The President has been given a number of powers in the judicial sphere also:
Of all the powers vested in the President of India, the Emergency Powers are the most important. The President of India has three types of Emergency Powers which has a direct bearing on that State.
From the above discussion, it becomes quite clear that the President holds an office of great prestige, but if we go a little deep we see that he enjoys very little power. The president cannot declare an emergency all by himself. It is on the advice of the Prime Minister that the President cannot declare an emergency all by himself. It is on the advice of the Prime Minister that the President can declare a state of emergency. A written request is sent by the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister to the President and only then he can declare a state of emergency. Moreover, such a declaration must be approved by the parliament within one month.
The Vice-President of the Indian Union is elected jointly by the Houses of Parliament. The procedure for his election consists of a secret ballot, proportion representation and a single transferable vote. An absolute majority of votes polled is also required for the election of the Vice-President. He now gets a salary of Rs. 40,000 per month besides various allowances and privileges.
Appointment of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is the leader of the majority group in the Parliament. The majority group selects one person as their leader. This very leader, after due confirmation of the President, comes to be known as the Prime Minister. So long as he enjoys the confidence of the Parliament he remains at his post. The moment he loses his confidence he ceases to be the Prime Minister. Thus the real source of his power is the confidence of the Parliament and the people.
The office of the Prime Minister is very important under the Indian Constitution. according to the wording of the constitution, The Prime Minister is the Prime advisor of the President and holds office till his pleasure. But in practice, the Prime Minister exercises all the powers enumerated in the name of the president. The Prime Minister exercises all the powers enumerated in the name of the President. The Prime Minister is the real ruler and the leader of the country. He is directly elected by the people while the President is indirectly elected. This very fact makes his position more powerful than the President sometimes, it is also said that he is First among Equals’. But to say so is to undermine his position. He can appoint and drop any minister as and when he desires to. He, Undoubtedly, holds the most important position in the country as he wields many powers.
There is a Union Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. The Council of Ministers has three categories of Ministers besides the Prime Minister. They are :
There are certain differences between the Cabinet and the Council of Ministers which should be clearly understood. Firstly, the Council of Ministers is a wider body while the Cabinet is only its one part. It is the innermost part of the Council of Minister. There are about 60 ministers in the Council of Ministers but in the Cabinet, there are about 12 ministers. Secondly, the Cabinet Ministers are full-fledged Ministers who hold important portfolios like Defense, Finance, Home, etc. They are the most trusted colleagues of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister always consults them. He may or may not consult the other ministers. But the decisions of the Cabinet are binding on all the members whether they are a party to the decisions or not.
The President, the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers form the Political Executive in the centre while the body of the Civil Servants is called the Administrative or the Permanent Executive. The Cabinet (or the Council of Minister) only formulates the policies while the real execution is left to the Civil or Public Servants. These civil servants at the centre are selected by the Union Public Service Commission and they are called the I.A.S office. Similarly, The different State Public Service Commissions hold the competitive examinations and select the officers of the Provincial Civil Service (P.C.S). These officers, whether at the central level or at the State level, hold key positions in their respective spheres. Formerly, under British rule, they had only limited duties to perform such as maintaining law and order and collecting revenue. But with the independence of India, their duties have been multiplied manifold. In addition to the above duties, they have to perform various general welfare duties as well, such as education, health, construction of rail and roads, maintenance of the means of transport and communication etc. As such, a great many qualities are expected in a public servant. First of all, he should be intelligent so that he can understand his work well. Secondly, he should be honest in his dealings and hard-working in his profession. Thirdly, he should be regular and punctual and should be fully devoted to his job Fourthly, he should be polite, cooperative and always prepared to serve the people. It is also the duty of the people to cooperate with these Civil servants so that they are able to perform their jobs smoothly and efficiently.
In a federal state like India, U.S.A., etc. many a time conflicts can arise between the Central and the State governments or between two or more states. For example, there are certain conflicts between Haryana and Punjab over the question of the distribution of river waters or certain Parts of Hindi speaking or Punjabi speaking areas. In such a case who shall settle or decide the different disputes arising between the Central and State Government or between two or more states. So the Supreme Court or Judiciary is a must for the smooth running of every federation.
The Supreme Court is the highest judicial tribunal of India and as such it wields very extensive powers. It enjoys various Original, Appellate and Advisory Powers.
Then the High Courts, like the Supreme Court, also interpret the Constitution of the country and can declare any law of the state legislature as invalid if they find such a law of action against the Constitution. They can determine the constitutional validity of any legislation or the execution of the state when it is challenged before them. This power is known as the judicial review. Sometimes, this action of the High Courts striking down the laws of the executive led to the tension between the State Legislative Assemblies on the one hand and the State judiciary on the other.
The High Court also acts as the Guardian of the fundamental rights of the citizens. Moreover, High Courts have been given powers to give judgements and directives to protect the public interest and human rights. If the public interest of any citizen of affected by the action of the government, he can approach the courts. This is called public interest litigation. They also check malpractices like corruption and bribery on the part of any public officer. They interfere to prevent misuse of government powers.
Appeals against the District Courts and other Subordinate Courts can also be heard by the High Courts.
At the lowest level of judiciary come the District courts and other Subordinate Courts. They decide both the criminal and the civil cases in their own areas. Appeals against their decisions are heard by the High Courts of their respective states.
Of all the political institutions in the country, legislature executive, judiciary etc., the judiciary enjoys high confidence of the people.
For a successful federal democracy, it is most essential that the court of law should be independent to administer justice and to interpret the Constitution and the different laws passed by various legislatures from time to time. Independence of judiciary implies that neither the executive nor the legislature nor any government or private agency should be able to influence the judges. in the course of their discharge of duties as a judge Such independence of the judiciary has been ensured in India by means of the following provisions:
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