Summary

Polity Class 42

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS CLASS (05:01 PM)

DOCTRINE OF HARMONIOUS CONSTRUCTION (05:04 PM)

It means such constructions by which harmony or oneness can be arrived at among various provisions of law. The court must avoid a complete clash of contradictory provisions between central and state laws and reduce these conflicts to a minimum.
When it is not possible to completely reconcile the differences in the contradictory provisions, the court must interpret them in such a way so that effect is given to both provisions as much as possible.
The objective is to harmonize both legislations rather than making them completely Null and Void.
In the Kerala Education Bill, 1951, SC held that in deciding the FRs and DPSPs doctrine of harmonious construction should be taken into consideration to strike a balance between both of them.

DOCTRINE OF PLEASURE (05:15 PM)

It has its origins in British law.
The Governor of the state is appointed by the President of India under Article 155 of our constitution. The Governor holds office at the pleasure of the president which means the president can remove the governor from his office without citing any specific reason.
Under Article 310 of our constitution, civil servants including members of All India Services and other central services hold office at the pleasure of the president.
However, Article 311 provides certain safeguards to protect civil servants from arbitrary dismissal. It states that civil servants can not be dismissed removed or reduced in rank by any authority subordinate to the one that appointed them.
Article 311(2) specifies that No civil servant can be dismissed or removed from service except after an inquiry in which they have been informed of the charges and also have been given a reasonable opportunity to respond.

DOCTRINE OF REPUGNANCY (05:31 PM)

Repugnnacy between contradiction between two laws which when applied to the same set of facts would produce different results.
It is used to describe inconsistency and incompatibility between the central and state laws when applied in the concurrent list.
Repugnancy arises when two laws are so contradictory with each other that the application of any one of them would imply a violation of others.
According to Article 254, if any part of the state law is repugnant or conflicting with any part of the central law that parliament is competent to enact then the central law made by the parliament shall prevail and the state law shall become void.

DOCTRINE OF JUDICIAL REVIEW (05:36 PM)

This doctrine has its roots in the American judicial system. It states that the judiciary has the authority to examine decisions made by the legislature and executive.
It also has the authority to decide the constitutionality of the legislation.
In India, the SC has the final authority to decide the constitutionality of decisions.

DOCTRINE OF LACHES (05:39 PM)

Constitutional remedies are provided to citizens for the violation of Fundamental Rights. They are expected to be careful, responsible, and Vigilant and approach the judiciary within a specific time period.
If the Judiciary believes that the case has lost its relevance due to time lag, it can reject the application. But this doctrine is of only academic interest as it is not applied in reality.
The court believes that justice should be done irrespective of the time period.

DOCTRINE OF PROSPECTIVE OVERRULING (05:46 PM)

It is a legal principle that allows a higher court to overrule its own previous judgment but limits the application of overruling to Prospective cases (Future cases).
It means that judgment will affect cases filed after the date of the new decision.
This doctrine is used to strike a balance between the need for legal certainty and the necessity of correcting wrong judgments.
SC in the Golaknath case held that it has the power to overrule its previous judgments but the Judgment will be applied prospectively but not retrospectively.

DOCTRINE OF WAIVER (05:53 PM)

It is a legal principle that allows individuals to voluntarily relinquish certain rights or benefits granted to them by law.
By relinquishing the right, the individuals are giving up their entitlement to exercise that right.
Individuals have the freedom to relinquish statutorily rights given to them by the government in a voluntary manner but they cannot do so in case of constitutional rights.

CBI AND ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE (06:01 PM)

Background- During the Second World War, there was severe corruption and thus British government created this body.
It got its proper structure in 1963.
At present, 10 states have withdrawn the general consent given to the CBI. [* After the withdrawal of General consent, CBI can investigate the case inside the state after getting the SC or HC approval]
Criticism
It lost its autonomy and it has become an extension of Government.
SC called CBI a "Caged Parrot" which repeats its master voice.
Failure- Bofors Scam- it was worth 64 crore and CBI took 26 years to submit the closure report. In this "Investigation Tourism", CBI spent 250 crores.
Serious allegations of Corruption against the CBI directors.
ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE
It is part of the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government Of India.
The Directorate of Enforcement is a domestic law enforcement agency and economic intelligence agency responsible for enforcing economic laws and fighting economic crime in India.
ED is responsible for enforcement of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA), and certain provisions under the PMLA.
In present circumstances, ED has been given more power under the PMLA and FATF provisions.
Solution
a) The solution has to come from the people only.
b) We need to move towards a political culture based on conscience.

STRATEGY FOR MAINS (06:29 PM)

STRATEGY FOR PRELIMS (07:00 PM)

From polity and Governance- 14-22 questions
Areas to Cover in Prelims
a) Constitutional development
b) Preamble, Citizenship, and States- Article 1-4
c) FRs and DPSPs- Solve all the UPSC PYQs
d) Parliament- Parliamentary committees, RS, LS, etc
e) Center-state relations- Related to current events.
f) Judiciary and SC judgment- make a list of SC judgments and divide the SC judgment into various parts - FRs and DPSPs, Federalism, Constitutional bodies, Environment, Related to vulnerable sections.
g) Constitutional or statutory bodies.
h) Rural and Urban local governments.
Sources
Book- Laxmikant.

UPSC MAINS PAPER DISCUSSION (07:27 PM)

Environment cases- M C Mehta case, Art of Living Case on Yamuna Flood Plain case, etc.
Strategy to write main answers.

THE POLITY COURSE IS COMPLETED FOR THIS BATCH.