Legislative Powers Of President

• He has the authority to summon or prorogue Parliament as well as dissolve the Lok Sabha.
• He can also call a joint session of both Houses of Parliament, which is presided over by the Lok
Sabha Speaker.
• He has the right to address Parliament at the start of the first session following each general
election, as well as the first session of each year.
• He has the authority to send messages to the Houses of Parliament, whether related to a
pending bill in the Parliament or otherwise.
• When the offices of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker become vacant, he has the
authority to appoint any member of the Lok Sabha to preside over its proceedings.
• Similarly, he can appoint any Rajya Sabha member to preside over its proceedings if both the
Chairman and Deputy Chairman's positions become vacant.
• He appoints 12 Rajya Sabha members from among those with special knowledge or practical
experience in literature, science, art, and social service.
• He has the authority to appoint two members of the Anglo-Indian community to the Lok Sabha.
• In consultation with the Election Commission, he makes decisions on disqualifications of
members of Parliament.
• Certain types of bills require his prior recommendation or permission to be introduced in
Parliament.
o For example - A bill involving expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India, or a bill
involving the alteration of state boundaries or the creation of a new state.
• When a bill is sent to the President after it has been passed by Parliament, he has three options:
o give his assent to the bill;
o withhold his assent to the bill;
o return the bill to Parliament for reconsideration (if it is not a money bill).
o However, if the bill is reintroduced in Parliament, with or without amendments, the
President must give his assent.
• When a bill passed by a state legislature is reserved by the governor for consideration by the
President, the President has three options:
o give his assent to the bill;
o withhold his assent to the bill;
o direct the governor to return the bill to the state legislature for reconsideration (if it is
not a money bill).
o It should be noted that the President is not required to give his assent if the bill is re-
passed by the state legislature and re-sent to him for consideration.
• When the Parliament is not in session, he has the authority to issue ordinances. The Parliament
must approve these ordinances within six weeks of its reassembly. He may also revoke an
ordinance at any time.
• He presents to Parliament the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General, Union Public
Service Commission, Finance Commission, and others.
• He has the authority to enact laws to ensure the peace, progress, and good governance of the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and
Ladakh.
• In the case of Puducherry, the President has the authority to legislate through regulations only
when the assembly is suspended or dissolved.
 Executive Powers Of President
• All executive actions taken by the Indian government are formally taken in his name.
• He has the authority to make rules governing how orders and other instruments made and
executed in his name must be authenticated.
• He has the authority to make rules for the more efficient transaction of Union government
business, as well as the allocation of said business among ministers.
• He appoints the prime minister and other cabinet members. They serve during his pleasure.
• He appoints the Attorney General of India and sets his salary. The Attorney General serves
during the pleasure of the President.
• He appoints the comptroller and auditor general of India, chief election commissioner and other
election commissioners, chairman and members of the Union Public Service Commission, state
governors, chairman and members of the Finance Commission, and other officials.
• He can request from the prime minister any information pertaining to the administration of
Union affairs, as well as legislative proposals.
• He has the authority to request that the Prime Minister submit to the council of ministers any
matter on which a minister has made a decision but which has not been considered by the
council.
• He has the authority to appoint a commission to investigate the conditions of SCs, STs, and
other backward classes.
• He has the authority to appoint an inter-state council to promote centre-state and inter-state
cooperation.
• He administers the union territories directly through administrators he appoints.
• He has the authority to declare any area a scheduled area and to administer scheduled areas
and tribal areas.

Discretionary Powers of the President

The Discretionary Powers of the President of India are as follows:

• Suspended Veto: The President of India has the power to return a bill for reconsideration by the
Parliament. But if the bill is re-passed by the Parliament with or without amendments and
presented to the President, it is mandatory for him to give his assent to the bill.
• Pocket Veto: Here, the presentJr confirms nor rejects nor returns the bill but keeps it pending
indefinitely.
• Under Article 78, the President has the right to receive information from the Prime Minister in
relation to the administration of the affairs of the Union.
• Under Article 85, the President may call each House of Parliament to meet at any time or place
which he thinks fit.
• The President has the power to decide whether he should dissolve the Lok Sabha or not when
the COM loses the majority in the Lok Sabha.
 JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE
• The concept of judicial independence is relatively new, but it is widely recognized as a hallmark
of a liberal democratic society. However, the Indian Constitution does not define the term
independence.
• In legal terms, judicial independence refers to the ability to defend the Rule of Law, personal
freedom and liberty, equality before the law, and impartial and effective judicial control over
the Government's administrative and executive operations without fear or favor.
• As a result, the State's judicial branch should not be subordinated to any other organ or
branch. In this view, judicial independence is based on the power of the courts, which permits
them to exercise their authority without interference from the executive branch.
• The judiciary must be independent of both the executive and legislative branches of
Government.
• Judges should be free of any constraints, inducements, influence, pressure, or threats, direct or
indirect, from the Government and legislature in this way.
• Not only that, but in carrying out their judicial duties, judges must be independent of their
colleagues and superiors and they must have unrestricted access to judicial functions and must
be able to carry out their responsibilities and functions without being hindered.
• The independence of the judiciary is typically guaranteed by the Indian Constitution, but it can
also be guaranteed by law, conventions, and other appropriate norms and practices.

Security of Tenure of Judges

• The judges remain in office until they reach the age of retirement, which is 65 years for Supreme
Court justices (Article 124(2)) and 62 years for High Court judges (Article 217(1)).
• They can only be removed from office by the President's decree, and only based on proven
misbehavior and incapacity.
• A resolution must also be approved by a majority of the entire membership of each House of
Parliament, as well as a majority of no less than two-thirds of the members present and voting.
• Because the procedure is so difficult, no Supreme Court or High Court judge has ever been
removed under this rule.

Salaries and Allowances of Judges

• Judges' salaries and allowances are other aspects that contribute to their independence, as they
are fixed and not subject to legislative approval.
• In the case of Supreme Court judges, they are charged to the Consolidated Fund of India,
whereas in the case of High Court judges, they are charged to the State Consolidated Fund.
• Except in the event of a severe Financial Emergency, their emoluments cannot be changed to
their prejudice (Article 125(2)).

Powers and Jurisdiction

Powers and Jurisdiction of Supreme Court

• The Supreme Court's powers and jurisdiction can only be expanded by Parliament, not
reduced. Parliament may change the monetary cap for appeals to the Supreme Court in civil
matters.
 • The Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction may be expanded by Parliament and also may give
the Supreme Court additional authority to help it work more efficiently.
• The Parliament may also grant authority to issue instructions, orders, or writs for any reason not
listed in Article 32. The Supreme Court's authority cannot be revoked.

No discussion on the conduct of Judge in State Legislature / Parliament

• Article 211 states that no debate of any judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court's conduct in
the exercise of his duties shall be allowed in the State legislature.
• A similar provision is established in Article 121, which states that no discussion of the conduct of
a judge of the Supreme Court or High Court in the fulfillment of his responsibilities shall take
place in Parliament until a move for delivering an address to the President requesting for the
judge's removal is submitted.

Power to Punish for Contempt

• The Supreme Court and the High Court both have the authority to punish anyone who disobeys
the law.
• Article 129 establishes the Supreme Court's authority to punish for contempt of court.
Similarly, Article 215 stipulates that every High Court has the authority to punish for contempt
of itself.

Separation of the Judiciary from the Executive

• One of the Directive Principles of State Policy, Article 50, states that the State shall take steps to
separate the judiciary from the executive in the state's public services.
• Its goal is to protect the judiciary's independence from the executive branch.

JUDICIAL REVIEW
Introduction
Law plays an important role in today’s society. People have given up on their rights and entered into a
contract with the government in return of which the government gave them protection against the
wrong. This is known as the Social Contract Theory given by Hobbes. In this phase of Rule of Law, the
law without justice can become arbitrary and can be misused. So to keep check and balance on the
power of each organ of government we have further adopted Judicial Review. Judicial review is the
process by which the court declares any law which goes against the constitution as void. We have
adopted this feature from the United States Constitution. But it took a lot of years to fix this feature in
our constitution. Judiciary has played an important role in this regard. Judicial Review can be of
Constitutional Amendments, Legislative actions and of Laws made by the legislature. In this research
paper, we will discuss the history, growth, features and types of Judicial Review with Indian case laws.

In India, there are three organs of government namely Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. The
Legislature performs the function of making the laws, the Executive executes/implements the laws and
the Judiciary keeps a check on both the organs specified above and makes sure the laws being made and
implemented are not ultra vires to the Constitution of India. To make these organs work in their
specified limits our constitution has the feature of Separation of Power. Article 50 of the Indian
Constitution talks about the separation of power.

This concept is not followed in the strict sense as compared to the USA from where it has been adopted.
The concept of Judicial Review has been adopted from the American Constitution. The Judiciary has the
power to set aside any law passed by the parliament if it intervenes in the Constitution of India. Any law
passed by the legislature that contravenes the Constitution can be made null and void by the Judiciary.
Under Article 13(2) of the Constitution of India, any law made by the parliament that abridges the right
conferred to the people under Part 3 of the constitution is void-ab-initio. The power to interpret the
Constitution of India to its full extent lies within the Judiciary. It is the protector of the Constitution of
India. Power of Judicial Review is vested in many articles such as 13, 32,131-136, 143, 226, 145, 246,
251, 254 and 372.

Scope of judicial review

Judicial review is not absolute, as some situations need to be met in order to demur against any law in
the Supreme Court or the high courts, i.e., a law can be questioned only if:

• The law violates the fundamental rights that are enshrined by the Constitution.
• The law infringes upon the provisions listed in the Constitution.
• The enacted law goes beyond the capacity or power of the official(s) in charge that enacted it.

Features of Judicial Review

Power of judicial review can be exercised by both the Supreme Court and high courts:
Under Article 226 a person can approach the high court for violation of any fundamental right or for any
legal right. Also, under Article 32 a person can move to the Supreme Court for any violation of a
fundamental right or for a question of law. But the final power to interpret the constitution lies with the
apex court i.e Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is the highest court of the land and its decisions are
binding all over the country.

Judicial Review of both state and central laws:

Laws made by centre and state both are the subject to the judicial review. All the laws, order, bye-laws,
ordinance and constitutional amendments and all other notifications are subject to judicial review which
are included in Article 13(3) of the constitution of India.

Judicial review is not automatically applied:

The concept of judicial review needs to be attracted and applied. The Supreme Court cannot itself apply
for judicial review. It can be used only when a question of law or rule is challenged before the Hon’ble
court.

Judicial review is not suo motu

The Supreme Court or the high court for that matter do not use their authority to conduct a judicial
review by a suo motu action. However, such power is utilised when there is a question of law that comes
before the courts or during the court proceedings when any such incident occurs or such conditions
arise as to where the law is in question.
Principle of Procedure established by law:
Judicial Review is governed by the principle of “Procedure established by law” as given in Article 21 of
the Indian Constitution. The law has to pass the test of constitutionality if it qualifies it can be made a
law. On the contrary, the court can declare it null and void.

CHALLENGES TO INDIAN FEDERALISM

1 .Regionalism
Regionalism is where and individuals region is given preference, at times that of other regions as
well. In a country as diverse and geographically vast as India, regionalism can tends to rear its ugly
head from time to time. Some factors can be cultural as in the example of the Northeast states
whose denizens feel that they are not culturally close enough to the rest of the country or the case of
the southern states who feel they are not given their fair share of central funds despite having large
states
2. Centralized Amendment Power
In a typical federation, the power of amendment to the Federal Constitution lies on a shared basis
between the federation and its units. In India, the power of constitutional amendment lies with the
Centre under Article 368 and other provisions. Although ratification of half of the states is sought for
in some limited areas, the states in the Indian Union have virtually no power in this critical area of
governance.
3. Language Conflicts
Diversity in languages in India sometimes causes a blow the federal spirit of the Constitution. There
are 22 languages constitutionally approved in India. Besides, hundreds of dialects are spoken across
the country. Trouble arises when the strongest unit of the federation attempts to force a particular
language on others. The tussle for official language in India is still a burning issue. The southern
states’ opposition to Hindi as the official language of India has led to deep-seated language crisis in
India.
4. Economic Incompatibilities of the units
Differences economic standards and relative economic and fiscal incompatibilities among the
constituent states also pose a threat to a federation. The forces of imbalances in the field are
demands for economic planning and development and for regional economic equality and financial
autonomy of states. Demand for a financial equality of a region creates problems in a federation.
In India, some states are declared as poor and on the principle of equalization, are getting grants-in-
aid. But the dilemma in a federation emerges that if the principle of equalization is adhered to, the
national income and the total income growth will suffer.
5. Centralised Planning
Although economic and social planning is found in the Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule to
the Constitution, the Union Government enjoys unbridled authority over national and regional
planning in India. Centralised planning, through the Planning Commission, now NITI Aayog
appointed by the Centre, considerable preponderance in legislative power for the Union, the financial
dependence of the states on the Centre’s mercy, the administrative inferiority of the states make the
states meek and weak.