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Two reasons for adopting Parliamentary government in India: 

• It is an accountable system by administration, hence better than other forms of government. 
• There is a constant coordination between the Executive and the Legislature. Executive is formed by the members from the Legislature and the former is accountable to the later.

Lok Sabha is the house of people’s representatives of the Parliament, which is also called as lower house. The members of the Lok Sabha are elected by the people on the basis of right of adult franchise. It’s maximum number of members could be 552. At present there are 545 members in the Lok Sabha, out of them 530 from the states, 13 from union territories and 2 members are nominated by the President. It’s tenure is of 5 years, but Council of Ministers can demand or request the to President for its dismissal or dissolve before this time period. Hence, it is also called as temporary house.

1. 25 years 

2. Prime Minister 

3. President 

4. President 

5. Vice President

12 members are nominated in Rajya Sabha.

1. Legislature 

2. Executive 

3. Judiciary

A cabinet is a body of high ranking members of the government typically representing the executive branch.

(A) Division of Powers

Vice president.

Article 129 gives the status of Court of Record to the Supreme Court. 

Court of Record has two meanings:

First: Decision of this court shall be accepted as proof at every place and no question can be raised on the authenticity of such decision in any court. 

Second: This court can give any punishment for ‘Contempt of Court’.

Powers of the Prime-Minister: 

• He/she advises President in making appointments of ministers. 
• He distributes and redistributes work to the ministers. 
• He chairs cabinet meetings, controls, directs and coordinates the work of different ministerial departments. 
• As a leader of the majority party he works as a leader of the house. 
• He communicates to the President on important constitutional matters and executive decisions. 
• He acts’ as a bridge or a link between the President and council of ministers. In fact he is the head of the council of ministers. His resignation means resignation of the whole council of ministers.

Supreme Court and High Courts have got original jurisdiction on disputes between two or more states and on matter related to breach of fundamental rights.

Features of Union administrative system- 

• Supremacy of constitution 
• Bicameral legislature 
• Written constitution 
• Division of Administrative powers between the Centre and States 
• Dual administrative set-up 
• Independent and impartial judiciary

Powers of the President of India: 

General Powers:

• He summons sessions of the Parliament and addresses its first session. 
• He signs all the bills passed by the Parliament. 
• He issues ordinances when the Parliament is not in session. 
• He appoints Prime Minister, members of council of ministers, governors, judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts as well as other important high officials of the country. 
• All international treaties and pacts are signed under the name and seal of the President. 
• He is the highest defence authority-The commander-in-chief. He appoints the chief of infantry, navy and air force and declares war and its end or ceasefire. 
• He has the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remission of punishment.

Emergency Powers of the President: 

• Proclamation of National Emergency due to war or armed rebellion or external aggression (Article 352). 
• Proclamation of constitutional emergency due to failure of constitutional machinery in the state (Article 356). 
• Failure of Financial emergency due to threat to financial stability (Article 360).

President of India is elected by an electoral college comprising the elected members of both the houses of the Parliament and those of the Legislative Assembles of the states and union territories. Thus he is elected indirectly through proportional representation and single transferable vote system.

Correct Answer is: (B) President

(C) Prime Minister

Prime Minister, council of Ministers, Chief Justice, Judges, Governors, etc.

The Constitution says that the Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President. According to the fundamental principles of parliamentary system, the President is bound to appoint the leader of the majority party in Lok Sabha as Prime Minister. Sometimes, a condition may arise when the President may use his discretion to appoint the Prime Minister

By virtue of being the representative of the people, the Parliament has complete right on the national budget.

Two levels of legislative are 

1. Union Legislature and 

2. State Legislature

Within six months

Each voter casts a different number of votes. The general principle is that the total number of votes cast by Members of Parliament equals the total number of votes cast by State Legislators. Also, legislators from larger states cast more votes than those from smaller states. Finally, the number of legislators in a state matters if a state has few legislators, then each legislator has more votes if a state has many legislators, then each legislator has fewer votes.

Speaker and Deputy Speaker

Following are the eligibility criteria to be a member of the Lok Sabha: 

1. The person should be a citizen of India. 

2. His/her age should be 25 years or more. 

3. The person should not hold any post of benefit under Union Government or State Government. 

4. The person has not been declared a lunatic by any court and is not bankrupt.

Originally, the number of members of Lok Sabha was fixed at 500, but it has been increased from time to time. It has been decided through the Goa, Daman and Diu Act, 1987 that the maximum number of members of Lok Sabha can be 552. Up to 530 members shall be elected from the constituencies in states, up to 20 members shall be elected from the constituencies of Union Territories, and remaining 2 members (of Anglo-Indian Community) shall be nominated by the President.

1. Legislative Powers: Formation of laws to protect national interest is the main duty of the Parliament. The Parliament can make laws on subjects which are under the Union List and Concurrent List. The Union Parliament and state legislature both have power to make laws on subjects under concurrent list. However, in case of mutual antagonism between the laws passed by the centre and the state, the one passed by the Parliament will be valid. Parliament can also make laws on residuary subjects.

2. Financial Powers: By virtue of being the representative of the people, the Parliament has complete right on the national budget. Every year, no work related to income and expenses can be done till the Lok Sabha passes the Annual Budget presented by the Finance Minister. The Annual Budget is a book of account of national income and expenses.

3. Administrative Powers: The parliamentary system has been made by the Constitution of India. Hence, the Union Executive, i.e. Council of Ministers is answerable to the Parliament (Lok Sabha in practice). The Council of Minister continues only till it holds the confidence of the Lok Sabha. Parliament can keep control on the executive through different means.

Five  years.

Two  members

By the 44th Amendment in the Constitution, following are the clauses of emergency:

First: Emergency can only be announced in case of war, external attack or armed revolt or in case of a threat of such mishaps. Emergency cannot be announced only in the name of internal disturbance.

Second: The President can only announce emergency under Article 352 when the Council of Ministers gives a written advice to him.

Third: Within a month the announcement needs to be ratified by the Parliament by special majority (by two-thirds majority of members who have attended and voted for each house separately). To continue to enforce emergency for further duration, it has to be ratified by the Parliament after every six months.

Fourth: Emergency can be ended by a simple majority of members of Lok Sabha.

By virtue of being the constitutional head of Indian Union, the President represents the country in foreign countries. He appoints ambassadors and diplomatic representatives for the Indian Embassies in foreign countries. He accepts the credentials of ambassadors and diplomatic representatives from other countries. Treaties and agreements with other countries are done in the name of the President.

Vice President

Members of Parliament and assemblies of states and union territories elect the President through a special system of voting, which is called Single Minimum Quota

Powers and Duties of Speaker: The Speaker of Lok Sabha has more or less same powers which are enjoyed by the Chairman of the House of Commons in Britain.

1. The Speaker presides over all meetings of Lok Sabha. He has to ensure peace and discipline inside the house. 

2. The Speaker decides all the programmes and proceedings of Lok Sabha. Based on suggestions from the Leader of the House, he decides the timings for debates on different issues. 

3. He is the ex-officio chairman of some of the Parliamentary Committees. He appoints the chairpersons of Select Committees and such committees work under his instruction.

Transferable Vote System. Voting takes place through secret ballot and the candidate has to ensure the ‘minimum quota’ of votes to become the winner. The minimum quota is derived by following formula:

4. Speaker decides if a particular bill is money bill or not. 

5. All correspondence between the President and the Parliament are done in his name.

Following are the special powers of Rajya Sabha: 

1. Article 249 says that Rajya Sabha can make any subject under State List into a subject of national importance by two-thirds majority of the members who are present and who are participating in voting. 

2. Article 312 says that only Rajya Sabha has the right to give power of initiating a new All India Service by passing the proposal by two-thirds majority.

Court of Records has two meanings: 

1. Decision of this court shall be accepted as proof at every place and no question can be raised on the authenticity of such decision in any court. 

2. This court can give any punishment for ‘Contempt of Court’.

Indirect proportional representation and single transferable vote system.

1. Civil Cases: Originally, it was specified that only those civil cases can be appealed in the Supreme Court in which the amount of compensation was more than Rs. 20,000. But the 20th Amendment of Constitution in 1973 in Article 133 has removed the limitation of 20,000 and now any civil case can be appealed in the Supreme Court.

2. Criminal Cases: Those criminal cases can be appealed in the Supreme Court which fulfill following criteria:

• A case in which the High Court had given capital punishment to the accused in spite of the fact that the accused was proven innocent by a lower court. 
• High Court transferred a case from a lower court and announced capital punishment for the accused. 
• High Court proves that the case is suitable for appeal in the Supreme Court.

Article 63 of the Indian Constitution gives the provision for the post of Vice President. Vice President is elected in a joint session of both the houses of Parliament. The election happens by secret voting through single transferable voting method of proportional representation.

Generally, a judge can continue in office till 65 years of age. He can voluntarily resign from his post. He can be removed from the post in case of corruption or inefficiency. If each house of the Parliament passes the motion of impeachment by two-thirds majority then the judge can be removed from his post on order from the President.

The President is elected through indirect election and this system is based on Single Transferable Voting of proportional representation. 

This system is as follows:

1. Indirect Election: The President is elected indirectly by an electoral college which comprises. 

2. Elected members of both houses of the Parliament. 

3. Members of state assemblies and assemblies of union territories (as per 70th amendment 1992). 

4. Single Transferable Method of Voting: Members of Parliament and assemblies of states and union territories elect the president through a special system of voting, which is called Single Transferable Vote System. Voting takes place through secret ballot and the candidate has to ensure the ‘minimum quota’ of votes to become the winner. The minimum quota is

5. derived by following formula: 

Number of valid 

votes cast 100 Minimum Quota = …………………. 

Number of candidates for election

If the Parliament or state assemblies bypass the constitution or make laws against fundamental rights; then such a law can be termed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. This power of the Supreme Court is called the ‘Power of Judicial Review’. Power of Judicial Review is highly important for protection of fundamental rights and for conservation of the Constitution. With this power, the Supreme Court can prevent the possibility of autocratic decisions by a party in majority.