Federal Principle Under the Indian Constitution - A Perspective

The constitution of India is the legal document in which various governing principles are established, capacities and procedural aspects of the legislature are indicated under which diverse organs of the administration work. Constitution is the supreme law of the land which is ascertained by Kelsen as the "Grund Norm" in his Unadulterated theory of law. American Constitution is the pioneer of all the federal constitutions took after by the Canadian and Australian constitution separately. It may be traced that the Federal principal was adopted in the Administration of India Act 1935 and the same was reinserted in the draft constitution by the Constitution Assembly

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s feels it helpful to describe Indian constitution as both Federal and Unitary. He opines that it fills in as a federal constitution under the normal condition and as Unitary during the war or emergency. Law firms in Delhi: The principle may be understood as 'the strategy for dividing powers, so that the general and regional governments are each within a circle of co-ordinate and independent; and not sub-ordinate to each other-Professor Where. The presence of co-ordinate authorities independent of each other is the endowment of the federal principal whereas the supreme sovereign force is vested with the main central organ which ultimately controls the state in a unitary form of government.

Federal Features:

• There must be a composed and inflexible Constitution. Constitution being the supreme law of the land, it must be inflexible in order to maintain its supremacy.

• Composed constitution is essential if federal government is to function admirably.

• Appropriation of forces, between the central Government and State governments is the most essential and ordained feature of a federal constitution. The appropriation must be such that both the administrations ought to exist in a coordinate and independent in their own particular circles.

• Independent and impartial judiciary is to maintain the supremacy of the constitution by interpreting the various procurements and settling the debate between the laws made by the administrations and the Constitution.

So as to be called federal it is not necessary that a Constitution ought to adopt federal principle totally. It is sufficient if the federal principle is the pre-dominant principle in the constitution. The negligible vicinity of Unitary features in a constitution which may make the Constitution 'quasi federal' in law, does not keep the Constitution from being pre-dominantly federal in practice. Professor described India as neither Federal nor Unitary yet 'Quasi Federal'. Indian lawyers forum came into presence on 26th January 1950 adopting the federal principle pre dominant.

It may be aptly be stated that he underpins Ruler Ambedkar's perspective. Energy to alter the boundaries: Article 3 enables the Parliament to alter the boundaries of states even without the assent of the states which weakens the federal principle. State of West Bengal in its memorandum submitted to the President of India compares article 3 to be a damocle sword hanging over the heads of the states. HM Seervai safeguards the force of the Parliament to alter the boundaries of the states that " by extra constitutional agitations the states have forced parliament to alter the boundaries of States"