National Commission to review the working of the Constitution

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National Commission to review the working of the Constitution

National Commission to review the working of the Constitution
National Commission to review the working of the Constitution

National Commission to review the working of the Constitution

  • The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution was set up by Government Resolution dated 22 February, 2000 under the Chairmanship of Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah.
  • The terms of reference stated that the Commission shall examine, in the light of the experience of the past 50 years, as to how best the Constitution can respond to the changing needs of efficient, smooth and effective system of governance and socio-economic development of modern India within the framework of Parliamentary democracy, and to recommend changes, if any, that are required in the provisions of the Constitution without interfering with its basic structure or features.
  • The Commission submitted its report in two volumes to the Government on 31st March, 2002.
  • The Commission felt that article 263 of the Constitution has vast potential and the same has not been fully utilized for resolving various problems concerning more than one State.
  • The Commission observed that where a treaty is entered into by the Union Government concerning a matter in the State List vitally affecting the interests of the States no prior consultation is made with them.
  • The Commission recommended that the forum of Inter-State Council could be very well utilized for discussion of policy matters involving more than one State and arriving at a decision expeditiously.

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Members of the Committee

     The 11-member commission was headed by Retired Chief Justice of India Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah. The other members of the commission were

  • P. Jeevan Reddy, Chairman of the Law Commission
  • S. Sarkaria, Former Judge of the Supreme Court of India
  • Punnayya, Former Judge of Andhra Pradesh High Court
  • Soli Sorabjee, Attorney-General of India
  • Parasaran, Former Attorney-General of India
  • Subhash C. Kashyap, Former Secretary-General of Lok Sabha
  • R. Irani (Chief Editor & Managing Director of the Statesman)
  • Abid Hussain, Former Ambassador of India to the USA
  • Sumitra Kulkarni, Former Member of Parliament)
  • A. Sangma (Former Speaker of Lok Sabha)

Basic Structure of Constitution

           The debate on the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution has re- appeared in the public realm.

        While setting up the National Commission to review the working of the Constitution, the NDA-National Democratic Alliance-government stated that the basic structure of the Constitution would not be tampered with. Justice M. N. Venkatachalaiah, Chairman of the Commission, has emphasised on several occasions that an enquiry into the basic structure of the Constitution lay beyond the scope of the Commission’s work.

         There are 19 Basic features of the Constitution which cannot be amended.

These include:

  1. Domination or supremacy of the Indian Constitution
  2. Nature and scope of Indian Polity that is sovereign, republican and democratic,
  3. Constitution is secular in nature
  4. Federal character of the Indian Constitution
  5. Power of Judicial review and laws that transgress the basic structure of the constitution are likely to be down by the Supreme Court
  6. Effective access to justice
  7. Fair and free election system
  8. Principle of rationale and reasonability
  9. Equality to all as a fundamental principle
  10. Rule of law
  11. Legislative, executive and judiciary has clear and demarcated separation of powers
  12. Limited power of parliament to bring in amendments in the Constitution
  13. Unity and Integrity of Nation
  14. Powers of Supreme Court under Articles 32, 136, 141-142 etc.
  15. Parliamentary system
  16. Freedom, dignity and gravitas to the individuals
  17. Socio-economic justice to all through welfare state
  18. Effective balance and no contradiction in scope and nature of fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy
  19. Judiciary to remain Independent

 

 

 

 

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