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Three Pillars:
Executive,
Legislature, Judiciary.

S. ARULSELVAN, 01 08 2024,
Quiz 2

When budget presentation

time was changed from 5 pm
to 10 am in India ?
Quiz 3
Until 1999, the Budget was presented at 5 pm, a
tradition inherited from the colonial era.
This timing was convenient for the British
government, as it allowed for announcements in
London and India simultaneously.
As India is 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of the UK,
the 5 pm timing in India corresponded to 11:30
am GMT, making it easier for the British
government to coordinate the budget
announcements.
Quiz 4
 What are the core differences between a
presidential form of government (like in the USA)
and a parliamentary form of government?
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 Presidential System:
 Separation of Powers: There is a clear separation of
powers between the executive and legislative branches.
 Executive Leadership: The president is both the head of
state and the head of government, elected separately from
the legislature.
 Fixed Terms: The president serves for a fixed term and
cannot be easily removed by the legislature.
 Checks and Balances: There are strong checks and
balances between the branches, with each branch having
distinct powers and responsibilities.
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 Parliamentary System:
 Fusion of Powers: The executive and legislative branches are
interconnected.
 Executive Leadership: The head of government (prime
minister) is usually the leader of the majority party in the
legislature and is appointed by the legislature.
 No Fixed Terms: The prime minister can be removed from
office by a vote of no confidence from the legislature.
 Collective Responsibility: The executive is dependent on the
support of the legislature and must maintain its confidence to
remain in power.
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Constitution-framers wanted
these three wings to function
independently, with clearly
defined separation of powers.
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Types of
Executive
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In a parliamentary system, the prime

minister is the head of government.
 Most parliamentary systems have a
president or a monarch who is the
nominal Head of state. In such a system,
the role of president or monarch is primarily
ceremonial and prime minister along
with the cabinet wields effective power.
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Countries with such

system include Germany,
Italy, Japan, United
Kingdom as well as
Portugal.

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A semi-presidential system has both a president and

a prime minister but unlike the parliamentary system
the president may possess significant day-to-day
powers.
In this system, it is possible that sometimes the
president and the prime minister may belong to the
same party and at times they may belong to two
different parties and thus, would be opposed to each
other. Countries with such a system include France,
Russia, Sri Lanka, etc.
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PARLIAMENTARY EXECUTIVE IN
INDIA
When the Constitution of India
was written, India already had
some experience of running the
parliamentary system under the
Acts of 1919 and 1935.
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The other alternative to the parliamentary

executive was the presidential form of
government. But the presidential executive
puts much emphasis on the president
as the chief executive and as source of
all executive power.
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 Thereis always the danger of

personality cult in presidential executive.
The makers of the Indian
Constitution wanted a government
that would have a strong executive
branch, but at the same time,
enough safeguards should be there
to check against the personality
cult.
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 In
the parliamentary form there are
many mechanisms that ensure that
the executive will be answerable to
and controlled by the legislature or
people’s representatives.
 Sothe Constitution adopted the
parliamentary system of executive for
the governments both at the national
and State levels.
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According to this system, there

is a President who is the formal
Head of the state of India and
the Prime Minister and the
Council of Ministers, which run
the government at the national
level.
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 Atthe State level, the executive

comprises the Governor and the Chief
Minister and Council of Ministers. The
Constitution of India vests the
executive power of the Union
formally in the President. In reality,
the President exercises these
powers through the Council of
Ministers headed by the Prime
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 The President is elected for a period of five

years. But there is no direct election by the
people for the office of President.
 The President is elected indirectly. This means
that the president is elected not by the
ordinary citizens but by the elected MLAs and
MPs. This election takes place in
accordance with the principle of
proportional representation with single
transferable vote.
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The President can be removed

from office only by Parliament
by following the procedure for
impeachment. This procedure
requires a special majority. The
only ground for impeachment is
violation of the Constitution.
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 Power of the President of India

 Article74 (1): There shall be a Council of
Ministers with the Prime Minister at the
head to aid and advise the President who
shall in the exercise of his functions, act
in accordance with such advice.
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 President is the formal head of the

government. In this formal sense, the
President has wide ranging executive,
legislative, judicial and emergency
powers.
In a parliamentary system, these powers
are in reality used by the President only on
the advice of the Council of Ministers.
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 “We did not give him any
real power but we have
made his position one of
authority and dignity. The
constitution wants to create
neither a real executive nor
a mere figurehead, but a
head that neither reigns
nor governs; it wants to
create a great figurehead...”
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 Constitutionally, the President has a right

to be informed of all important matters
and deliberations of the Council of
Ministers. The Prime Minister is obliged to
furnish all the information that the President
may call for. The President often writes to the
Prime Minister and expresses his views on
matters confronting the country.
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the President also has veto

power by which he can withhold
or refuse to give assent to Bills
(other than Money Bill) passed
by the Parliament.
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 thereis no mention in the Constitution

about the time limit within which the
President must send the bill back for
reconsideration.
 Thismeans that the President can just
keep the bill pending with him without
any time limit. This gives the President
an informal power to use the veto in a
very effective manner. This is sometimes
referred to as ‘pocket veto’.
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There is greater scope for

presidential assertiveness when
governments are not stable and
coalitions occupy power.
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The Executive organ of the government includes the

Prime
Minister, the ministers and a large organisation
called the
bureaucracy or the administrative machinery.

To underline the difference between this

machinery and the military service, it is described
as civil service.
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In a democracy, the elected

representatives and the ministers are
in charge of government and the
administration is under their control
and supervision.
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In the parliamentary system, the legislature also

exercises control over the administration. The
administrative officers cannot act in
violation of the policies adopted by the
legislature. It is
the responsibility of the ministers to retain
political control over the administration.
India has established professional
administrative machinery.
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The Indian bureaucracy today is an

enormously complex system. It
consists of the All-India services, State
services, employees of the local
governments, and
technical and managerial staff running
public sector undertakings.
JUDICIARY: 31

 Many times, courts are seen only as arbitrators in

disputes between individuals or private parties.
 But judiciary performs some political
functions also.
 Judiciary is an important organ of the government.
The Supreme Court of India is in fact, one of
the very powerful courts in the world.
 Right from 1950 the judiciary has played an
important role in interpreting and in protecting
the Constitution.
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The judiciary is not financially

dependent on either the executive or
legislature. The Constitution provides
that the salaries and allowances of
the judges are not subjected
to the approval of the legislature.
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 The actions and decisions of the judges are

immune from personal criticisms. The judiciary
has the power to penalise those who are found guilty
of contempt of court.
 This authority of the court is seen as an effective
protection to the judges from unfair criticism.
Parliament cannot discuss the conduct of the
judges except when the proceeding to remove a
judge is being carried out.
 This gives the judiciary independence to
adjudicate without fear of being criticised.
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Independent Judiciary: 35

 Simply stated independence of judiciary means that

 ± the other organs of the government like the
executive and legislature must not restrain the
functioning of the judiciary in such a way that it
is unable to do justice.
 ± the other organs of the government should
not interfere with the decision of the judiciary.
 ± judges must be able to perform their
functions without fear or favour.
Legislature 36

One of the Indian

Parliament’s roles is to hold
the
government accountable; a
work that is still in progress.
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 Role of Indian Parliament

 The Parliament of India, a fine blend
of the legislature and the executive, with
the government holding office till the
time it commands confidence in the
popular House, is the place to deliberate
upon the policies and legislations
proposed by the government.
To conclude….. 38

Debate, deliberation
and discussion are the
backbones of
parliamentary form of
governance.
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Thanks