Constitutional Law I Notes | B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Semester 5 | SPPU | munotes

Contents

Module 01 Introduction to the Indian Constitution

1. The Constituent Assembly: How It Was Composed 1
2. Framing and Drafting: the Committees and the Drafting Committee 6
3. Where the Constitution's Provisions Came From 11
4. Part XXII: Short Title, Commencement and the Authoritative Texts 16
5. What a Constitution Is, and What This One Has to Do 22
6. The Constitution as the Basic Norm 27
7. Forms and Models of a Constitution 32
8. Written and Unwritten, Rigid and Flexible 36
9. What Constitutionalism Means, and Why a Constitution Is Not Enough 41
10. The Rule of Law, and What Survives of Dicey 47
11. The Rule of Law Inside Our Own Constitution 52
12. Constitutional Supremacy, and Parliamentary Sovereignty Compared 57
13. The Constitution as a Living Document 62
14. The Salient Features of the Indian Constitution 67
15. The Longest Written Constitution, and Why 72
16. A Federation With a Unitary Bias 76
17. Parliamentary Government, and the Separation of Powers Here 82
18. Single Citizenship, Universal Franchise and an Independent Judiciary 88
19. The Preamble, Word by Word 93
20. Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic 98
21. Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity 104
22. The Concept of Liberty, and Who Limits Whom 110
23. The Preamble as a Tool to Interpret the Constitution 115
24. What the Courts Have Held About the Preamble 120
25. Is the Preamble Part of the Constitution, and May It Be Amended? 125

Module 02 Territory of India, Citizenship & General Principles Relating to Fundamental Rights (Articles 12 and 13)

1. A Union of States, and Why Not a Federation 130
2. Admission and Establishment of New States 133
3. Forming a New State, and Altering a Boundary 136
4. Consequential Amendments, and Why They Are Not Amendments 141
5. Who Became a Citizen in 1950 145
6. Persons of Indian Origin Abroad, and Voluntary Foreign Citizenship 151
7. Parliament's Power Over Citizenship 156
8. Citizenship by Birth and by Descent 160
9. Citizenship by Registration, by Naturalisation, and by Territory 165
10. The Assam Accord: Section 6A 170
11. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019, and Section 6B 175
12. Overseas Citizenship of India 181
13. Losing Citizenship: Renunciation, Termination and Deprivation 186
14. Registers, Identity Cards and the Rest of the Act 191
15. Why There Are Fundamental Rights At All 196
16. Why the Definition of State Decides Everything 201
17. The Authorities Article 12 Names 205
18. Other Authorities, and the Tests the Courts Built 209
19. Is the Judiciary State? 216
20. Article 13: Laws Inconsistent With Fundamental Rights 220
21. Pre-Constitutional and Post-Constitutional Laws 225
22. The Doctrine of Eclipse 230
23. The Doctrine of Severability 235
24. The Doctrine of Waiver 239
25. The Doctrine of Ultra Vires 243
26. The Amending Power 248
27. The Basic Structure Doctrine 253
28. After Kesavananda 260

Module 03 Right to Equality (Article 14 to 18)

1. The Equality Code: How Articles 14 to 18 Fit Together 265
2. Equality Before the Law, and Equal Protection of the Laws 270
3. Reasonable Classification: the Twin Test 274
4. Arbitrariness: the Newer Doctrine 279
5. Article 14 Applied: Working Three Problems 284
6. Article 15: The Prohibited Grounds 290
7. Special Provision for Women and Children 295
8. Reservation in Education: Article 15(4) and 15(5) 300
9. The Economically Weaker Sections: Article 15(6) and 16(6) 305
10. Article 16: Equality of Opportunity in Public Employment 310
11. Reservation in Public Employment 314
12. The Fifty Per Cent Ceiling, and the Creamy Layer 318
13. Reservation in Promotion 323
14. Article 17: Untouchability Abolished 327
15. Article 18: Titles 331

Module 04 Right to Freedom I (Article 19)

1. Article 19: The Six Freedoms 334
2. Freedom of Speech and Expression 338
3. The Grounds of Reasonable Restriction 343
4. Prior Restraint and Pre-Censorship 349
5. Assembly, Association, Movement and Residence 354
6. Profession, Trade, Occupation and Business 359
7. Article 19 Applied: Working the Problems 364
8. What Happened to the Right to Property 369
9. Saving of Certain Laws: Articles 31A, 31B and 31C 376
10. Article 31B and the Ninth Schedule 385
11. Article 31C: When a Directive Principle Beats a Fundamental Right 392

Module 05 Right to Freedom II (Articles 20 to 22)

1. Article 20: The Three Protections of an Accused 399
2. Ex Post Facto Law 403
3. Double Jeopardy 407
4. The Protection Against Self-Incrimination 411
5. Article 21: From Gopalan to Maneka Gandhi 416
6. Procedure Established by Law, and Due Process 421
7. The Expansion of the Word Life 425
8. Personal Liberty, and the Writ That Protects It 431
9. Article 21 and the Emergency 436
10. Article 21 Applied: Working the Problems 441
11. Education Before Article 21A 447
12. Article 21A: The Right to Education 452
13. Article 22: Arrest and Detention 458
14. Preventive Detention 463

Module 06 Right against Exploitation (Articles 23 and 24)

1. Articles 23 and 24: The Right Against Exploitation 469
2. Traffic in Human Beings 475
3. Forced Labour and Begar 479
4. Bonded Labour 485
5. Article 24: Child Labour 492

Module 07 Right to Freedom of Religion (Articles 25 to 28) and Cultural and Educational Rights (Articles 29 to 30)

1. What Secularism Means Here 499
2. Article 25: Freedom of Conscience and Free Profession of Religion 505
3. Essential Religious Practices 514
4. The Limits of Religious Freedom 522
5. Article 26: Freedom to Manage Religious Affairs 528
6. Articles 27 and 28: Religious Taxation and Religious Instruction 535
7. Who Is a Minority 541
8. Article 29: The Right to Conserve a Culture 548
9. Article 30: To Establish and to Administer 555
10. How Far the State May Regulate a Minority Institution 564
11. Minority Institutions and the Right to Education Act 574

Module 08 Right to Constitutional Remedies

1. Article 32: A Fundamental Right to a Remedy 581
2. The Five Writs 590
3. Habeas Corpus 597
4. Mandamus, Prohibition, Certiorari and Quo Warranto 604
5. Article 32 and Article 226 Compared 611
6. Public Interest Litigation 617
7. The Limits of Public Interest Litigation 625
8. Emergency, and Fundamental Rights 632

Module 09 Directive Principles of State Policy (Articles 36 to 51) and Fundamental Duties (Article 51A)

1. Part IV: The Directive Principles of State Policy 638
2. Why the Principles Are Not Enforceable, and What That Costs 644
3. The Directive Principles and the Welfare State 652
4. The Socialistic Principles 659
5. The Gandhian Principles 667
6. The Liberal and Intellectual Principles 674
7. Directive Principles and Fundamental Rights: the Relationship 682
8. Judicial and Legislative Trends on the Directive Principles 691
9. Part IVA: The Fundamental Duties 700
10. Where the Duties Came From 706
11. Are the Duties Enforceable? 712