SCHOOL OF LAW

Critical Assessment of the Federal system of India

SHREYA KIKAGANESHWALA
BBA-LLB

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 Critical Assessment of the Federal system of India

Abstract
This research paper tries to determine the characteristics of the India’s federal structure. After
determining its status the research paper also tries to answer the question whether or not the
country should follow the federal structure or not by citing the reasons of the same. The Indian
federal structure is not a static entity it has evolved throughout the years. In order to know the
status of the India’s federal system this research paper will go through the meaning of federalism
and how it has evolved over the years, what are the challenges that our country is facing, the
reason behind those loopholes, the judicial interpretation of the term federalism and how
efficient this system is playing its role in the governance of the developing country like India. To
know its efficiency it is important to analyze the merits and demerits of the existing federal
structure of the country. According to Dr. Ambedkar, “Indian Federation has not resulted by
virtue of instrumentality of agreement with the units, and that the union is indestructible; no unit
can secede from it.”1 There is an ongoing debate regarding the status of India’s governing system
as a federal one, this research paper is just an attempt to determine the status with the help of
articles written by different authors, cases interpreted by the judiciary, interviews given by
different personalities etc

1) Introduction

Government in lay terms can be defined as group of people who officially controls a country.
Where there is a sovereign state there is a government. There are many forms of government like
monarchy, aristocracy, polity, federal government. As this research paper is based on the critical
assessment of the federal structure in India so the researcher would focus on federal form of
government only. India being a land of varied cultures and religions and people speaking
different languages makes it obvious that there is certainly going to be loopholes and issues that
India as a country is going to face. Because of differences in cultures, languages, religion etc. it
is important to figure out whether it is threat to the union characteristic of the country. In order to

1
Cheluvaraju, K.H., “Dr.B. R. Ambedkar and making of the Constitution”, Indian Journal ofPolitical Science, Vol.
52, No.2, April - June, 1991, Pp. 153 - 154

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critically evaluate the federal structure of India it is important to know the meaning of federalism
and how it has evolved throughout the years in India. The question whether a state is unitary or
federal depends upon the federal feature that a state possesses.

1.1 Meaning of Federalism

The general meaning of federalism is division of powers between different layers of the
government. ‘It is devised to secure both regional autonomy and national unity.’2 Federalism is a
‘mode of political organization that unites separate states or other polities within an overarching
political system in a way that allows each to maintain its own integrity.’3 The reason why there is
difficulty in treating a country as federal is because of the fact that there is no agreed definition
of the term federalism. ‘Many authors, writers they try to put the other countries into the concept
of federalism based on the characteristics that US federalism has because it is the oldest Model
of the United States.’4

There are many countries apart from India that also follow the federal form of the government
but their governance can differ in many ways but certain basic features or characteristics like
written constitution, layers of government, division of power etc. There is no exact definition of
federalism it is general known or defined by certain common characteristics and principles that
exists in any federal government.

As this research paper focuses on the Indian federal structure it is important to understand the
term federalism in Indian context. Though India has a federal government the constitution of
India does not expressly provide with same. Article 1(1)5 of the Indian constitution talks about
the Union characteristic of the states. In India states do not have power to withdraw themselves
from the union and this Indian characteristic of federalism is different from the general
characteristics of federalism. Indian political system ‘has rightly remark that "India is a unitary
state with subsidiary federal principles rather than a federal state with subsidiary unitary
principles.’6 Therefore it is argued that the nature of Indian federalism is that of a quasi-federal

2
Patil, S.H., Central Grants and State Autonomy, Atlantic Publishers, New Delhi, 1995, P.13.
3
https://www.britannica.com/topic/federalism WRITTEN BY The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
4
Durga Das Basu; Introduction to the Constitution of India 22 nd edition
Chapter 5 Nature of the Federal System pg 55
5
(1) India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States
6
Wheare KC. Federal Government, London:New York, Oxford University Press, 1946, p-278.

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government because it is mixture of Union as well as federal characteristic. ‘The fundamental
principle of federalism is that the legislative and executive authority are partitioned between the
center and states not by means of an ordinary law passed by the center, but by something more
enduring, namely, the constitution.’7 Federalism is an evolving as well as dynamic concept. In
federalism it is not essential that powers are to be divided equally among the layers of
government; meaning center may be assigned a larger role that it has to play when compared to
the states but that does not mean that it is deviating from the base of the federal structure. To
conclude with the meaning of federation it is the result of an agreement between central
government and the state government and the powers to this layer is derived through a common
source i.e Constitution.

1.2 History of Federation in India

Every concept has its seed and thereafter evolution happens same is with the case of federalism.
The traces of federalism in India were found since Regulating Act, 1773 to Government of India
Act, 1935. During these period the powers was vested in the hands of central government
because of the imperial hegemony there was a need of maximum powers in the hands of central.
‘There were no serious suggestions to reconstruct the government of India on federal model till
the end of First World War. The Sepoys Mutiny of 1857 was also responsible for the political
and administrative centralization of the British government.’8 ‘The process of decentralization of
powers appeared on the Indian map during the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919. These
reforms expressed the federal idea in India. This was in response to the Declaration of 20th
August 1917, which intended to establish a little responsible government. This report indicated
federalism as a form of government in future.’9

Prior to the appointment of the draft commission, the basic and fundamental rules were
embodied in the statues that were enacted by the British parliament and among these statutes was
the Government of India Act, 1919. Under this Act, the key element was the establishment of
the dual form of the government. The difference was that the distribution of power was less or
we can say limited in the provincial or now referred to as state government. Later in the

7
FEDERAL SYSTEM IN INDIA AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
ROSHNI DUHAN* Received: 07 September 2016, Revised and Accepted: 26 October 2016 Vol 5, Issue 1, 2016
8
Kabbur, A.S., “The Federal Polity in India”, Third Concept, Vol.18, No.213, November, 2004, P.49.
9
CHAPTER-II NATURE OF THE INDIAN FEDERAL SYSTEM

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Government of India Act, 1935 the provincial government had larger autonomy of power in their
hands and the concept of dual government was abolished under this Act. This Act ‘provided the
establishment of All India Federation’10 but when it comes to implementation of the concept of
federalism there was no implementation of such provisions. ‘It provided for the establishment of
an All-India Federation consisting of provinces and princely states as units. The Act divided the
powers between the Centre and units in terms of three lists—Federal List Provincial List and the
Concurrent List. However, the federation never came into being as the princely states did not
join it.’11Apart from this the Act also fulfilled the essential characteristic of the federalism i.e the
written constitution, ‘which could not be altered by both the two governments; this power was
vested in the British Parliament) and a federal judiciary to limit both the governments at their
respective fields.’12

There was a long going debate among the constituent assembly and ‘Arguments by Alladi
Krishnaswami Ayyar and Babasaheb Ambedkar combined with the horrific event of partition
sealed the case for residuary power to be allocated to the centre. Ambedkar summed it up this
way, “the use of the term ‘Union’ is deliberate.’13 ‘The Drafting Committee wanted to make it
clear that though India was to be a federation, the federation was not the result of an agreement
by the states to join a federation and that the federation not being the result of an agreement; no
state has the right to secede from it. It also explains the fact that the Union is indestructible but
not the States; their identity can be altered or even obliterated.’14

The topic of federation in India is of great interest because of the mixed characteristics of federal
and unitary form of government. The gradual devolution or we can say the decentralization of
power is seen to be one of the reasons for the development of federalism. The foundation for a
federal set-up for the nation was laid in the Government Act of India, 1935. But the distribution

10
https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/government-of-india-act-1935-main-features-1443011759-1
Government of India Act 1935: Main Features SHAKEEL ANWAR NOV 8, 2017 15:23 IST
11
Ibid 7
12
A.C.Banerjee, op.cit. see for extracts of 1935 Act, pp 262-320
https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/121010/6/06_chapter%201.pdf
13
https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/JUxSr3117sxWXdOl2jWpgL/The-state-of-the-Indian-federation.html
The state of the Indian federation
4 min read . Updated: 25 Jul 2016, 01:52 AM IST Narayan Ramachandran
14
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of legislative power which was embodied in the Act was not adopted in the constitution. It is well
worth to remember the peculiarity of origin of the federal system in India because the provinces
neither before the Act of 1935 nor under this Act had the sense or characteristic of sovereign
state like the states of American union.15 As far as the provinces are concerned there was a
development from unitary form to a federal organization, this happened because according to the
Government of India Act, 1935 the provinces were artificially given powers within specified
sphere. From the earliest times, the Indian states had a separate political entity and there was
little that was common between them and the provinces which constituted the rest of India.
‘Under the Federal scheme of 1935 the provinces and the Indian states were treated differently;
this can be said because the accession of the India states to the system was voluntary while it
was compulsory for the provinces and the powers exercisable by the federation over Indian
states was also defined.’16 That is how the concept of federalism has evolved in India and is still
developing because still there are ongoing debates as to what is the nature of system of
governance in India.

2) Challenges Under Indian Federalism

2.1 Why there are challenges in the Indian federal System?

India is often recognize as one of the successful federation system but throughout these years
since its recognition there are certain challenges that the country has faced because of change in
politics, economic process, liberalization, change in territories, increase in power to some states
in context of federation but at the expense of other states. There are different opinions given by
different experts on the character of the Indian federal system. There happens to be tussle
between agencies, state government and central government because of unequal division of
power and because of that there is an impact on the federal structure.

2.2 Challenges under the system

Some of the challenges that Indian federal system has are as follows:-

15
Durga Das Basu; Introduction to the Constitution of India 22 nd edition
Chapter 5 Nature of the Federal System pg 58
16
Ibid 15

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a) Division of Powers- The most frequent issue that we see in the Indian federal structure is
related to division of powers. By way of omission, addition and transfer the union government
through the way of amendments has brought changes in the distribution of competencies (as
given in the seventh schedule) between center and states. ‘Some matters which require the
involvement of both the centre and states like criminal law, forest, economic and social planning
are assigned in the Concurrent List. However, in the case of conflict over the legislation on any
of the subjects mentioned in the Concurrent List, the Centre supersedes the States.’17 This
becomes the main concern for the state because of centralizing power that centre has over states.
The concept of President’s rule as given under ‘Article 356 of the Indian constitution’18is
imposes strict or we can say compulsory compliance by states which leads to abuse and misuse
of such powers. ‘There is constant intervention at the behest of the central government in the
political affairs of state.’19 Cross cutting developments have deeply influenced concept of
federalism being perceived today from what was perceived by the framers of the Indian
Constitution. Now, federalism is under a new spotlight, and tensions between the Centre and
states continue to rise over crucial key issues. Another federal character that has lead to the issue
of constitutional peculiarity is the issue of territorial integrity of the constituent units of the India
i.e states. It is noted by some authors that states of India do not enjoy the guarantee of territorial
integrity and therefore it seems that states are destructible but India as a union is indestructible.
When it comes to Article 2 and 3 of the Indian constitution there is major role given to the
parliament but states role is minimal and of course their opinion is not binding. For eg:
Telangana’s opinion did not matter during its break off and therefore state assembly’s role and
their opinions are not binding.

b) Regionalism- This term has both positive connotation and negative connotation but when it
comes to Indian federalism it is often considered as challenge because of excessive preference to
Hindu religion over the nation and this may become threat to unity and integrity of the nation. If
there was equal distribution of power among states and central then it wouldn’t become threat to
the India’s unity. The best example to see the regionalism as challenge is how north-east people

17
https://www.clearias.com/indian-federalism-issues-challenges/ Indian Federalism – 15 Issues that Challenge the
Federal Structure of India
Article by: Sangram Keshari Rout
18
Provisions in case of failure of constitutional machinery in State
19
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VeYn_OCA3I
Mentorship Program for IAS- Polity Lecture 6 (Part 1): Federalism, Issues and Challenges

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get neglected because of larger states like Delhi. One of the reasons why regionalism exists in
first place is because of the division of land area and uneven distribution of resources but that is
not the only reason behind regionalism as a failure in India’s federalism. ‘The voice for the
demand of more states has become more prominent in recent times, especially after the
formation of Telangana in 2014. Recent demands like four-fold division of Uttar Pradesh and the
creation of Gorkhaland from West Bengal are instances of aggressive regionalism that pose a
threat to the federal structure of India.’20 Also because of control of funds is in hands of central
government there is no fiscal freedom in hand of states and especially if those states fall in North
East area or where there is conflict regarding religion therefore decentralization of power is
much needed and states are fighting for same but because of multiculturalist characteristic of
India it becomes difficult and therefore it becomes important to have centralized power or else
there would be conflicts within the internal territory of country itself and affecting the territorial
integrity of India. Lack of fund, resources, center’s interference, division of power has become
an important element in failure of regionalism in India.

C) Centralized Power – Even though there is a distribution of powers between the Union and
the states under a federal system, the distribution has a strong central bias as per the powers
given by the constitution and the ‘powers given to the states by constitution are hedged with
various restrictions.’21 When we look at the debates during the formation of constitution, the
constituent assembly including our first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru cautioned that ‘it would
be injurious to the interests of the country to provide for a weak central authority which would
be incapable of ensuring peace, of coordinating vital matters of common concern and of
speaking effectively for the whole country in the international sphere.’ 22The constituent
Assembly felt the need of strong centralized power because of India’s vast diversity ‘based on
religion, language, Cast and ethnicity.’23 President at any time if satisfied that the machinery of
the federal units cannot be carried on in the normal manner in accordance with the provisions of
the constitution, owing to political or other reason as given in Article 356. From the federal
standpoint, ‘it seems very anomalous because the constitution makers did not take into account

20
https://www.clearias.com/indian-federalism-issues-challenges/
21
Durga Das Basu; Introduction to the Constitution of India 22 nd edition
Chapter 5 Nature of the Federal System pg 63
22
Constituent Assembly Debates, Volume V, 20 August 1947.
23
https://www.orfonline.org/research/the-paradox-of-centralised-federalism/

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the breakdown of constitutional machinery at center.’24 The president has a suo motu power to
suspend the constitutional machinery of state and it is therefore a coercive power and states have
to abide by it. This power is available to Centre against the federation units or we can say state.
‘Anybody who impartially studies the Indian constitution from close quarters and acknowledge
that political Science today admits different variations of the federal system cannot but observe
that the Indian system is extremely federal.’25Or that it is a ‘federation with strong centralizing
tendency.’26 Dua argued27due to excessive use of president rule, the autonomy of states has been
reduced and there is more and more interference from the center which give rise to a conflictual
nature of the federalism.

d) Economic incompatibilities of the State- No system of federation can be successful unless

both the union and the states have at their dispoal adequate financial resources to enable them to
discharge their responsibilities under the constitution. The incompatibilities that states have in
terms of finance are considered as a threat to Indian federation. The distribution of
responsibilities in terms of financial expenditure and tax is controlled and is in hands of union.
‘It is union or we can central that decides the share of the state in the centre’s revenue thereby
creating an imbalance in the system.’28Irrespective of any consent of the state concerned,
Parliament may while legislating with respect to Union subject, confer powers upon a state or its
officers, relating to such subject as given Art 258(2). ‘In India, economic compatibility of all
states is not equal. Some are declared poor whereas some afford luxurious lives. When there is
an economic difference and fiscal incompatibility it causes a threat to the federation.’29To keep
it as simple if developing country like India tries to give attention to the economic development
then equalization of all states becomes impossible to attend because of the fact that some states
are poor in terms of economy. Demand for a financial equality of a region creates problems in
federation because of imbalance of external and internal forces that exists.

24
Durga Das Basu; Introduction to the Constitution of India 22 nd edition
Chapter 5 Nature of the Federal System pg 64
25
Appleby, Public administration in India (1953), p.51
26
Jennings, Some characteristics of the Indian constitution, p.1
27
Bhagwan D. Dua, Presidential Rule in India (1950-1984): A Study in Crisis Politics, 2nd Edition, (New: Delhi S.
Chand & Company, 1985), 396
28
https://blog.ipleaders.in/federalism-in-india-2/#15_issues_and_challenges_faced_by_Indian_Federalism
29
Ibid 27

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The conclusion can be made by saying that all the loopholes are related to each other meaning
one gives birth to other and therefore it becomes challenging for the Indian federal system.

2.3 Is centralized tendency suitable in Indian federalism?

It depends from country to country or we can say it depends on the characteristically nature of
the country that whether it should have decentralized administration or centralized
administration. Though there are two tiers of the government, constitution gives more powers to
the union or we can say the central government. Paradoxically it seems that India has a
centralized federalism because of the fact that Indian constitution gives more power to the Union
than State government. There are some areas where the states or we can say the Indian units
don’t have power in the critical area of governance and when we talk specifically about
amending power so it is centralized because Article 36830 of the Constitution of India gives
power to centre for the constitutional amendment.

In a classic federation, competency of amendment to the constitution lies on a shared basis

between federal country and its states. But at the same time it becomes incorrect to conclude that
Indian federalism is a centralized federalism because ‘there exist some highly crucial federal
features in the Indian Constitution’.31 ‘Dr BR Ambedkar assured the Constituent Assembly: “The
Constitution is a Federal Constitution…The Union is not a league of states…nor is the states the
agencies of the Union, deriving powers from it. Both the Union and the states are created by the
Constitution, both derive their respective authority from the Constitution.”32 There reasons as to
why India is known as a quasi- federal nation and not a typical or classic federation. There is no
bias as to distribution of powers or other factors when it comes to pure federation but because of
the background of India as a nation decentralized tendency or decentralized federation will not
be suitable as it may create conflict internally which may lead to administrative problems. Some
of the constitutional provisions that proves that there is a bias for the centre in India:

30
It stated that despite whatever is mentioned in the constitution, the Parliament would be able to add, repeal and
amend any section of the constitution according to the procedures set down by Article 368, even provisions
mentioned in the proviso of Article 368. After being passed by a majority, such a Bill or Act merely required the
assent of the President.
31
www.orfonline.org
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https://www.orfonline.org/research/the-paradox-of-centralised-federalism/
32
Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. VIII, 33

10

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  Unilateral discretion is given to the parliament or we can say centre as to reconstruct the
boundaries of the state irrespective of state’s consent.33 The very famous example of this
can be reorganization of border line of Jammu and Kashmir into Indian territory without
the support of state government.
 In case of a deadlock between union and states over subjects in the concurrent list, the
union law prevails.34
 Single citizenship
 President Rule under Article 356 of the Indian constitution.35Example; Unconstitutional
imposition of this article in Maharashtra in 2019, in Arunachal Pradesh in 2016.
 Because of the diversity in country there was need for stabilization and all the states
contended for the recognition and growth and therefore centralized federation was the
best option that the framers of constitution could come up with.
 The functions and the responsibilities of modern welfare state were so vast and complex
and the plans of economic reconstruction and development were so much inter-dependent
that only central government could be and was equipped with sufficient resources and
authority could discharge them with speed and success.36

Initially when the nation got independence there was a need for strong centralized tendency but
with passage of time Indian federalism has become ‘less centralized because of pressure,
breakdown of congress dominance and fragmentation of political parties.’37 There is no denying
fact that Indian federation units have occasionally smarted the central domain over the
states.38But at the same time strong central is something that has kept the units of India together
because of the existence of forces like communalism, linguism etc. Though there is existence of
centralized federalism that doesn’t mean that states participation or that the concept of federalism
is deciphered in the country because there is ‘factual evidence that new regions are constantly

33
The centre merely needs to solicit the view and not the approval of the state concerned to redraw the
state boundaries, making India an ‘indestructible union of destructible states.’.
34
https://www.orfonline.org/research/the-paradox-of-centralised-federalism/
35
https://abhipedia.abhimanu.com/Article/IAS/MTQ5MjM4/Indian-Constitution---Federation-with-a-centralizing-
tendency--Indian-Polity-IAS BY: Datta Dinkar Chavan
36
Ibid 34
37
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254440527Challenges_to_India's_Centralized_Parliamentary Federalism
38
Vide Report of the Centre-State relations committee (Rajamannar committee) (Madras,1971,pp.79)

11

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demanding statehood and that already the Union had to yield to such demand in cases of
Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and many more.’39

The Indian history along with its inherent structure of Indian polity strengthens the union
government more than the states realized therefore it can be said that the centralized tendency
has controlled the existence of federalism and unity in India because of its diverse culture. But
simultaneously different regions have managed themselves to constantly assert themselves in
decentralization of governance. According to me there needs to be balance between both the
tendencies that centralization as well as decentralization because excess of both lead to
weakening of the Indian federalism.

3) How far is India’s federal structure efficient in governance?

No state can be fully independent in terms of natural resources, financial resources and other
factors like protecting itself against the alien state. Therefore in such a situation there is need of
coordination and co-operation between states and federalism as a governing structure helps in

Senator Benjamin Louis 'Ben' Cardin, a Democrat and a ranking member of the US Senate
Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), said while delivering a lecture on "Role of good
governance in international relations" organised by the US embassy and think tank, the Observer
Research Foundation (ORF) remarked that "Good governance is challenged by India's
federalism system." He also stated that “The current federalism system here in India is
challenging the effectiveness of national policies to combat corruption and other human rights
violations.”40India has made progress but not that much which makes the nation loophole free.
So we actually can’t say how efficient the governance system of India is lieu of federalism also
as a matter of fact India is not a pure federal state and is often known as unitary federal
government because of the mixed characteristics of unitary government and federal government.

3.1 Judicial Interpretation

39
Durga Das Basu; Introduction to the Constitution of India 22 nd edition
Chapter 5 Nature of the Federal System (Survival of federation in India pg 67)
40
https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/india-s-federal-system-challenging-good-governance-us-
senator-116060102007_1.html IANS | New Delhi
Last Updated at June 1, 2016 23:50 IST

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The framers of constitution went through debates so as to determine the nature of governance in
India. “DR B.R Ambedkar summed it up this way, the use of the term ‘Union’ is deliberate. The
reason why the Drafting Committee used it was because it wanted to make it clear that though
India was to be a federation, the federation was not the result of an agreement by the states to
join a federation and that the federation not being the result of an agreement, no state has the
right to secede from it. It also explains the fact that the Union is indestructible but not the
States; their identity can be altered or even obliterated."41

The most important case for the very first time that dealt with the interpretation of the
characteristics of Indian federal government was the West Bengal case but before that were
cases that concluded India as a federal government. Following are some of the cases where
judiciary tried to analyze the true nature of India’s governing system and how the analysis and
interpretation has changed with the passage of time.

42
1) In the case of ‘The Automobile v State of Rajasthan’ Justice Das S.K observed that “The
Constitution itself says by Art.1 that India is a Union of States and in interpreting the
Constitution one must keep in the view the essential structure of a federal or quasi-federal
constitution, namely, that the units of the Union have also certain powers as has the Union
itself…”43
2) In the landmark judgement of Keshavananda Bharti v State of Kerala and others44 here the
court held that despite of the fact that parliament has wide powers it cannot destruct the
basic structure of the constitution and in this very case federalism was considered as one of
the basic features of the constitution of India.
3) In Ganga Ram Moolchandani v. State of Rajasthan45 the Supreme Court reiterated: ‘Indian
Constitution is basically federal in form and is marked by the traditional characteristics of a

41
https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/JUxSr3117sxWXdOl2jWpgL/The-state-of-the-Indian-federation.html
Updated: 25 Jul 2016, 01:52 AM IST
Narayan Ramachandran
42
1962 AIR 1406, 1963 SCR (1) 491
43
https://www.lawctopus.com/academike/federalism-india-judicial-interpretation
November 15, 2015 By Siddharth Dalabehera
44
(1973) 4 SCC 225: AIR 1973 SC 1461
45
Appeal (civil) 6469 of 1998 Appeal (civil) 722 of 1999 Appeal (civil) 2411 of 1999

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 federal system, namely supremacy of the Constitution, division of power between the Union
and States and existence independent judiciary.’46
4) In the Reference Case of 1965, GAJENDRAGADKAR, C.J,47 observed that, “like other
federal States, the Indian Constitution distributes powers between the Union and the States
and that in order to maintain this federal distribution, the Judiciary was made the sole
interpreter and protector of the constitution, which could not be changed by the process of
ordinary legislation by either the Union or a State Legislature. He characterized the Indian
Constitution as a ‘federal constitution.’ ”48

After this era or we can say trend of judiciary where the courts interpreted Indian constitution as
absolutely federal or to be very precise ‘traditional federal constitution’ thereafter there came an
era where the judiciary discussed this issue in the length and diverted from the previous path.

Very famous case of State of West Bengal v Union of India49, the court for the very first time in
this case held that ‘Indian Constitution did not propound a principle of absolute federalism.
Though the authority was decentralized this was mainly due to the arduous task of governing the
large territory. The Court outlined the characteristics, which highlight the fact that the Indian
Constitution is not a “traditional federal Constitution” and it also observed that there is no
separate Constitution for each State as is required in a federal state.’50 The court in this case
clearly held that the distribution of powers or we can say the minimal decentralization that is
provided by the constitution is just to facilitate the implementation of national policies by the
states also other reason is ‘there is no dual citizenship in India. Thus, the learned judges
concluded that the structure of the Indian Union as provided by the Constitution one is
centralized, with the States occupying a secondary position vis-à-vis the Centre.’51 To
understand it in simple way the judgement of this case emphasizes on the fact that though union
and states both derive its powers from the constitution ‘states would have no legal rights as against

46
Ibid 42
47
AIR 1965 SC 745
48
Ibid 45
49
[1962]382 (21 December 1962)
50
Supra 47
51
Ibid 49

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the overriding powers of the Union, because of a general theory of paramountcy or superiority of the
Union.’52

In the case of State of Rajasthan v Union of India, 197753 the court embarked that ‘the extent of
federalism of the Indian Union is largely watered down by the needs of progress, development and
making the nation integrated, politically and economically co-ordinated, and socially and spiritually
uplifted.’54

The above mentioned cases are just an example as to how the court has interpreted the Indian
governing system and the courts have recognized the fact that Indian constitution intends to
provide federal structure with a strong centre only so has to ensure the integration of Indian
federal units. ‘The battle for federal affirmation and restoration of democratic decentralization
has gained momentum over the decade. Important Commissions like Rajamannar and Sarkaria
Commission have stressed on the federal soul of the Constitution.’55

4) CONCLUSION

KC Wheare has described the Indian constitution as a ‘quasi federal’56because it has deviated
itself from the traditional federal system. There are non- federal features like single citizenship,
centralization, economic incompatibility of each states or federal units etc. which makes the
country union oriented with federal structures as a subsidiary medium. Though there are
arguments as to the centralized tendency but at the same time the constitution of India gives
power to states as well. Majority of authors describe Indian constitution and governing system as
a quasi- federal because the federal principles are implemented or initiated for the effective
governance of the federal units because of the diverse cultures, religions, languages, ethnic
groups etc.

In the landmark judgement of Bommai case the court observed that “The fact that under the
scheme of our Constitution, greater power is conferred upon the Centre vis-a-vis the states does
not mean that the states are mere appendages of the Centre. The states have an independent

52
Ibid 50
53
1977 AIR 1361, 1978 SCR (1) 1
54
Ibid 51
55
Ibid 53
56
https://jntulibrary.wordpress.com/2017/01/16/critical-evaluation-of-the-federal-system/ JANUARY 16, 2017 ~
SUSHANTH REDDY

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constitutional existence. They are not satellites or agents of the Centre. Within the sphere
allotted to them, the states are supreme. The fact that during emergency and in certain other
eventualities their powers are overridden or invaded by the Centre is not destructive of the
essential federal feature of the Constitution. They are exceptions and the exceptions are not a
rule.”57 The divergent medium through which the states and union derive powers is through the
constitution and it has more centralized aspects because the constitution gives residual powers,
financial powers, overriding powers to central over states and therefore diverting itself from the
traditional federal system that we find in the United States of America and therefore authors,
drafting committee, researches, jurists, judiciary has interpreted our constitution as quasi- federal
system. The father of Indian constitution founded it important and necessary to not constitute the
India as a pure federal system because of the diversity and made the provisions in lieu of unitary
as well as federal features so as to ensure the unity and to avoid seceding of the federal units. To
end the paper, it can be simply understood that the makers of our constitution including Dr. B.R
Ambedkar vision’s to add federalism without mentioning it expressly was to ensure that states
are supposed to function according to the federal system but at times when there is threat to
union or nation as a whole centralizing system would prevail i.e Union would have superseding
powers.

57
S.R Bommai v Union of India ([1994] 2 SCR 644 : AIR 1994 SC 1918 : (1994)3 SCC1)

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