INDIAN FEDERAL SYSTEM

INDIAN FEDERAL SYSTEM
Federal system describes the relation between federal (the center) and States of India. Part XII of the Constitution defines this power distribution

Whether India is a federation or not?

Written Constitution

The most important feature of a federation is that its constitution should be a written one, so that both the Union Government as well as the State can refer to that as and when needed. The Constitution of India is a written document and is the most elaborate Constitution of the world.

Rigid Constitution

The procedure of amending the Constitution in a federal system is normally rigid. Indian Constitution provides that some amendments require a special majority.

Division of Powers

In our Constitution, there is a clear division of powers, so that the States and the Centre are required to enact and legislate within their sphere of activity and none violates its limits and tries to encroach upon the functions of the other.

Supremacy of the Judiciary

Another very important feature of a federation is an independent judiciary to interpret the Constitution and to maintain its sanctity. The Supreme Court of India has the original jurisdiction to settle disputes between the Union and the States.

 

Nature of Indian Federation

The framers of the Constitution have modified the true nature of Indian federation by incorporating certain non-federal features in it.

These are :

• Article I of the Constitution describes India as a ‘Union of States’, which implies two things: firstly, it is not the result of an agreement among the States and secondly, the States have no freedom to secede or separate from the Union. The federation is a union because it is indestructible and helps to maintain the unity of the country.
• Governor is the agent of the Centre in the States. The working of Indian federal system clearly reveals that the Governor has acted more as centre’s representative than as the head of the State.
• The equality of units in a federation is best guaranteed by their equal representation in the Uppers House of the federal legislature (Parliament).However, this is not applicable in case of Indian States. They have unequal representation in the Rajya Sabha. In a true federation such as that of United State of America every State irrespective of their size in terms of area or population it sends two representatives in the upper House i.e. Senate.
• All important appointments such as the Chief Election Commissioner, the Comptroller and Auditor General are made by the Union Government.
• The States cannot propose amendments to, the Constitution. As such amendments can only be made by the Union Parliament. During Financial Emergency, the Center exercises full control over the State’s finances.
• The federal principle envisages a dual system of Courts. But, in India we have unified Judiciary with the Supreme Court at the apex.

Constitutional experts have called it ‘semi-federal’ of ‘quasi federal’ system.

Centre-State Relations

The relations between the Centre and the states are enumerated in Parts XI and XII of the Constitution.

Legislative Relations

• Our constitution enumerates 3 lists, viz. the Union, the State and the Concurrent List.
• The Union List consists of 97 subjects of national importance such as Defence, Railways, Post and Telegraph, etc.
• The State List consists of 66 subjects of local interest such as Public Health, Police etc.
• The Concurrent List has 47 subjects important to both the Union and the State. such as Electricity, Trade Union, Economic and Social Planning, etc.
• The Parliament has the exclusive power to enact laws on the subjects included in the Union List for the entire country.
• The State Legislatures have been empowered to make laws on the subjects included in the State List.
• Both the Parliament and the State Legislatures can make laws on the subjects included in this list. But in case of a conflict between the Union and the State law relating to the same subject, the Union law prevails over the State law.
• Under certain circumstances, the Parliament can legislate on the subjects mentioned in the State List.

Administrative Relations

The Constitution of India has certain special provisions to ensure uniformity of the administrative system. These include the creation of All India Services such as IAS and IPS and placing members of these services in key administrative positions in the states.

The members of these services are recruited by the Centre but are appointed in the States.

No disciplinary action can be taken against them by the State Governments without the permission of the Centre.

 

Financial Relations

Both the Union and the State have been provided with independent sources of revenue by the Constitution.

 

Taxation categories:

• Taxes levied by the Union but collected by the State. (Stamp duties, duties of excise on medicinal etc)
• Taxes levied and collected by the Union but assigned to the States. (Railways, sea or air etc)
• Taxes levied and collected by the Central and distributed between the Central and the states. (Union excise duties, excise on toilet preparations etc.)
• Taxes levied and collected by the Centre. (Customs, surcharge on income tax etc)

The Union Government appointed Sarkaria Commission to suggest ways and means to improve Centre-State relations. The Commission strongly recommended the establishment of permanent Inter-State Council.