Understanding Polity- GS2

My intent in writing this is to pave a way for newcomers as well as old-timers who have learnt it in the wrong way. Let's start a new way of understanding things and develop new perspectives.

Understanding Polity

Constitutional Interpretation: 

The Constitution of the country needs to be interpreted in the following way:

  • Article 366 and all the definitions that are mentioned in other articles.
    • Eg. Definition of a metropolitan area is given in Art 243P
    • Eg. Definition of a village is given in Art 243. So we should not go about with our traditional definition of a village. Rather we need to see what the Constitution defines it to be.
  • Supreme Court Cases and their interpretation:
    • Eg. The meaning of the word 'consultation' in Art 124 doesn't mean consultation. It means concurrence as highlighted by the SC in 2nd Judges Case.
    • Eg. The word 'practice' in Art 25 means essential religious practice as highlighted in the Shirur Mutt Case. The recent hijab controversy can also be understood from here.
  • Tools evolved by the Apex Court:
    • Doctrine of liberal interpretation:
      • The Constitution should be so interpreted that it gives relevance and meaning to every word and phrase of the Constitution.
    • Doctrine of Progressive Interpretation:
      • Provisions should be so interpreted so as to adapt them to contemporary realities.
    • Doctrine of Pith and Substance:
      • The Doctrine is applied when the subject matter of List I of the Seventh Schedule is in conflict with the subject matter of List II.
      • The doctrine examines the true nature and substance of the legislation in order to determine which List it belongs to.The doctrine was first applied and upheld by the Supreme Court in the FN Balsara case.
    • Doctrine of Harmonious Construction:
      • The term harmonious construction refers to such construction by which harmony or oneness amongst various provisions of an enactment is arrived at.
      • In the landmark case of CIT v. Hindustan Bulk Carriers (2003) the supreme court laid down principles of rule of harmonious construction:
        • When it is impossible to completely reconcile the differences in contradictory provisions, the courts must interpret them in such a way so that effect is given to both the provisions as much as possible.
        • Courts must also keep in mind that interpretation that reduces one provision to useless number or death is not harmonious construction.
      • The evolution of the doctrine can be traced back to the very first amendment made in the Constitution of India with the landmark judgment of Shankari Prasad v. Union of India.
    • etc
  • Constituent Assembly Debates:
    • Do you know that India and Bharat are not the only names that were suggested by the Constituent Assembly.
    • http://loksabhaph.nic.in/writereaddata/cadebatefiles/C18091949.html
    • All of these can actually clear out what actually the constitution means.

 The Art of Answer Writing- GS2

GS-2 is mostly an analysis based paper with questions asking for your opinion. Merely writing arguments without facts and data would make your answers sound shallow. You must be armed with data and facts and mention them wherever apt. 

  • If you want to say that India is struggling under the burden of NPAs— mention by how much, and what’s the trend of such NPA figures— is it increasing or decreasing?
  • If you want to argue how India’s public health is in bad shape, back it up with numbers like IMR, high percentage out of pocket expenditure, MMR, scarcity of doctors, WHO standards etc
  • Further, you can also cite authentic reports from reputed international and national organisations to drive home your point. For instance, Transparency International reports findings on corruption, ASER on education etc.
  • Since Supreme Court is the ultimate interpreter of laws and the Constitution, we must know about the landmark judgments of the Apex court and use them wherever relevant.
Some of the important cases include:

  • SR Bommai: Kept a check on the powers under Article 356.
  • Keshavananda Bharati: Propounded the concept of Basic Structure of the Constitution
  • Waman Rao, Minerva Mills: Upheld that Judicial review is part of the basic structure
  • I.R. Coelho:  Clarified the limits of Ninth Schedule of the Constitution and upheld importance of basic structure
  • Navtej Singh Johar: Stuck down Sec 377 of IPC
  • Maneka Gandhi: Interpreted scope of Art 21 and gave the concept of due process of law
  • AK Gopalan:  Interpreted scope of Art 21 and gave the concept of procedure established by law
  • Golaknath: Held that Parliament cannot curtail any of the Fundamental rights
  • Kedar Nath Singh: Clarified the scope of Sedition under Sec 124A
  • Hussainara Khatoon: Judgement on the plight of undertrials. Genesis of PIL
  • Olga Tellis: Adjudicated on the rights of pavement dwellers
  • Bachan Singh: Gave the ‘rarest of rare’ doctrine for awarding death penalty
  • Sheela Bharse:  On custodial violence against women. Case was taken up based on a simple letter from a journalist.
  • Indira Sawhney:  Adjudicated on the scope and extent of Art 16 (4) that provided for reservation
  • Vishakha:  Established guidelines to prevent sexual harassment at workplace.
  • Samatha: Upheld tribal rights
  • Three Judges Cases: Genesis of Collegium system
  • Shreya Singhal: Struck down Sec 66A of IT Act, 2000
  • Puttaswamy (Privacy case): Upheld Right to privacy as a fundamental right
  • Lily Thomas: On disqualification of convicted elected representatives
  • Shah Bano Begum: Gave precedence to individual rights over personal laws
These are some of the cases. There is a long list which can be used to beautify answer writing.

I'll keep writing these posts to help you understand every subject in a better way.

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