor) will be a man above party and he will look at the minister and government from a detached stand point”.

• SC judgments in regard to Governor:

1. SC in Nebam Rabia case 2016 said governor to stay away from internal matters of political parties. It also said that summoning and prorogation of state assembly is not a discretionary power of the governor
2. Hargovind pant vs Raghukul Tilak 1979 - said governor's office is not subordinate to union govt and his discretion is not union govt 's discretion.
3. Rameshwar Prasad vs UOI case 2006 said governor takes oath to serve people of state and not union govt
4. BP Singhal case 2010 said governor Should be allowed to complete his tenure. Governor has dual role ie as constitutional head of state and link between centre and state.
5. conclusion- in actualising the dreams of the founding fathers of our Constitution, we need governors who upholds constitutional values the in the right spirit of constitutional trust and morality. President Ram Nath Kovind called upon Go­vernors to play the role of a “friend, philosopher and guide” in their States.

• PM-
• In the context of Parliamentary form of government Harold Laski held that prime minister is the pivot around which entire governmental machinery revolves. He is the keystone of the Cabinet architecture.
• Article 74(1)- there shall be a COM with a PM as its head to aid and advise the president.
• Two models regarding the position of PM include- primus inter pares (first among equals) and “luna inter stellas minores” (moon amongst the stars)

• Speaker:
• Intro-The Office of the Speaker occupies a pivotal position in our parliamentary democracy. while the members of Parliament represent the individual constituencies, the Speaker represents the full authority of the House itself.
• Issues-
1. Politicisation of post
2. Page committee-of UK held partisan speaker becomes vanguard for the deathknell of parliamentary democracy
3. Anti defection: No time limit on when the presiding officer has to take a decision
4. Suspension of members of opposition
• Way ahead
1. British model- once a speaker always a speaker
2. USA - speaker just convenes meetings. He can openly support his party.
3. GV Mavalankar- Once a person is elected as a speaker he is expected to be above parties and politics
4. some dubious examples:
1. Goa
2. Maharashtra
3. Uttarakhand
4. Manipur
5. Madhya Pradesh
5. There is a growing trend of Speakers acting against the constitutional duty of being neutral
6. Conclusion- Nehru- The Speaker represents the House. and because the House represents the nation, the Speaker becomes a symbol of nation's freedom and liberty. Therefore that position should always be occupied by persons of outstanding ability and impartiality.

• Anti- defection-
• 52ndAA,1985 —> Tenth schedule
• 91st AA,2003
• (briefly mention its provisions regarding independent and nominated members, issue of following whip, anti party activities)
• SC judgments-

1. Kihoto Holohan case 1993- speaker is quasi tribunal and comes under judicial review
2. Ravi Nayak case : Even in the absence of a formal resignation from membership an inference can be drawn from the conduct of a member that he has voluntarily given up his membership of the political party to which he belongs
3. Issues-
1. What was intended to stop shopping of legislators has ended up silencing them
2. Has reduced the will of legislature to hold the executive responsible and affects the basis of a parliamentary system
4. Way ahead-
1. SC has suggested independent tribunal to decide on anti defection cases due to partisan cases of speaker. It has also suggested to conclude proceedings within 3 months
2. NCRWC
1. The defectors should be debarred to hold any public office of a minister for the remaining term of the existing Legislature
2. Vote caste by defected to topple the government should be treated as invalid
3. Dinesh Goswami comm- issue of disqualification to be decided by prez/gov on advice of EC. also limiting whip to crucial matters like no confidence motion, money bill etc
4. Halim committee- 1998- define voluntary giving up

• conclusion: SC- ensuring purity of anti defection law under 10th schedule is vital to democracy's functioning.

• President-
• Intro-Article 52 of the constitution defines The President of India is the Head of the State and also the first citizen of India

1. Presidential activism: where prez is acting on his own discretion
1. In India cohabitation (when prez and pm belong to diff party) creates presidential activism
2. Shamsher Singh vs state of Punjab and Ram Jawaya vs state of Punjab, SC has said prez is the constitutional head.
3. 
   James manor says India has a long list of activist prez.
1. Rajendra prasad on hindu code bill
2. GZ Singh, used pocket veto on post office (amendment) bill 1986
3. KR Narayan: sent back recomm on imposition of art 356 on UP and Bihar. He also reminded govt of India's commitment to non alignment during the visit of Prez Bill Clinton.
4. APJ Abdul Kalam sending office of profit bill for re examination in 2006
4. use of presidential office to bring ordinances like farm laws, increasing tenure of CBI, ED director by the govt further decreases executive accountability to the parliament
5. Ambedkar: dignitaries should follow constitutional morality . It does not sanction Presidential activism.
6. 
   Conclusion-President is like an emergency lamp which comes to power only when the main switch is off

• Parliament-
• Intro:Article 79- The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. Vinod Rai in his book has called parliament the most defining institution of a democratic republic.
• The state of India’s legislatures features a paradox- As India's democracy seems to deepen, its legislatures seem to become less relevant.
• 
  Devesh Kapur and PB Mehta in their book Rethinking public institutions in india give reasons for the decline of parliament
1. Plebianisation of Indian democracy
2. PRS- the practice of question hour is deeply flawed as less than 15% of questions listed are actually answered orally in the parliament due to frequent disruptions.
3. Voting patterns of MPs are seldom recorded
4. No of sittings have declined in recent years and the productive time has also decreased
5. Coalition politics leads to policy paralysis
6. Lack of responsible opposition where disruption has become the norm rather than exception.
7. Lack of electoral reforms—>presence of MPs with accusations of heinous crimes(ADR report).
8. Politicization of post of speaker
9. Globalization—> affecting sovereignty of the parliament.
10. Lack of training and capacity building of MPs
11. Lack of parliamentary ethics as pointed out by 2nd ARC in ethics in governance report.
12. Declining quality of debates.
13. The overarching powers given by tenth schedule to the speaker has given ruling parties an incentive to appoint a partisan speaker who will protect their interests rather than run the legislature in an impartial manner. And the legislators rarely express any meaningful dissent from the party line
1. Reforms needed in parliament:
• NCRWC
• The privileges of legislators should be clearly defined and delimited
• The parliamentarians must voluntarily place themselves open to public scrutiny through a Parliamentary ombudsman
• A tracking mechanism needs to be developed so that action taken by executive branch on reports like CAG, PAC, is available to public online
• Minimum number of days for setting for Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha should be fixed at 100 and 120 days respectively
• 
  Vp Hamid Ansari- parliament has become a federation of anarchy. Debates are rare and informed debates are rarer. Ruling and opposition meet as two warring groups.
• Bills to be placed in public domain 30 days before they are to be introduced in parliament- Pre legislative consulting policy,2014.
• Public consultations enhance participative and deliberative democracy and result in building of an informed Government where citizens are treated as partners and not as subjects. Ex- concerns by #TheinternetCampaign were addressed by TRAI while framing rules on net neutrality
2. conclusion-A well functioning legislature is not only an important check on govt’s power, but also lends democratic legitimacy to the functioning of the govt.

• Parliamentary committee 
• 
  Congress in session is Congress at exhibition, Congress in committee is Congress at work- Woodrow Wilson
• The history of parliamentary committees in India goes back to the Montague-Chelmsford reforms of 1919.
• Under it committees like the PAC , Estimates committee were created in 1921
• 21 years of PAC
• Set up in 1921 under GOI act, 1919
• 
• 

• Mehta+Devesh Kapur in their book: rethinking public institutions in India  say committees suffer from general weakness suffered by parliamentarians like lack of capacity, members elected for one year, ministers ignore the advice as they are not a member, no separate remuneration, not binding
• There have been instances where the presiding officers have refused to send important bills for consideration of committees in order to hasten the process of passage of the bills.
• PB Mehta says parliament has been reduced to a “notice board.”
• 71% bills sent to committees in 15 LS , 27%in 16th LS and 11% in the current one
• Poor attendance of members
• Leas duration of committees