NATURE OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION

The Constitution of India provides for a Federal System of
Government, though the term 'federation' has nowhere been used
in the Constitution. On the other hand, Article 1 of the Constitution
describes India as 'Union of States', an expression which implies
two things. First, unlike USA, the Indian Federation is not the
result of the agreement between the units and the units have no
right to sece
Federation" have no independent existence of their own. Second,
the Parliament can alter their names and territories without their
from the Federation. In fact, the units of the "Indian
consent.
For resolving the controversy regarding the true nature of the
Indian Federal System, it is desirable to understand as to what is
implied by a Federal System; what are its special features and how
far these features are present in India. According to Prof. Garner,
"Federalism is a system of Government in which all the
administrative powers are divided between the Central and the
State Governments by the Constitution, and both are supreme
within their respective spheres. The State Governments are not
agents of the Central Government nor do they draw their authority
from it. On the other hand, both the Central and State Governments
draw their authority from the Constitution".
(I.A.S. Main, 1993)
Federal Features of the Constitution
The main federal features of the Idian Constitution are as
follows:
(1) Written Constitution: The first essential feature of a
Federal System is a written Constitution which defines the structure,
organisation and powers of the Central as well as the State
Governments so that the two operate within their respective
spheres without interfering with each other's jurisdiction. The
original Constitution is a written document containing 395 Articles
and 8 Schedules. Even after the repeal of several provisions it still