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CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE INDIAN FEDERAL SYSTEM
Dr. Lohith R.
ABSTRACT
Federalism is a system of government in which powers are divided between the two
set of governments. Governments are classified into unitary and federal on the basis
of the nature of relationship between the national government and the regional
governments. In a federal model the national government is called as the Federal
government or the Central government or the Union government and the regional
government is known as the State government or the provincial government. The
Indian Constitution provides for federal system of government. Since the Constitution
of India contains more unitary features than the federal features many scholars
opined that it is quasi-federal and it is clear that there is a deviation from the
traditional federal system. This paper critically analyses in detail the federal
structure of the Indian Constitution and its implications.
Key Words: Federalism, national government, regional government, Indian Constitution.
Paper Code: RP-VBCL-08-2024
INTRODUCTION
One of the essential elements of State is Government, State cannot exist in the absence of
Government. Government is the political organization of the state. It is the agency through which
the will of the people is formulated, expressed and realized. The state operates through
government. The subjects of a state i.e., people are controlled by the government because it is
based on force. The modern government has mainly three organs namely legislature to make
laws, executive to execute and enforce the laws made by the legislature and judiciary to interpret
Assistant Professor, Department of Studies and Research in Law, University of Mysore.
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Copyright © Annual International Journal of Vaikunta Baliga College
of Law (AIJVBCL)
Published by
AIJVBCL is an Open Access, International, Double-Blind, Peer-
Vaikunta Baliga College of Law
Reviewed Journal. Volume 1, 2024
the laws. There are different types of governments such as democratic, monarchical, presidential,
parliamentary, unitary and federal.
Federalism is best suited for States which are bigger in size and which has diverse
population for the better administration. India is the 7th largest country in the world in terms of
area and it surpassed China in population with more than 1.43 billion people. Probably these
reasons made the framers of the Indian Constitution to adopt the federal system of government to
promote and ensure unity in diversity by providing autonomy at regional level if not to the fullest
extent atleast for the reasonable extent. Since the Constitution of India contains more unitary
features than the federal features many scholars opined that it is quasi-federal and it is clear that
there is a deviation from the traditional federal system.
Federalism is a governmental mechanism for governance of a country. It has been
evolved to bind into one political union several autonomous, distinct, separate and disparate
political entities or administrative units. It seeks to draw a balance between the forces working in
favour of concentration of power in the centre and those urging a dispersal of it in a number of
units. Thus it seeks to reconcile unity with multiplicity, centralization with decentralization and
nationalism with localism.1 A federal Constitution establishes a dual polity as it comprises two
levels of government. At one level, there exists a Central Government having jurisdiction over
the whole country and reaching down to the person and property of every individual therein. At
the other level, there exist the regional governments, each of which exercises, jurisdiction in one
of the regions or administrative units into which the country is divided under the Constitution.2 A
citizen of a federal country thus becomes subject to the jurisdiction of two governments. The
most significant characteristic of federal system is the distribution of legislative powers between
the Centre and the State governments.
1
Dicey, Law of the Constitution, Ch. III, 138, 1952.
2
Prof.M.P.Jain, Indian Constitutional Law, Pg. 477, (5th Edition 2009, LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur).
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Copyright © Annual International Journal of Vaikunta Baliga College
of Law (AIJVBCL)
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AIJVBCL is an Open Access, International, Double-Blind, Peer-
Vaikunta Baliga College of Law
Reviewed Journal. Volume 1, 2024
REASONS FOR ADOPTING FEDERAL SYSTEM
There are two main reasons for which the framers of the Constitution adopted federal system
of government, they are: (i) vast size of the country; (ii) Social and cultural diversity which exist
in the Indian Society. The framers also realized that the federal system ensures efficient
governance and reconciles the national unity with regional autonomy.The term federation has no
where been mentioned in the Constitution. According to Article 1 of the Constitution India is a
Union of States. Dr.B.R.Ambedkar3 preferred ‘Union of States’ instead of ‘Federation of States’
to indicates two things: (i) the Indian federation is not the result of an agreement among the
states like the American federation; (ii) the states have no right to secede from the federation.
Indian federation is union because it is indestructible. It is clear that ours is not the traditional
federal system like US, Switzerland and Australia. We can see a large number of Unitary or non-
federal features along with federal features in the Indian Constitution steering the balance of
power in favour of the Union. It is right to say as described by K.C. Wheare that Indian
Constitution is “quasi federal”. He said that “Indian Union is a unitary state with subsidiary
federal features rather than a federal state with subsidiary unitary features.”4
The framers of the Indian Constitution learnt a great lesson from the experiences, the
problems faced and the solutions attempted of the Federations of the U.S.A, Canada and
Australia. The framers of the Indian Constitution were thoroughly aware of the working of these
Federations. They have tried to incorporate in the Indian Federal Structure the main
developments in those Federations, and have also sought to avoid the difficulties faced therein
from time to time. But, still, the Indian Federal System breaks some new ground and the Indian
Constitution contains some novel features which are not to be seen in other Federations.
3
Chairman of the Drafting Committee set up by the Constituent Assembly to draft Constitution for India.
4
K C Wheare: Federal Government, 1951, pg.28.
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Copyright © Annual International Journal of Vaikunta Baliga College
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AIJVBCL is an Open Access, International, Double-Blind, Peer-
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Reviewed Journal. Volume 1, 2024
A federal Constitution is a much more complicated and legalistic document than a unitary
Constitution which has one Central Government in which all powers of government are
concentrated and which can delegate such of its powers to such of its agencies as it likes. A
federal Constitution must settle many details (like distribution of powers between the Central and
the State governments) which a unitary Constitution is not concerned with. Britain, Sri Lanka,
Singapore have unitary Constitution.5About the nature of Indian Constitution, Dr. B. R.
Ambedkar made it clear in the Constituent Assembly: “The Constitution is a Federal
Constitution in as much as it establishes a dual polity. The Union is not a league of states, united
in a loose relationship, nor are 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.”6
FEDERAL FEATURES OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION
Following are the federal features of the Indian Constitution
1. Dual Polity: The Constitution established dual polity consisting the Union at the Centre and
the states at the regional level. Each is endowed with sovereign powers to be exercised within
their respective sphere prescribed by the Constitution. The Union government is authorized to
deal with the matters of national importance like defence, currency, communication, foreign
relations and so on. The state governments are given authority to deal with the matters of
regional and local importance such as public order, agriculture, health, local government and so
on.
2. Written Constitution: The Constitution of India is written as well as the lengthiest
Constitution of the world. Originally it contained a preamble, 365 Articles divided into 22 parts
5
Supra note 2
6
Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. VII, Pg.33.
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AIJVBCL is an Open Access, International, Double-Blind, Peer-
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and 8 Schedules.7 At present (as on 2023), it consists of 465 Articles divided into 25 parts and 12
Schedules.8 Both the governments derives their structure, Organisation, powers and functions
from the Constitution and it also prescribed the limits within which they must exercise
jurisdiction which avoids the misunderstandings and disagreement between the two.
3.Division of powers: The Constitution of India has divided the powers between the Union and
the states in terms of Union List which at present consist of 100 subjects (originally 97), State
List Consists of 61 (originally 67) and Concurrent List consists of 52 subjects (originally 47).
With regard to subjects of the Concurrent List both Union and States can make laws. In case of
any conflict Union law prevails over state law. The Union is empowered to make laws on the
residuary subjects.
4. Supremacy of the Constitution: The Constitution is the supreme law of the land. The
legislations enacted by the Centre and the States must be consistent to its provisions, otherwise it
can be declared as invalid by the Supreme Court and High Courts by exercising the power of
judicial review. So the organs of the governments must function within their respective
jurisdiction prescribed by the Constitution.
5. Rigid Constitution: The division of powers as well as supremacy of the Constitution can be
maintained only if the method of its amendment is rigid. Thus amending the provisions dealing
with federal structure of the Constitution is rigid i.e., Union-state relations and judicial
Organisation can be amended only by the joint action of the Union and State governments. For
7
The American Constitution originally consisted only 7 Articles, the Australian Constitution 128 and the Canadian
Constitution 147.
8
Several amendments made since 1951 have deleted about 20 Articles and one Part (VII) and added about 90
Articles, four parts (IV A, IX A, IX B and XIV A) and four Schedules (9, 10, 11, 12).
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Copyright © Annual International Journal of Vaikunta Baliga College
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AIJVBCL is an Open Access, International, Double-Blind, Peer-
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Reviewed Journal. Volume 1, 2024
amending such provisions it requires special majority9 of the Parliament and approval of half of
the state legislatures of the Indian Union.
6. Independent Judiciary: The Constitution established an independent judiciary headed by the
Supreme Court for two purposes: firstly to protect the supremacy of the Constitution by
exercising the power of judicial review and secondly to settle disputes between the Union and
the states or between the states.
7. Bicameralism: The legislative organ of the Union government i.e., the Parliament is 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. Rajya Sabha maintains the federal balance by
protecting the interests of states from undue interference of the Centre.
S R Bommai case 1994:10
This case abrogate the arbitrary dismissal of State governments by an ill will Central
government. The judgment also categorically ruled that the floor of the Legislative Assembly is
the only forum that should test the majority of the government of the day, and not the subjective
opinion of the Governor, who is often referred to as the agent of the Central government. "The
Chief Minister of every State who has to discharge his constitutional functions will be in
perpetual fear of the axe of Proclamation falling on him because he will not be sure whether he
will remain in power or not and consequently he has to stand up every time from his seat without
properly discharging his constitutional obligations and achieving the desired target in the interest
of the State," the Court said.
9
A majority of 2/3 of the members of each House present and voting and a majority of the total membership of each
House.
10
S R Bommai v. Union of India(1994).
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The apex court also ruled that the Constitution is federal and characterized federalism as its
‘basic feature’. It observed “The fact that under the scheme of our Constitution, more power is
conferred upon the Centre but it does not mean that the states are mere addendums of the centre.
Under the provisions of the Indian Constitution states have independent Constitutional existence.
They are not the agents of the Centre. Within their allotted sphere states are supreme. Only
during emergency Centre has overriding powers over state sphere but it is an exceptional
circumstance and exceptions are not a rule. Overriding power of the Centre cannot destroy the
essential federal feature of the Indian Constitution.
MERITS OF FEDERAL SYSTEM
Following are the merits of federal system of government:
1. A federal system is an admirable device by which national unity can be harmonized with local
autonomy.
2. Federal system is based on the principle of decentralization and division of powers. There is
every possibility of great efficiency in administration. The central government is not
overburdened with work as it is shared by the units.
3. There are lesser chances of despotism in a federal system.
4. In a federation, there are greater chances of the people taking interest in their local affairs than
is the case of unitary government.
5. There is every likelihood of stable economy.
DEMERITS OF FEDERAL SYSTEM
Following are the demerits of federal system of government:
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1. A federal government is weaker than a unitary government. There cannot be promptness of
action under a federal system as the views of the units have also to be taken into consideration.
2. There are chances of conflicts between the regional and federal government which may
become detrimental to the development of a country.
3. A federal government is more expensive than unitary government because more money has to
be spent both on the federal as well as state governments.
4. In federal system the difficulty is the proper adjustment of central to local governments and
the danger of rebellion or the formation of sectional faction is always there.11
5. Jurisdictional conflict may arise between the national and state authorities.12
CONCLUSION
Foremost feature ofFederal system of government is dual polity one at the national level
and other one at the state level for administrative convenience. It is best suited for a country
which is larger in size with a diverse population. India is one of the largest countries in the world
and it is densely populated which demands decentralized powers rather than concentration of
powers in the national government. The Constitution of India clearly demarcated the powers and
functions of the both the governments within which they must operate. The legislative
enactments and the executive actions of both union and state governments must be in conformity
with the provisions of the Constitution otherwise it becomes invalid or unconstitutional.
The Constitution of India is a written Constitution and the legislative powers,
administrative powers are distributed between the Union and states. Since the powers are clearly
specified there is no scope for conflict between the two governments. In any federation it is the
11
This observation is made by Raymond Garfield Gettell who was an American national and political science
professor.
12
V.D. Mahajan, Political Theory, S. Chand and company Ltd, Ram Nagar, New Delhi, pg. 471.
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Constitution which is supreme and India is not an exception and the judiciary is entrusted with
the responsibility of upholding the supremacy of the Constitution and maintaining the federal
equilibrium. Constitution is not static it can be amended according to the changing needs of the
society but subject to basic structure of the Indian Constitution and amendment process is partly
rigid and partly flexible. Some provisions of the Constitution can be amended by simple majority
of the Parliament and through ordinary legislative process but the provisions related to federal
structure of the Constitution requires special majority and ratification of half of the state
legislatures of the Indian Union.
Independent judiciary is one of the features of our Constitution. The Constitution
established integrated judicial system with Supreme Court at the top, below it is the High courts
followed by system of civil and criminal subordinate courts. The framers of the Indian
Constitution wanted judiciary to function independently without the undue interference of the
legislature and the executive in order to protect the fundamental rights of the people and
supremacy of the constitution. Another important feature of federal system is the bicameral
legislature, the Indian Parliament is a bicameral legislature which consists two Houses the upper
House( Rajya Sabha) and the lower House( Lok Sabha). The Rajya Sabha represents the states of
the Indian federation and Lok Sabha represents the people of India as whole.
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