Summary

Polity Class 07

Polity Class 07 [17:00:00]

A brief overview of the previous class and Q&A session

Type III amendment [17:11:00]

It requires a special majority of the parliament and also the consent of more than half the state legislative assemblies with a simple majority
Subjects that can be Amended under this type
Manner of election of the president
Matters relating to the executive powers of the union and the states
Representation of states in Parliament
Matters related to SC and HCs
Distribution of legislative powers between the Union and states
Any list in the seventh schedule
Provisions of Article 368 relating to the procedure for the amendment of the constitution
[* These all are related to Federal provsions]

Criticism against Amendment Process [17:23:00]

There is no special body or institution to amend the constitution. In the USA, it has a special body. Only parliament is given the power to amend the constitution. Most of the time constitution was amended mostly for political purposes.
State legislatures can not initiate the amendment process which goes against the federal nature of our constitution. The state legislature can only initiate the process of establishing Legislative councils or removing existing councils. Even here also, recommendations of state legislatures are not binding on Parliament
There is no time limit for state legislative assemblies to give their approval.
There is no provision for a joint sitting of houses in case of a deadlock between the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha

Constitution [17:44:00]

Article 1 of the Indian constitution

Articles 1 to 4 under part one of the constitution deal with the Union and its territories
Article 1 describes India i.e. Bharat as a union of states and not a federation of states.
Our constitutional forefathers discussed in depth the status of the country. They felt that India can not afford a classic federation like the USA
In the USA, all the states had come together in a voluntary manner and created the federation. Entry into the federation was completely voluntary in nature. Citizens also have dual identities i.e. they are citizens of the state as well as the country. [* In the USA, every state has its own Driving License]
Residual powers which are not mentioned in the constitution are given to the states. This is called a Classic federation, where the states have more autonomy. States are mentioned in the name of the country also. Entry into the Federation is voluntary but not leaving the federation is.
GoI 1935 Act, has for the first time introduced a federal form of government in India. It was a weak federation with the central government retaining power over defence, international relations, currency, and national security. Princely states were given complete freedom in all other matters. But this experiment was not successful as most of the princely states refused to join this federation.
After independence, our constitutional forefathers had many challenges confronting them while formulating the constitution. The biggest problem was how to protect and preserve the unity and integrity of the nation.
The country was also facing problems related to
a) Partition of the country on communal lines
b) Integration of 640 princely states into the Indian union
c) Secessionist tendencies in different parts of the country
d) The idea of India was very young
By taking all the problems into consideration, it was decided that India would be a union of states only and not a federation. India is described as "An Indestructible Union of Destructible States". States have been created only for administrative efficiency and they do not have only political identities.
The country is described as a Union although the constitution is federal in nature.
Dr B R Ambedkar explained the REASON for adopting the union of states instead of the federation of states.
In India, our federation is not the result of an agreement between the states, unlike the USA. Similarly, states also do not have any right to secede from Union
According to Article 1, the territory of India is classified into three categories.
a) Territories of States
b) Territories of the union territories
c) Territories which may be acquired by the Government of India at any point in time
At present, there are 28 states and 8 union territories.
Territory of India is a much wider expression than the Union of India. The Union of India includes only the states whereas the territory of India includes UTs and also the other territories that India might acquire in the future.
New territories can be acquired according to the modes recognized by International law
a) Cession- Through the treaty, purchase, Gift, Lease, or through Plebiscite
b) Occupation (land which is unoccupied)
c) Through Conquest
India has acquired several territories after independence- Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Goa, Daman & Diu, Puducherry, and Sikkim

Article 2 of the Indian constitution [19:00:00]

Parliament may by law admit into the union or establish new states on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit
Article 2- Parliament has the power
a) To admit new states into the Union
b) To establish new states
It means an admission of already existing states and it also has the power to create new states where not existed before

Article 3 of the Indian constitution [19:04:00]

Parliament has the power to form new states and alteration of areas, Boundaries, or names of existing states
It can create a new state by separating of territories from an existing state- For example- Uttarakhand from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh & Telangana OR by uniting two or more stares OR by uniting any territory to a part of any state
Parliament can increase the area of the state.
It can decrease the area of any state.
It can change the boundaries of any state.
It can also change the name of a state also.
Under Article 3 the Bill must satisfy two conditions-
1) It shall be introduced in either house of Parliament only on the recommendation of the President
2) The Bill must be referred by the President to the state legislature to express its views and the president can fix the time limit for the state legislature to express its views. But the views expressed by the state legislature are not binding on the president

Difference between Article 2 and Article 3 [19:12:00]

Article 2 relates to the admission or establishment of new states that are not part of the Union of India
Article 3 deals with the internal re-adjustment of the territories within the Union of India

Constituent Assembly on Article 3- Explanation [19:15:00]

Dr B R Ambedkar argued that giving absolute power to parliament for the creation and alteration of boundaries of a state is against the spirit of federalism
Most of the members agreed on the anti-federal nature of Article 3 but it was necessary. Why?
Princely states had secessionist tendencies
Example- In 2011, the UP assembly passed a resolution to divide UP into 4 parts- But it was not accepted by the Center
Example- In 2014, the AP assembly rejected the resolution to create Telangana but the center went ahead with the creation of the state
If power is given to States- it will lead to separatism, secessionist tendencies, regionalism, terrorism

Article 4 of the Indian constitution [19:19:00]

Article 4 provides for the procedure for the establishment of new states. It also mentions that this procedure will not be considered as an amendment to the constitution under Article 368.
It means that these laws can be passed by a simple majority and by the ordinary legislative process
The power of the parliament to diminish the area of a state (Article 3) does not include the power to cede Indian territory to a foreign country. The question had come up in 1960 before SC through a presidential reference. The government decided to cede a part of the territory known as the Berubari Union in West Bengal to Pakistan in 1960.
SC ruled that it can be done only through a constitutional Amendment under Article 368. Finally, the 9th Constitutional Amendment Act was passed by the parliament to transfer the territory to Pakistan.
In 2015, the 100th Constitutional Amendment Act was passed to give effect to the acquisition of certain territories from Bangladesh and the transfer of some other territories to Bangladesh as part of settling long-term border disputes with Bangladesh.

Evolution of states in India- Explanation [19:34:00]

At the time of independence- British India + Princely states
Reorganisation of the state took place over the time
Initially, the Constituent Assembly and Congress party were against the further reorganization of states
When the Freedom movement was going on simultaneously regional movement was also going on
In Madras province, the Telugu-speaking people [16 districts] formed a separate committee and met Mahatma Gandhi and asked for a separate identity.
After independence, the separate statehood demand grew further
Dhar commission rejected the idea of reorganization based on Language, rather it recommended to create of states based on administrative efficiency
JVP committee was constituted [Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and Pattabhisitaramayya]. Potti Sreeramulu went on a hunger strike
Andhra Pradesh came into existence based on linguistic lines. It ignited agitations in different parts of the country
1953- Fazl Ali commission- It recommended linguistic reorganization.
Mysore state, Kerala, Tamilnadu was formed
The 1960s- Maharashtra and Gujarat came into existence from the Bombay province
1960- Punjab was divided into Punjab and Haryana. Chandigarh was made combined capital
Sikkim was brought into Indian Union
More states were created in North East
Goa was made a state
Mysore became Karnataka
2000- Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, and Chattisgarh were created. It started the debate in Andhra Pradesh about further Division
History of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
Telangana region was ruled by Nizams and it was backward whereas coastal Andhra was ruled by Bristishers
Britishers created more dams and brought more land into cultivation so coastal Andhra was more developed. So in 1960 agitation started in Telangana for separation from Andhra Pradesh.
1967- Indira Gandhi made P V Narasimha Rao as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, thus agitation died out temporarily
Now people of Andhra started agitation for a separate state
In the 1990s, India adopted LPG, and Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bengaluru witnessed huge development because of Software Hub
The 2000s- The government created three states- Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, and Chattisgarh
Demand for a separate state of Telangana again started
[* Common in all new states creation- All were facing the issue of being backward and far away from the capital]
2009- UPA government decided to divide the state

The topic for the next class: - Creation of small states.