India: the judiciary and the party system
Political Science - Major World Governments · Unit V · Topic 17 of 17 · 6 min read
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Cases checked to exist. Read the judgment before quoting a holding.
Every case cited here has been checked to exist — the citation resolves and names the right parties. The propositions attributed to each case have not been verified line by line against the judgment. Case names link through to the full judgment: read it before quoting a holding in an examination answer, and never carry a proposition from notes into court on trust.
1. Features of the Indian judiciary
- Single integrated system. One hierarchy — Supreme Court, High Courts, subordinate courts — administers both Union and State law. Contrast the dual American system.
- Independence secured by security of tenure, fixed salaries charged on the Consolidated Fund, bar on discussion of judges’ conduct in the legislature (Arts. 121, 211), and separation of the judiciary from the executive (Art. 50).
- Judicial review of both legislation and executive action, express in Art. 13 and Arts. 32 and 226.
- Guardian of Fundamental Rights and final interpreter of the Constitution.
2. The Supreme Court: organisation
- Composition (Art. 124): the Chief Justice of India and other judges, the number fixed by Parliament. Since the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 2019 the sanctioned strength is 34 including the Chief Justice.
- Qualifications (Art. 124(3)): a citizen who has been a High Court judge for five years, or an advocate of a High Court for ten years, or in the President’s opinion a distinguished jurist.
- Appointment. By the President after consultation with the Chief Justice and other judges. In Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v. Union of India, 1993 INSC 318 (the Second Judges case), the Court held that the opinion of the Chief Justice, formed collectively with senior judges, has primacy: the collegium system. The Ninety-ninth Amendment and the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014 replaced it, but the Supreme Court struck both down in October 2015 (the Fourth Judges case), restoring the collegium.
- Tenure. Until the age of 65.
- Removal (Art. 124(4)) only on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity, by an order of the President after an address by each House supported by a majority of its total membership and two-thirds of those present and voting, in the same session. The Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 provides for investigation by a committee of three. No judge has been removed; the motion against Justice V. Ramaswami failed in the Lok Sabha in 1993.
- Seat at Delhi; may sit elsewhere with the President’s approval (Art. 130).
3. Jurisdiction and powers of the Supreme Court
| Jurisdiction | Article | Content |
|---|---|---|
| Original | 131 | Disputes between the Union and States, or between States |
| Writ | 32 | Enforcement of Fundamental Rights by habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari, quo warranto |
| Appellate | 132–134 | Constitutional, civil and criminal appeals from High Courts |
| Special leave | 136 | Discretionary appeal from any court or tribunal |
| Advisory | 143 | Opinion on a question referred by the President |
| Review | 137 | Review of its own judgments |
It is a court of record with power to punish for contempt (Art. 129); its law binds all courts (Art. 141); and it may pass any order necessary for complete justice (Art. 142).
4. High Courts and subordinate courts
- A High Court for each State or group of States (Art. 214); 25 High Courts at present.
- Judges appointed by the President on the collegium’s recommendation (Art. 217), retire at 62, and are removed in the same way as Supreme Court judges.
- Writ jurisdiction under Art. 226 is wider than Art. 32: it extends to “any other purpose”, not only Fundamental Rights.
- Superintendence over all courts and tribunals in its territory (Art. 227) and control over subordinate courts (Art. 235).
- Subordinate courts: in each district, the District Judge on the civil side and the Sessions Judge on the criminal side, with Civil Judges and Judicial Magistrates below them. District judges are appointed by the Governor in consultation with the High Court (Art. 233). Criminal courts now work under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024. Lok Adalats and family courts supplement them.
5. A few landmark cases
- Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, 1973 INSC 91: Parliament cannot alter the basic structure.
- Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, 1978 INSC 16: procedure under Art. 21 must be fair, just and reasonable.
- S.R. Bommai v. Union of India, 1994 INSC 111: President’s Rule is subject to judicial review; secularism and federalism are basic features.
- K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, 2017 INSC 801: privacy is a fundamental right.
Public interest litigation, which relaxed standing from the late 1970s, made the Indian Supreme Court one of the most active courts in the world; critics speak of judicial overreach and of the arrears of cases in all courts.
6. Political parties: organisation and features
India has a multi-party system. Parties are registered by the Election Commission under section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and recognised as national or State parties under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, according to their vote share and seats. Recognition brings a reserved symbol and broadcast time.
- From one-party dominance to competition. The Congress dominated until 1967 (Rajni Kothari’s “Congress system”); the Janata government followed in 1977; coalitions ruled from 1989 to 2014; the BJP won majorities in 2014 and 2019 and leads a coalition from 2024.
- National and regional parties. Regional parties hold power in many States and are often decisive at the Centre.
- Organisation: a president, working committee or national executive, and a parliamentary board; in practice centralised around leaders.
Functions and role. Contest elections and select candidates; form governments and oppositions; frame programmes (manifestos); aggregate the interests of castes, classes, regions and religions; and educate and mobilise voters. Without them, parliamentary government on the British model could not work.
7. Problems of Indian parties
- Defections. Curbed by the Tenth Schedule (52nd Amendment, 1985; tightened by the 91st Amendment, 2003), though mass “mergers” still occur.
- Lack of internal democracy and dynastic leadership.
- Criminalisation: candidates must now disclose criminal antecedents, assets and education on affidavit.
- Money power and opaque funding. In Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India, 2024 INSC 113 (15 February 2024), the Supreme Court struck down the electoral bond scheme as violating voters’ right to information.
- Appeals to caste, religion and region.
- Personality cults and ideological drift; unstable coalitions.
How this is examined
An essay on the organisation, powers and functions of the Supreme Court is the standard Unit V judiciary question: composition, qualifications, appointment with the collegium, removal, the jurisdiction table, and two or three cases. Parties come as “the role of political parties in India and their problems”: give the features, functions, then the numbered problems with the Tenth Schedule and electoral bonds.
Now try the real questions: Political Science - Major World Governments past question papers.