Class Notes 4 You

The twin principles of Judicial independence and judicial accountability have been the central theme of various debates and discussions in almost all democratic countries of the world which cherish the golden principle of Rule of Law. The judicial system of India and UK is converging in following aspects: Judiciary is the highest Interpreter of the laws, byelaws. Action of the executive can be declared as Ultra Vires by the Judiciary. The Rule of Law in Britain is safeguarded by the provision that judges can only be removed from office for serious misbehaviour and according to a procedure requiring the consent of both the Houses of Parliament. It is diverging in the following respects: 1. In India, the system of appointment for the judges is collegium system, and in the UK, the Judicial appointment commission appoints judges. 2. Jury trials were abolished in most Indian courts by the 1973 Code of Criminal Procedure, while it exists in the UK. 3. In the case of the British system, the l...

The world’s oldest and largest democracy is known for the value attached to the Fundamental rights. But thebdifferences between them on the different adjectives of Fundamental rights is also easily noticeable. The difference between USA and India with respect to Right to equality can be traced from its introduction in the constitution. In the USA, right to equality was inserted in the Bill of Rights through fourteenth Amendment in 1868, While in India, it was inserted since the commencement of the constitution.  American Constitution • It follows the notion of Equal Protection of Law i.e., Equals should be treated alike and unlike should be treated equally. • Equality in Representation: Members from each state attained the session in equal number regardless of the population, area or any other criteria. • No Provision for Affirmative action. Thus, Focus was more on Equality of Opportunity. • Right to equality does not provide any social equality in America. The Original Constituti...

Separation of power refers to the division of the government responsibilities into distinct branches to limit any one branch from exercising the core functions of another, in order to prevent concentration of Power. Does not accept the principles in strict sense: 1. In the USA, there is a strict separation of power mentioned in Articles 1, 2 and 3 for Legislative, Executive and Judicial power respectively. 2. No democratic system exists with an absolute separation of power or absolute lack of separation of power. 3. In India, we can find separation of power in between Executive and Judiciary in Article 1950 but it is not strict as District magistrate has some Judicial powers too. Likewise, the Separation of Power between Legislature and Executive is fluid as seen in Anti Defection Law. In the Raj Narain case, The Court held, A rigid separation of powers as under the American Constitution or under the Australian Constitution does not apply to India, as there is checks and balances like:...

The doctrine of separation of powers implies minimal interference by one organ in the functioning of another organ. However, recently judicial legislation has emerged as a process in which the judiciary does the duty of the legislature and formulates laws, rules and regulations. One of the mechanisms for Judicial legislation is Public Interest Litigation (PIL). Antithetical to Separation of Power: It is argued that the social and economic domain should be largely the prerogative of the other branches of government, which are better equipped to analyse, formulate, and implement complex policies, and that much of PIL is inappropriate judicial activism” or “adventurism. PIL has significantly contributed, to expand their own powers and shield themselves from scrutiny and accountability. To some, it appears as though the courts may be spending time on frivolous and ineffectual PIL cases at the expense of the real administration of justice, and choose to do so because PIL burnishes their pop...

  Current Affairs  Important Newspaper Highlights for UPSC Civil Services Examination. 25 July 2022 The HINDU   🟠FRONT PAGE : Andhra Pradesh on alert as water rises  in Godavari(Page 1) 🟢FRONT PAGE : Wind power rates may bottom out  (Page 1) 🟠EDITORIAL: Weighing in on India’s investment led  revival (Page 6) 🟢EDITORIAL: MC12 over, it’s ‘gains’ for the developed  world (Page 6) 🟠OPED : Adding digital layers of indignity (Page 7) 🟢OPED : A shot in the arm for rule of law (Page 7) 🟠TEXT & CONTEXT :A recap of the monkeypox outbreak (Page 8) 🟢TEXT & CONTEXT :The challenges of fiberization ahead  of India’s 5G deployment (Page 9) 🟠NEWS : Study on snow leopard and its prey (Page 12) 🟢WORLD :China launches second space station module  (Page 13)  The Indian EXPRESS  🟠FRONT PAGE : Hit by Covid, small & micro units wait  for Rs 8.7 lakh crore in pending dues(Page 1)  🟢FRONT PAGE : Free, but Burkapal tribals t...

The distribution of legislative power under the 7th Schedule is the most important aspect of the Indian Federal scheme. Despite the fact that subjects to legislate by the centre and state have been divided in three lists, there may arise conflict between centre and state regarding legislative capacity. Few Instances where there is overlapping and confusion on legislation: 1. Animal Husbandry is in State list and prevention of cruelty is in concurrent list where centre and state both can make law creates confusion. 2. Centre passed Farm act as per Entry 33 of the Concurrent list while Trade and Agriculture is in Entry 14 and Agriculture and market is in Entry 28 of the State list. 3. Disaster Management act has been invoked by the Centre during pandemic, State is of the view that Public Health and Sanitation is under State List. So, whenever the conflict arises on Jurisdictional Power of Centre and State the SC under Article 131, interprets the list by applying certain Principles like: ...

The local institutions have been set by the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendment which talks about the need of proper funding power, and efficient functionaries to perform the functions devolved to these local institutions. Functionality refers to the quality of being suited to serve a purpose well. It points to aspects of a situation that include the actual doing or experience of something. It is about the objective that something is intended or expected to accomplish. Challenges in terms of Functionality: 1. Parastatal Organisation: These are controlled by the states and they effectively usurped functions and revenues that ought to have been the domain of local institutions. 2. Challenges of Staff: Majority of the manpower in panchayats function in silos related to schemes and are mostly accountable to the programme supervisors, not to the panchayats. 3. Lack of coordination between Bureaucrats and Functionaries. 4. State Finance Commission: States have not been setting up their SF...

Federation is an agreement between two types of government sharing power and controlling their respective spheres. Based on the relationship between central and state government, the concept of federalism is divided into Cooperative, Competitive and confrontation federalism. Cooperative Federalism : Centre and state share a horizontal relationship where they cooperate in larger interest. They Cooperate on matters specified in the schedule VII of the constitution. Examples: 1. Readiness for GST: When both centre and state have cooperated by calling off their power of taxation in respective spheres. 2. The success of All India service is an example of Cooperative Federalism. 3. The composition of NITI Aayog’s Governing Council comprises Chief Ministers of states and Administrators or Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories.  Competitive Federalism : The relationship between central and state government is vertical and between the State government is horizontal. Example: 1. NITI Aay...