Central Government

There are three organs of a government- Legislature, Executive and Judiciary.

Legislature

Legislature is the first organ among the three organs of the government.

In context to Indian governance, system, the legislature has been formed on two levels-(1) Union Legislature, and (2) State Legislature. Our constitution has named the Union legislature as the Parliament.

According to the provision of Article 79 of the Indian constitution, there is a parliament in the Indian Union which is formed jointly by the President and the two houses namely- the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

Lok Sabha : The maximum strength of the Lok Sabha can be 552. Out of these, 530 members are elected from the constituencies of various states, a maximum number of 20 members will be elected from the union territories and maximum 2 members from Anglo-Indian community will be nominated by the President. To become member of Lok Sabha one should be age of 25 years.

The interval between two respective meetings of the Lok Sabha should not be more than 6 months.

According to Article 93 of the constitution, the Lok Sabha itself will appoint a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker from among its members.

Rajya Sabha: The maximum number of members of Rajya Sabha is 250, but at present time, it is 245. Out of these, 12 members are nominated by the President. Rajya Sabha is a permanent House which is never suspended. The tenure of its members is 6 years and one-third of Rajya Sabha members retire after a period of every two years. The Vice President is the chairman of the Rajya Sabha. According to Article 66, the members of both the Houses of Parliament elect the Vice President. He can be removed from office through such resolution which is passed by majority by Rajya Sabha members and which is also passed by the Lok Sabha. To become member of Rajya Sabha one should be age of 30 years.

Points to remember:

Both the Houses of the Parliament can remove the President from his office by the process of impeachment.  

Both the Houses of the Parliament can pass a resolution to remove any judge of the Supreme or High Court on the ground of incapability or misconduct.

Article 352 of the constitution provided that if the President feels the probability of conflict or maladministration in India or any part of India due to war, external invasion or internal conflict, then he could impose National emergency under the advice of cabinet ministers.

According to Article 356, if the President comes to know from the state Governor or if he himself considers that such a condition has evolved that the government of some state is not functioning as per the provisions of the constitution, then he can declare an emergency in that state. To implement declaration of emergency done by the President, it is necessary to take permission of both the Houses of the Parliament within one month of such declaration. After six months, if it is necessary to implement it again for the next six months, consent of both the Houses is required.

According to Article 109, money bills can only be presented in the Lok Sabha and not in the Rajya Sabha.

Article 368, provides the provision for amendments in constitution.

According to Article 54, the President of India is indirectly elected by Electoral college which comprised  the members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, along with the members of the state legislatures and the union territories of Delhi and Puducherry. Term- five years. Age- 35 years. President is the formal supreme head of the executive, while Prime Minister along with his council of ministers is the actual head of the executive.

Value of each MLA vote =     

Value of each MP vote =         

According to Article 61 of the Indian constitution, in case if the President breaches the constitution, then he can be removed from office through impeachment. The impeachment motion must be accepted  by two-third majority by  both the houses of Parliament.

The President of India is the Supreme Commander of all the three forces.

The President has the power to issue ordinances when the Parliament session is not in progress. These ordinances are valid for six months.

According to Article 312 of the constitution, only the Rajya Sabha has the power to provide the right to establish new All India Services to the central government by passing a motion through two-third of its majority.

Jurisdiction of Powers and Functions of the Supreme Court

In the beginning, there was a provision of one Chief Justice and seven other judges for the Supreme Court The number of judges including the Chief Justice was increased to 31 in the year 2008.The Indian constitution has given immense power to the Supreme Court, which can be studied under the following heads-

1.         Original Jurisdiction: Original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court can be divided into the following two categories-

a.         Original single jurisdiction- Original single jurisdiction refers to those disputes which can be heard only by the Supreme Court. Following subjects are included in the original single jurisdiction of the Supreme Court-

i.          Dispute between the central government and one or more state governments,

ii.         Dispute between states of the Indian union.

iii.        Dispute between two or more than two states regarding constitutional subjects.

b.         Original concurrent jurisdiction- Both the Supreme Court and the High Court have been given the right to implement the fundamental rights provided by the constitution. Therefore, disputes regarding these fundamental rights are firstly presented in the High Court of the respective state or can directly be presented in front of the Supreme Court if required.

2.         Appellate Jurisdiction: Along with original jurisdiction, the constitution has also provided appellate jurisdiction to the Supreme Court and it is the final court of appeal of India. It has the authority to hear appeals against the decisions made by the High Courts of all the states. Appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court can be divided into the following four categories: Constitutional, civil, criminal and specific.

Power of Judicial Review: The constitution has also conferred the responsibility of protecting the constitution to the Supreme Court. This means that the Supreme Court has the authority to examine the validity of laws formed. Article 131 and Article 132 gives the Supreme Court the authority to review the laws formed by the union or state governments.

Different types of Writs (order) by courts:

Habeas Corpus: a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure the person's release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention.

Mandamus: a judicial writ issued as a command to an inferior court or ordering a person to perform a public or statutory duty.

Prohibition, Writ:  An order from a superior court to a lower court or tribunal directing the judge and the parties to cease the litigation because the lower court does not have proper jurisdiction to hear or determine the matters before it.

Quo-Warranto Writ: It is a writ issued with a view to restraining a person from acting in a public office to which he is not entitled. 

Certiorari: Certiorari is a writ issued from a superior court to an inferior court or tribunal commanding the latter to send up the record of a particular case.