Constitutionalism Pluralism and Federalism Notes | LL.M. Semester 1 | Mumbai University | munotes

Contents

Module I

1. What Constitutionalism Means, and Why a Constitution Is Not Enough 1
2. The Elements of Constitutionalism, Listed and Explained 7
3. Constitutional Supremacy and Parliamentary Sovereignty 13
4. The Preamble, and What a Court May Do With It 18
5. Secularism in the Preamble, and the Forty-second Amendment 23
6. Socialism, and the Integrity of the Nation 29
7. The Rule of Law: Dicey, and What Survives of Him 34
8. The Rule of Law Inside the Indian Constitution 40
9. Limited Government: Every Power Is a Conferred Power 46
10. Separation of Powers in the Indian Constitution 51
11. Judicial Independence and How the Constitution Protects It 56
12. Fundamental Rights as a Limit on Government 62
13. Directive Principles, and the Constitutionalism of Positive Duty 69
14. Fundamental Duties 75
15. Procedure Established by Law, and Due Process 79
16. Judicial Review: Where It Comes From and How Far It Goes 84
17. The Amending Power, and the Road to Kesavananda 90
18. The Basic Structure Doctrine 95
19. Basic Structure After Kesavananda 100
20. Constitutional Morality 106
21. The Institutions That Hold a Government to Account 111
22. Emergency, and the Constitutionalism the Forty-fourth Amendment Put Back 117
23. Where Indian Constitutionalism Is Under Strain 122
24. What a Federation Is 127
25. Federal, Unitary and Confederal Government Compared 132
26. Is India a Federation? The Quasi-Federal Argument 136
27. The Federal Features of the Indian Constitution 141
28. The Union and Its Territory: Articles 1 to 4 146
29. States Reorganisation, and the Language Question 151
30. The Division of Legislative Power and the Three Lists 156
31. Pith and Substance, Colourable Legislation and Incidental Encroachment 162
32. Repugnancy: Article 254 168
33. Residuary Power, and Parliament's Power Over the State List 173
34. Territorial Nexus and Extra-territorial Operation 178
35. Goods and Services Tax: Article 246A and the GST Council 182
36. Administrative Relations Between the Union and the States 187
37. Inter-State Rivers: Article 262 192
38. The Inter-State Council, and Cooperative Federalism 197
39. The All India Services 202
40. Financial Relations and the Finance Commission 207
41. Freedom of Trade, Commerce and Intercourse: Articles 301 to 307 213
42. The Governor: Appointment, Discretion and Assent 219
43. President's Rule: Article 356 and S.R. Bommai 226
44. National Emergency, and What It Does to the Federal Balance 232
45. Judicial Review in the Federal Framework: The Court as Umpire 237
46. Disputes Between the Union and a State: Article 131 243
47. Central Control Against State Autonomy 248
48. Asymmetric Federalism 253
49. Article 370 and the Status of Jammu and Kashmir 258
50. The 2019 Change, and In Re Article 370 263
51. Delhi: Article 239AA and the Dispute Over Services 268
52. The North East: Articles 371A to 371J and the Sixth Schedule 274
53. The Fifth Schedule and the Scheduled Areas 279
54. Union Territories 284
55. The Third Tier: Panchayats and Municipalities 288
56. India and the United States Compared 294
57. Australia, Canada, and How a Federation Umpires Itself 298
58. The Commissions on Centre-State Relations 303
59. Federalism as a Dynamic Process 307

Module II

1. What Pluralism Means 311
2. India as a Plural Society 315
3. Ethnic Pluralism 319
4. Linguistic Pluralism, and Part XVII 324
5. Religious Pluralism 331
6. Cultural Pluralism 336
7. Political Pluralism 340
8. Legal Pluralism, and Personal Law 345
9. Multiculturalism, and the Indian Version of It 350
10. Secularism as India Practises It 354
11. Freedom of Religion: Articles 25 to 28 359
12. Essential Religious Practices 365
13. Who Is a Minority 370
14. The Rights of Minorities: Articles 29 and 30 376
15. Minority Educational Institutions 382
16. The National Commission for Minorities 388
17. Freedom of Speech and Expression 393
18. The Press in a Plural Society 400
19. The Right to Dissent 407
20. Hate Speech, and the Limits of Toleration 414
21. Tribal Pluralism 421
22. Caste, and the Abolition of Untouchability 429
23. What Pluralism Is Up Against 438

Module III

1. Article 44, and Exactly What It Says 446
2. The Constituent Assembly Debate on Article 44 452
3. The Personal Law Systems of India 460
4. Is Personal Law 'Law' Under Article 13 466
5. Shah Bano, and the Statute That Followed It 472
6. Sarla Mudgal and Lily Thomas 479
7. John Vallamattom, Ahmedabad Women Action Group and Pannalal Bansilal 485
8. Shayara Bano, and the Act of 2019 490
9. Goa, and Jose Paulo Coutinho 496
10. The Special Marriage Act as an Optional Code 501
11. The Case For a Uniform Civil Code 508
12. The Case Against It, and the Middle Way 514
13. What the Law Commission Has Said, Twice 521
14. Uttarakhand 2024: The First State Code 527
15. Article 14: Equality Before Law and Equal Protection of the Laws 535
16. The Doctrine of Reasonable Classification 541
17. Arbitrariness: The Newer Doctrine 548
18. Equating Equals With Unequals 554
19. Article 15: No Discrimination on the Prohibited Grounds 560
20. Article 15(4) and 15(5): Special Provision for Backward Classes 567
21. Article 15(6): The Economically Weaker Sections 573
22. Article 16: Equality of Opportunity in Public Employment 579
23. Indra Sawhney: The Mandal Judgment 586
24. Creamy Layer, the Fifty Per Cent Ceiling, and What Has Happened to Both 592
25. Reservation in Promotion 598
26. Sub-classification Inside a Reserved Class 603
27. Compensatory Discrimination as a Doctrine 609
28. The Protections Given to Women 615
29. The Protections Given to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes 622
30. Article 17 and the Untouchability Statutes 629
31. Who Decides Which Classes Are Backward 635
32. Equality and Transgender Persons 641
33. Equality and Disability 649
34. Article 18: Titles 656

Module IV

1. Why a Constitutional Paper Ends in International Law 661
2. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 667
3. How the Constitution Mirrors the Universal Declaration 674
4. The Two Covenants of 1966 680
5. The Convention Against Genocide 687
6. Genocide in Practice: What the Courts Have Made of the Convention 693
7. Minorities in International Law 700
8. The 1992 Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to Minorities 707
9. The Right of Self-determination 713
10. Self-determination in Practice 721
11. The Doctrine of Domestic Jurisdiction 728
12. Race, Women and Children: Three More Conventions 734
13. Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in International Law 741
14. The European Convention and the European Court of Human Rights 747
15. The Other Regional Systems 755
16. How International Law Enters Indian Law 762
17. The Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 and the Commission 769
18. Refugees and Statelessness, and Where India Stands 778