Today we are setting basic plan to study Indian Polity in an effective way to gain maximum benefit out of single reading. The best book to start with is M. Laxmikanth. Here I have clubbed its chapters in a more logical units for developing clear understanding to score maximum in civil services examinations.
We start our journey with President, Vice President and Governor. These are titular heads of executive but are vested with some interesting powers. After reading governor, we move to Emergency provisions. Best way to cover emergencies is to make comparative charts. Once we have completed this unit, make comparison of President and Governor too. Nothing beats solving MCQs in mastering concepts.
In India, we have three-tiers of Polity. Union, State and local. Union and State are almost replica of each other. So it makes sense to study Union and State together to reduce our time in first reading. We start with Prime Minister and his council of ministers. Understand the position of prime minister in Indian polity and then move on to chief executive in States , the Chief Minister. These are small topics and will not take much of our time. Focus on amendments related to size of councils and articles that provide for responsible government.
Our third logical unit begins with Parliamentary System. Read this topic upto budget, pause for reading CAG. After reading CAG, resume with Parliamentary system topic. Various motions and their usage should be focussed more. For effective parliamentary scrutiny we have various parliamentary committees. Three of them are a must read PAC, Estimates Committee and Public Undertakings committee. Questions range from size, composition and role of these committees.
Now that we have mastered Union legislature, its time to get our hands dirty with state legislature. Like Rajya Sabha, Some states have legislative councils too. It becomes imperative to understand how a legislative council is envisioned differently from Rajya Sabha. What is the procedure to form a legislative council? How a bill can be passed in state legislature, with or without council? What are different types of lists in Indian Constitution and what happens if Union and State provide for a law on same subject.
Indian Constitution has provided safeguards too. Supreme Court is empowered as its defender. Interestingly, High Courts too enjoy these privileges and in certain circumstances they are endowed with wider power than Supreme Court. Composition and jurisdiction of courts forms the crux of these chapters. We also have Tribunals, Constitutional or statutory, for specialised cases. The judgement of SC is equivalent to law of land, so reading newspapers and updating the current scenario is a daily exercise we must perform.
Attorney general is highest lawyer in Union while advocate general is for state. They are part of Union and State executive respectively. Their special privileges with respect to Parliament and legislature must be duly noted.
Indian constitution is neither rigid nor flexible. This unique mixture is achieved through elaborate amendment procedures. In parliamentary system chapter, we studied how a bill becomes act. Here we encounter special case vis-a-vis presidential assent. Now that we know Supreme Court can term a bill ultra-vires to constitution, it becomes interesting to understand the view points from state and court’s perspective. We witness India as a living democracy. Amendment procedure, Lists and judicial review form the crux of this topic.
You will read a lot of interesting material on this in India’s post-independence history to create your own opinions.
Book List :
M. Laxmikanth
Introduction to the Constitution of India - D D Basu
Our Parliament - Subhash Kashyap
Panchayati Raj - Aslam, NBT
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