Federal Structure of Indian Constitution
8 Pages Posted: 4 Mar 2010
Date Written: March 2, 2010
Abstract
The paper has broadly discussed the federal structure of the Indian Constitutiion. The adoption of the G.I. Act, 35 as the basis of the new Constitution had the great advantage of making the transition from British rule to the new Republic of India without any break with the past; the old laws and constitutional provisions continued without a break; and thus secured for India the advantage which an evolutionary change has over a revolutionary break with the past. Besides, the G.I. Act, 35 had great merits as an instrument of federal government.
The special feature of a Federal Constitutions, which is relevant in the present context and present, is that since it has to enumerate and limit the respective power of two governments- Federal and State, it must be written Constitution.
According to Wheare, the Constitution of India is not federal, it is quasi-federal. He said that any constitution will be federal if it is similar to USA Constitution. But I would like to say that the American Constitution in itself is not federal. The basic feature of federalism is not satisfied by the USA Constitution.
Keywords: federal, USA, Constitution, Wheare, India, basic, structure, break
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