Parliamentary Form of Government
The Constitution of India has opted for the British Parliamentary System of Government rather than American Presidential System of Government. The Parliamentary system is based on the principle of cooperation and coordination between the legislative and executive organs while the presidential system is based on the doctrine of separation of powers between the two organs.
The Parliamentary system is also known as the ‘Westminster model of government, responsible government and Cabinet government. The Constitution establishes the Parliamentary system not only at the Centre but also in the states’. The features of Parliamentary government in India are: o Presence of nominal and real executives.
D Majority party rule. O Collective responsibility of the executive to the legislature. O Membership of the ministers in the legislature. © Leadership of the prime minister or the chief minister. O Dissolution of the lower House (Lok Sabha or Assembly).
Even though the Indian Parliamentary System is largely based on the British pattern, there are some fundamental differences between the two.. For example, the Indian Parliament is not a sovereign body like the British Parliament.
Further, the Indian State has an elected head (republic) while the British State has hereditary head (monarchy). In a parliamentary system whether in India or Britain, the role of the Prime Minister has become so significant and crucial that the political scientists like to call it a Prime Ministerial Government’.
Synthesis of Parliamentary Sovereignty and Judicial Supremacy
The doctrine of the sovereignty of Parliament is associated with the British Parliament while the principle of judicial supremacy with that of the American Supreme Court.
Just as the Indian parliamentary system differs from the British system, the scope of judicial review power of the Supreme Court in India is narrower than that of what exists in the US.
This is because the American Constitution provides for ‘due process of law’ against that of procedure established by law’ contained in the Indian Constitution (Article 21).
Therefore, the framers of the Indian Constitution have preferred a proper synthesis between the British principle of parliamentary sovereignty and the American principle of judicial supremacy.
The Supreme Court, on the one hand, can declare the parliamentary laws through its power of judicial review. The Parliament, on the other hand, can amend the major portion of the Constitution through its constituent power,
Integrated and Independent Judiciary
The Indian Constitution establishes a judicial system that is integrated as well as independent. The Supreme Court stands at the top of the integrated judicial system in the country. Below it, there are high courts at the state level.
Under a high court, there is a hierarchy of sub-ordinate courts, that is, district courts and other lower courts. This single system of courts enforces both the central laws as well as the state laws, unlike in USA, where the federal laws are enforced by the federal judiciary and the state laws are enforced by the state judiciary.
The Supreme Court is a federal court, the highest court of appeal, the guarantor of the fundamental rights of the citizens and the guardian of the Constitution.
Hence, the Constitution has made various provisions to ensure its independence-security of tenure of the judges, fixed service conditions for the judges, all the expenses of the Supreme Court charged on the Consolidated Fund of India, prohibition on discussion on the conduct of judges in the legislatures, ban on practice after retirement, power to punish for its contempt vested in the Supreme Court, separation of the judiciary from the executive, and so on.
Here are some notes on fundamental rights, fundamental duties and directives principles of state policy.