04/06/2023
■ FEDERAL SYSTEM WITH UNITARY BIAS
◇ The Constitution of India establishes a federal system of Government.
◇ It contains all the usual features of a federation, viz., two Government, division of powers, written Constitution, supremacy of Constitution, rigidity of Constitution, independent judiciary and bicameralism.
◇ However, the Indian Constitution also contains a large number of unitary or non-federal features, viz., a strong Centre, single Constitution, single citizenship, flexibility of Constitution, integrated judiciary, appointment of state governor by the Centre, all-India services, emergency provisions and so on.
◇ Moreover, the term ‘Federation’ has nowhere been used in the Constitution.
◇ Article 1, on the other hand, describes India as a ‘Union of States’ which implies two things:
• one, Indian Federation is not the result of an agreement by the states; and
• two, no state has the right to secede from the federation.
