FEDERALISM
INTRODUCTION
A federal government is a system of government that separates the power between
central government and state government of the country wherein both work
independently and one does not interfere in the operations of other. According to
Livingston, Federal government is the device by which the society or its qualities are
articulated and protected.
K.C. Wheare defined federalism as, "the method of dividing powers so that the
general and the regional Governments are each within a sphere, coordinate
and independent."
A federal system involves the following essential features:
1. Dual Polity:
The Constitution of India establishes a dual Polity consisting the Union at the
Centre and the states at the periphery. Each is endowed with sovereign
powers to be exercised in the field assigned to them respectively by the
Constitution.
The Union government deals with the matters of national importance like
defence, foreign affairs, currency, communication and so on.
The State governments, on the other hand, look after the matters of regional
and local importance like public order, agriculture, health, local
government and so on.
2. Division of Powers
Federalism follows the very object for which a federal State is formed i.e., the
division of authority between the Center and the State.
The Constitution divided the powers between the Centre and the states in
terms of the Union List, State List and Concurrent List in the
Seventh Schedule.
Under Union list, the Centre has exclusive powers to makes laws and under
State list, the State legislatures have the exclusive powers to make laws. On
the other hand, both the Centre and the states can make laws on the subjects
of the concurrent list, but in case of a conflict, the Central law prevails.
The residuary subjects (i.e., which are not mentioned in any of the three lists)
are also given to the Centre.
3. Supremacy of the Constitution
A federal State derives its existence from the Constitution. Hence, the laws
enacted by the Centre and the states must conform to its provisions.
Otherwise, they can be declared invalid by the Supreme Court or the High
Courts through their power of judicial review.
Every power – executive, legislative, or judicial – whether it belongs to the
federation or the component States, is subordinate to and controlled by the
Constitution.
4. Independent Judiciary
The Constitution establishes an independent judiciary headed by the Supreme
Court for two purposes:
(i) One, to protect the supremacy of the Constitution by exercising the power of
judicial review;
(ii) and two, to settle the disputes between the Centre and the states or between
the states.
The Constitution contains various measures like security of tenure to judges,
fixed service conditions and so on to make the judiciary independent
of the government.
5. Bicameralism
Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate
assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature.
The Constitution of India provides for a bicameral legislature consisting of an
Upper House (Rajya Sabha) and a Lower House (Lok Sabha).
The Rajya Sabha represents the states of Indian Federation, while the Lok
Sabha represents the people of India as a whole.
EVALUATION OF THE FEDERAL SYSTEM IN INDIA
Though India follows various federal features, the system of governance in India
can said to be quasi-federal. Starting right from the Article 1 of the Indian
Constitution, one can have a glimpse of the centralising tendency wherein the
Article 1 of Indian constitution describes India as a ‘’Union of States.’’ This means
India is a union comprising of various states which are an integral part of it and
the states cannot break away from the union, which is different from a true
federation where the constituting units or the states have the freedom to come
out of the union.
In SR Bonmai v. Union of India, AIR 1994 SC 1918, the Supreme Court discussed
the quasi-federal nature of the Indian Constitution. It held that;
In India, the division of power is very different from that of the US structure where
the Constitution has the power to amend or alter the boundary of a State. In India,
however, the constitutional power to create or amend new states and union
territories is seen to be solely reserved with the Parliament of India.
Also, in the physical matters where the State’s resources are limited, the extension
of such resources by the Center and the seventh schedule, which gives the
overriding powers to the Center is unlike a true federation.
The court held that all the arguments define Indian Constitution to be a quasi-
federal one, with a strong centralising tendency which reflects the outward dress of
the Constitution to as federation but is deviant towards unitary in its spirit.
Regarding federalism, some scholars advocate that since the Indian Constitution
empowers the Center to interfere in the State matters, it places State in a
subordinate position which violates the federal principle. The other view to the
same is that it is a federal constitution with a novel feature adopting itself to
national emergencies.
CONCLUSION
The view of the framers of the Constitution is that the Indian Constitution is a
Federal Constitution: Dr. Ambedkar, the Chairman of the Drafting Committee,
observed thus, "I think it is agreed that our Constitution notwithstanding the many
provisions which are contained in it whereby the Centre has been given powers to
override the Provinces (States) nonetheless, is a Federal Constitution.
