The Bihar Caste-based Survey and the constitutional amendment guaranteeing reservation for women in Parliament bring the question of delimitation to the fore once again. In the absence of immediate delimitation, these two events show that the under-represented communities and sections of society will only continue to remain unrepresented.
Forged by the judiciary while it tussled with the executive–legislature combined, the basic structure doctrine marks certain features of the Constitution as incapable of destruction. The criticism often levelled against it is that it allows the unelected to dominate sovereign will. This reasoning disregards that the Constitution is a closer expression of how the people want to be governed.
This paper argues for a reassessment of the distinct and complementary roles of the union and states in the agriculture sector in accord with the spirit of the Constitution. It then goes on to spell out five principles consistent with these distinct but complementary roles. Finally, the paper concludes by noting that achieving this vision would require the states and union to embrace the kind of cooperative federalism that led to the realisation of the goods and services tax.
With respect to the independence of the judiciary, there is a tendency to conflate the independence of the institution with that of the individual in the institution. An independent judiciary requires not only systems and norms designed to prevent interference but also individuals prepared to uphold such independence at great cost. One such individual was Justice Syed Mahmood who served in the Allahabad High Court during British Rule.
The constitutional provisions for fundamental rights and basic freedom that can be exercised within the democratic sphere, by logic, rule out political practice that is based on a moral element such as courtesy.
