Indian Constitution : Conflicts and Controversies

Contents: Preface. I. The concepts and the system: 1. Governance and the constitution defined. 2. Law and justice in Kautilya\'s Arthashastra. 3. Federalism--union-state relations. 4. Parliamentary system. 5. Formation of government. 6. Coalitions and minority governments. 7. Secularism, Hinduism and minorities: Sardar Patel\'s perspective. 8. Institutionalization of grassroots governance: power to the people. II. Making and working of the constitution: 9. Making and working of the constitution: role of Jawaharlal Nehru. 10. The constitution and Sardar Patel. 11. The constitution and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. 12. National commission on the constitution. 13. Constitution commission controversy: addresses by the President and Prime Minister. 14. Debate on constitutional reforms: presidential system for India. III. Parliament and law makers: 15. Not public servants. 16. Judicial custody and right of an MP to attend house. 17. Fixed term legislators--simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. 18. Parliamentary privileges--the law and the farce. 19. Freedom of the press and parliamentary privileges. 20. Codification of privilege law. IV. The judiciary and the law: 21. The doctrine of basic features. 22. Expanding dimensions of jurisprudence: declining constitutional law. 23. Justice for judges--justice Ramaswami case. 24. How to discipline judges? 25. Issue of Shankaracharya\'s arrest: position under the constitution. V. Constitutional conflicts and controversies: 26. Politics of defection and anti-defection law. 27. The emergency aberration. 28. Succession in Prime Minister\'s office: remembering Rajiv Gandhi. 29. Minority government on Congress crutches: Gowda as Prime Minister. 30. From Gowda to Gujral: constitutional crisis in retrospect. 31. Sordid defection drama. 32. The Manipur imbroglio. 33. Farce and fraud in Andhra: role of the governor and the speaker. 34. Mayawati Government: perverse role of the speaker. 35. The \'unconstitutional\' president\'s rule: Allahabad High Court judgement. 36. Discussing Governor\'s conduct--a historic ruling. 37. The Uttar Pradesh drama--Supreme Court verdict. 38. Bihar Assembly dissolution--Supreme Court judgement revisited. 39. Constitutionality of central teams to states. 40. Surrender to blackmail: appointment of a chief minister. 41. Relevance and role of governor\'s office: Goa and Jharkhand cases. 42. Much ado about nothing--parliament vs courts.

"The constitution of India has been India\'s greatest achievement since independence. The country can take legitimate pride in the fact that the constitution has survived all the pressures, stresses and strains inflicted on the body politic by malevolent forces, both internal and external. It has emerged stronger from the many crises, conflicts and controversies. In fact, the constitution has been in the making all through the last sixty years.

This book brings together for the first time a selection from the many contemporaneous notes and opinions on crucial issues involving interpretation of key concepts and provisions of the constitution. These were written in response to the controversies raised or difficult conflict situations then prevailing. The author was in some ways privy to some of the conflicts and had something to do with their resolution within the constitutional framework. The views retain their relevance and appeal.

This book would be useful for all those who are interested in understanding the mechanisms of the constitution and its functioning." (jacket)