1.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
2.
Politics of India
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India follows the dual polity system, i. e. a double government which consists of the central authority at the center and states at the periphery. The Indian constitution provides for an independent Judiciary which is headed by the Supreme Court, the governments, are formed through elections held every five years, by parties that claim a majority of members in their respective lower houses. The 1990s saw the end of single party domination and rise of coalition governments, in recent decades, Indian politics has become a dynastic affair. Possible reasons for this could be the absence of party organizations, independent civil society associations that support for the parties. Compared to other countries, India has a large number of political parties. It has been estimated that over 200 parties were formed after India became independent in 1947, the two main parties in India are the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress, Indian National Congress dominates Indian Politics. On the left-right political spectrum, the Indian National Congress is the typical welfare heavy, centre-left party, whereas the BJP is a fiscally conservative, there are many types of political parties in India - National Party and Regional/State party. Every political party must bear a symbol and must be registered with the Election Commission of India, symbols are used in Indian political system as an identity of political parties and that illiterate people can also vote by recognizing symbols of party. For a National party, it must be the presence in the Lok Sabha and for a State party. In any election, a party can set up a candidate only from amongst its own members. A party, that loses its recognition, shall not lose its symbol immediately, recognition should be given to a party only on the basis of its own performance in elections and not because it is a splinter group of some other recognized party. OR it wins at least two percent seats in the House of the People, and these members are elected from at least three different States. OR it wins at least three percent of the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the State, or at least three seats in the Assembly, whichever is more. At present there are 5 national parties and many state parties. India has a history of alliances and breakdown of alliances, however, there are three alliances on a national level in India, competing with each other for the position of Government. The coalition government went on to complete the five years term. In the 2014 General Elections NDA once again returned to power for the second time, BJP itself won 282 seats thereby electing Narendra Modi as the head of the government. United Progressive Alliance - Centre-Left coalition led by Indian National Congress, the alliance even after losing some of its members, was reelected in 2009 General Elections with Manmohan Singh as head of the government
3.
Constitution of India
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The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It is the longest written constitution of any country in the world. The nation is governed by it, B. R. Ambedkar is regarded as its chief architect. It was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, with its adoption, the Union of India became the modern and contemporary Republic of India replacing the Government of India Act,1935 as the countrys fundamental governing document. To ensure constitutional autochthony, the framers of the repealed the prior Acts of the British Parliament via Article 395 of the constitution. India celebrates its coming into force on 26 January each year and it declares India a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic, assuring its citizens of justice, equality, and liberty, and endeavours to promote fraternity among them. The major portion of the Indian subcontinent was under British rule from 1857 to 1947, when the Constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950, it repealed the Indian Independence Act. India ceased to be a dominion of the British Crown and became a democratic republic. The date of 26 January was chosen to commemorate the Purna Swaraj declaration of independence of 1930. Articles 5,6,7,8,9,60,324,366,367,379,380,388,391,392,393 and 394 of the Constitution came into force on 26 November 1949 and it is drawn from many sources. Keeping in mind the needs and conditions of India its framers borrowed different features freely from previous legislation viz and it was drafted by the Constituent Assembly, which was elected by elected members of the provincial assemblies. The 389 member Constituent Assembly took almost three years to complete its task of drafting the Constitution for independent India, during which. Of these,114 days were spent on the consideration of the draft Constitution, on 29 August 1947, the Constituent Assembly set up a Drafting Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar to prepare a draft Constitution for India, while deliberating upon the draft Constitution, the assembly moved, discussed and disposed of as many as 2,473 amendments out of a total of 7,635 tabled. Ambedkar, Sanjay Phakey, Jawaharlal Nehru, C, there were more than 30 members of the scheduled classes. Frank Anthony represented the Anglo-Indian community, and the Parsis were represented by H. P. Modi, the Chairman of the Minorities Committee was Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, a distinguished Christian who represented all Christians other than Anglo-Indians. Ari Bahadur Gurung represented the Gorkha Community, prominent jurists like Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, Benegal Narsing Rau and K. M. Munshi, Ganesh Mavlankar were also members of the Assembly. Sarojini Naidu, Hansa Mehta, Durgabai Deshmukh, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, the first temporary 2-day president of the Constituent Assembly was Dr Sachchidananda Sinha
4.
Law of India
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Law of India refers to the system of law in modern India. India maintains a common law system inherited from the colonial era. During the drafting of the Indian Constitution, Indian laws also adhere to the United Nations guidelines on human rights law, certain international trade laws, such as those on intellectual property, are also enforced in India. Indian personal law is complex, with each religion adhering to its own specific laws. In most states, registering of marriages and divorces is not compulsory, separate laws govern Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and followers of other religions. The exception to rule is in the state of Goa, where a uniform civil code is in place, in which all religions have a common law regarding marriages, divorces. As of January 2017, there were about 1,248 laws, ancient India represented a distinct tradition of law, and had a historically independent school of legal theory and practice. The Arthashastra, dating from 400 BC and the Manusmriti, from 100 AD, were influential treatises in India, manus central philosophy was tolerance and pluralism, and was cited across Southeast Asia. Early in this period, which culminated in the creation of the Gupta Empire, relations with ancient Greece, the appearance of similar fundamental institutions of international law in various parts of the world show that they are inherent in international society, irrespective of culture and tradition. With the advent of the British Raj, there was a break in tradition, as a result, the present judicial system of the country derives largely from the British system and has few, if any, connections to Indian legal institutions of the pre-British era. The Constitution of India, which came into effect on 26 January 1950 is the lengthiest written constitution in the world and it provides details of the administration of both the Union and the States, and codifies the relations between the Federal Government and the State Governments. Also incorporated into the text are a chapter on the rights of citizens. The constitution prescribes a federal structure of government, with a defined separation of legislative and executive powers between the Federation and the States. Each State Government has the freedom to draft its own laws on subjects classified as state subjects, laws passed by the Parliament of India and other pre-existing central laws on subjects classified as central subjects are binding on all citizens. The Indian Penal Code formulated by the British during the British Raj in 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure,1973 governs the procedural aspects of the criminal law. Jury trials were abolished by the government in 1960 on the grounds they would be susceptible to media and this decision was based on an 8-1 acquittal of Kawas Nanavati in K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra, which was overturned by higher courts, in February 2011, the Supreme Court of India ruled that criminal defendants have a constitutional right to counsel. Capital punishment in India is legal, the last execution was conducted on July 30,2015, when the mastermind of 1993 Bombay serial blast, the terrorist Yakub Memon, was hanged in Nagpur
5.
Amendment of the Constitution of India
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Amending the Constitution of India is the process of making changes to the nations fundamental law or supreme law. The procedure of amendment in the constitution is laid down in Part XX of the Constitution of India and this procedure ensures the sanctity of the Constitution of India and keeps a check on arbitrary power of the Parliament of India. They also never wanted to have a British-style system where Parliament is supreme, the Constitution of India vests constituent power upon the Parliament subject to the special procedure laid down therein. During the discussion in the Constituent Assembly on this aspect, some members were in favour of adopting an easier mode of amending procedure for the five to ten years. There should be a certain flexibility, if you make anything rigid and permanent, you stop a nation’s growth, the growth of a living, vital, organic people. Therefore, it has to be flexible and it is right that House elected so - under this Constitution of course it will have the right to do anything - should have an easy opportunity to make such changes as it wants to. But in any event, we should not make a Constitution, such as other great countries have. Today especially, when the world is in turmoil and we are passing through a very swift period of transition, therefore, while we make a Constitution which is sound and as basic as we can, it should also be flexible. Brajeshwar Prasad also favoured a flexible Constitution so as to make it survive the test of time and he was of the opinion that rigidity tends to check progressive legislation or gradual innovation. Kamath favoured ensuring procedural safeguards to avoid the possibility of hasty amendment to the Constitution, the Constitution of India provides for a distinctive amending process when compared to the Constitutions of other nations. It can be described as flexible and partly rigid. The Constitution provides for a variety in the amending process, an amendment of the Constitution can be initiated only by the introduction of a Bill in either House of Parliament. The Bill must then be passed in each House by a majority of the membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present. There is no provision for a joint sitting in case of disagreement between the two Houses, the Bill, passed by the required majority, is then presented to the President who shall give his assent to the Bill. If the amendment seeks to make any change in any of the mentioned in the proviso to article 368. Although, there is no prescribed time limit for ratification, it must be completed before the amending Bill is presented to the President for his assent, every constitutional amendment is formulated as a statute. The first amendment is called the Constitution Act, the second, the Constitution Act, each usually has the long title An Act further to amend the Constitution of India. The original constitution provided for three categories of amendments
6.
Basic structure doctrine
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The basic structure doctrine is an Indian judicial principle that the Constitution of India has certain basic features that cannot be altered or destroyed through amendments by the parliament. Key among these features, are the fundamental rights granted to individuals by the constitution. The basic structure doctrine applies only to constitutional amendments, the basic structure doctrine does not apply to ordinary Acts of Parliament, which must itself be in conformity with the Constitution. The basic features principle was first expounded in 1964, by Justice J. R. Mudholkar in his dissent, in 1967, the Supreme Court reversed its earlier decisions in Golaknath v. State of Punjab. It held that Fundamental Rights included in Part III of the Constitution are given a position and are beyond the reach of Parliament. It also declared any amendment that takes away or abridges a Fundamental Right conferred by Part III as unconstitutional, by 1973, the basic structure doctrine triumphed in Justice Hans Raj Khannas judgment in the landmark decision of Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala. Previously, the Supreme Court had held that the power of Parliament to amend the Constitution was unfettered, although Kesavananda was decided by a narrow margin of 7-6, the basic structure doctrine has since gained widespread acceptance and legitimacy due to subsequent cases and judgments. Primary among these was the imposition of a state of emergency by Indira Gandhi in 1975, when the Kesavananda case was decided, the underlying apprehension of the majority bench that elected representatives could not be trusted to act responsibly was perceived as unprecedented. However, the passage of the 39th Amendment by the Indian National Congress majority in central and state legislatures, in Indira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj Narain and Minerva Mills v. The Supreme Courts position on constitutional amendments laid out in its judgements is that Parliament can amend the Constitution but cannot destroy its basic structure. The basic features principle was first expounded in 1964, by Justice J. R. Mudholkar in his dissent, the basic features of the Constitution have not been explicitly defined by the Judiciary. At least,20 features have been described as basic or essential by the Courts in numerous cases and it would be unreasonable to hold that the word Law in article 13 takes in Constitution Amendment Acts passed under article 368. In both cases, the power to amend the rights had been upheld on the basis of Article 368, in 1967, the Supreme Court reversed its earlier decisions in Golaknath v. State of Punjab. A bench of judges of the Supreme Court deliberated as to whether any part of the Fundamental Rights provisions of the constitution could be revoked or limited by amendment of the constitution. The Supreme Court delivered its ruling, by a majority of 6-5 on 27 February 1967, the Court also ruled that Fundamental Rights included in Part III of the Constitution are given a transcendental position under the Constitution and are kept beyond the reach of Parliament. The Court also held that the scheme of the Constitution and the nature of the freedoms it granted incapacitated Parliament from modifying, restricting or impairing Fundamental Freedoms in Part III, Parliament passed the 24th Amendment in 1971 to abrogate the Supreme Court ruling in the Golaknath case. It amended the Constitution to provide expressly that Parliament has the power to any part of the Constitution including the provisions relating to Fundamental Rights. This was done by amending articles 13 and 368 to exclude amendments made under article 368, Chief Justice Koka Subba Rao writing for the majority held that, A law to amend the constitution is a law for the purposes of Article 13
7.
Fundamental rights in India
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Fundamental Rights is a charter of rights contained in Part III of Constitution of India. It guarantees civil liberties such that all Indians can lead their lives in peace, violation of these rights result in punishments as prescribed in the Indian Penal Code or other special laws, subject to discretion of the judiciary. The Fundamental Rights are defined as basic human freedoms that every Indian citizen has the right to enjoy for a proper and these rights universally apply to all citizens, irrespective of race, place of birth, religion, caste or gender. Aliens are also considered in matters like equality before law and they are enforceable by the courts, subject to certain restrictions. The Rights have their origins in many sources, including Englands Bill of Rights, Right to equality is provided from Article 14 to Article 18 of Indian constitution. Right to freedom is provided from Article 19 to 22 of constitution, Right against exploitation, Which prohibits all forms of forced labour, child labour and traffic of human beings. It is provided under Articles 23 and 24 of Indian constitution, Article 25 to 28 enumerates the right to freedom of religion. Article 29 and Article 30 of Indian constitution provides for cultural and educational rights, Right to constitutional remedies, Which is present for enforcement of Fundamental Rights. It is provided under Article 32 of Indian constitution, Fundamental rights for Indians have also been aimed at overturning the inequalities of pre-independence social practices. Specifically, they have also used to abolish untouchability and thus prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex. They also forbid trafficking of human beings and forced labour and they also protect cultural and educational rights of ethnic and religious minorities by allowing them to preserve their languages and also establish and administer their own education institutions. They are covered in Part III of Indian constitution, the public opposition to this act eventually led to mass campaigns of non-violent civil disobedience throughout the country demanding guaranteed civil freedoms, and limitations on government power. Indians, who were seeking independence and their own government, were influenced by the independence of Ireland. Task of developing a constitution for the nation was undertaken by the Constituent Assembly of India, the Constituent Assembly first met on December 9,1946 under the presidency of Dr. Sachidanand later Dr. Rajendra Prasad was made its President. While members of Congress composed of a majority, Congress leaders appointed persons from diverse political backgrounds to responsibilities of developing the constitution. The fundamental rights were included in the First Draft Constitution, the Second Draft Constitution and final Third Draft Constitution, the fundamental rights were included in the constitution because they were considered essential for the development of the personality of every individual and to preserve human dignity. The writers of the constitution regarded democracy of no avail if civil liberties, like freedom of speech and religion were not recognised and protected by the State. According to them, democracy is, in essence, a government by opinion and therefore, for this purpose, the constitution guaranteed to all the citizens of India the freedom of speech and expression and various other freedoms in the form of the fundamental rights
8.
Human rights in India
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The Constitution of India provides for Fundamental rights, which include freedom of religion. Clauses also provide for freedom of speech, as well as separation of executive and judiciary and freedom of movement within the country, the country also has an independent judiciary and well as bodies to look into issues of human rights. The 2016 report of Human Rights Watch accepts the above-mentioned faculties but goes to state that India has serious human rights concerns, Civil society groups face harassment and government critics face intimidation and lawsuits. Free speech has come under attack both from the state and by interest groups, the Asian Centre for Human Rights estimated that from 2002 to 2008, over four people per day died while in police custody, with hundreds of those deaths being due to police use of torture. According to a written by the Institute of Correctional Administration in Punjab. Instances of torture, such as through a lack of sanitation, space, India is home to the largest number of sexually abused children in the world. About 53% of children have been subjected to form of sexual abuse. In 2012, India introduced the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act to deal with cases of sexual abuse. However, it took two years to record the first cases under the law and there are gaps in its implementation with the conviction rate under the act being only 2. 4%. It is argued that the prevalence is driven by reluctance to expose relatives, as a result, more than 50% of adults who were abused surveyed wanted the matter to stay within the family and only 17% wanted harsh punishments for offenders. India has the highest number of living in conditions of slavery,18.3 million. Most of those in India living in slavery are in bonded labour, debt bondage can be passed on from generation to generation, with children required to pay off their parents debt. India has the largest number of child labourers under the age of 14 in the world with an estimated 12.6 million children engaged in hazardous occupations, Human trafficking is a $8 million illegal business in India. Around 10,000 Nepali women are brought to India annually for commercial sexual exploitation, each year 20, 000–25,000 women and children are trafficked from Bangladesh. Communal conflicts between groups have been prevalent in India since around the time of its independence from British Rule. Among the oldest incidences of violence in India was the Moplah rebellion. Communal riots took place during the partition of India between Hindus/Sikhs and Muslims where large numbers of people were killed in large-scale violence. The 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots was a period during which Sikhs were massacred by members of the secular-centrist Congress Party of India
9.
Uniform civil code
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Uniform civil code is the proposal to replace the personal laws based on the scriptures and customs of each major religious community in India with a common set governing every citizen. Article 44 of the Directive Principles sets its implementation as duty of the State, apart from being an important issue regarding secularism in India, it became one of the most controversial topics in contemporary politics during the Shah Bano case in 1985. The Bano case made it a public issue focused on identity politics—by means of attacking specific religious minorities versus protecting its cultural identity. In contemporary politics, the Bharatiya Janta Party and the Left support it while the Congress Party, Personal laws are distinguished from public law and cover marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption and maintenance. Goa has a family law, thus being the only Indian state to have a uniform civil code. The Special Marriage Act,1954 permits any citizen to have a marriage outside the realm of any specific religious personal law. Personal laws were first framed during the British Raj, mainly for Hindu, the British feared opposition from community leaders and refrained from further interfering within this domestic sphere. The demand for a civil code was first put forward by women activists in the beginning of the twentieth century, with the objective of womens rights, equality. Till Independence in 1947, a few law reforms were passed to improve the condition of women, in 1956, the Indian Parliament passed Hindu Code Bill amidst significant opposition. The debate for a civil code dates back to the colonial period in India. Prior to the British Raj, under the East India Company, they tried to reform local social and religious customs. Lord William Bentinck, the Governor-General of India, tried to suppress sati, the death of a widow on her husbands funeral pyre. This was later extended outside Bengal to all English territories in India, according to their understanding of religious divisions in India, the British separated this sphere which would be governed by religious scriptures and customs of the various communities. Thus, the British let the Indian public have the benefit of self-government in their own domestic matters with the Queens 1859 Proclamation promising absolute non-interference in religious matters, the personal laws involved inheritance, succession, marriage and religious ceremonies. The public sphere was governed by the British and Anglo-Indian law in terms of crime, land relations, laws of contract, the Shudras, for instance, allowed widow remarriage—completely contrary to the scriptural Hindu law. The difficulty in investigating each specific practice of any community, case-by-case, towards the end of the nineteenth century, favouring local opinion, the recognition of individual customs and traditions increased. The Muslim Personal law, was not strictly enforced as compared to the Hindu law and it had no uniformity in its application at lower courts and was severely restricted because of bureaucratic procedures. This led to the law, which was often more discriminatory against women
