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CONSTITUTIONALCONSTITUTIONALCONSTITUTIONALCONSTITUTIONALCONSTITUTIONALBODIES IN INDIABODIES IN INDIABODIES IN INDIABODIES IN INDIABODIES IN INDIA

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CONSTITUTIONALBODIES IN INDIA

Constitutional body is the body that has itsname mentioned in Indian Constitution. It derivespower directly from the Constitution. Any type ofchange in mechanism of this body needsconstitutional anedment. Example: UPSC, FinanceCommission, National Commission for SC/ST, etc.

Immunities given to Constitutional bodies

1. They can be removed: only on provedmisbehavior.

2. Their salary, powers and rights are mentionedin the Constitution itself-and parliament can'treduce it once they're appointed. It's chargedon the Consolidated Fund of India i.e.Parliament can't vote on it during budget.However, the salary can be reduced if Presidentdeclares a financial emergency.

Such immunities are not enjoyed by statutorybodies.The constitutional bodies are discussed below:

ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF INDIA

According to Article 76, the President appointsa person qualified to be a Supreme Court judge asthe Attorney General of India. The Attorney Generalis the first legal officer of India. He functions as theChief Law Officer of the Government. The AttorneyGeneral of India advises the Government of Indiaon any legal matter. He performs any legal dutiesassigned to him by the President of India. Hedischarges any functions conferred to him by theConstitution or the President.

In the performance of his duties, the AttorneyGeneral of India has right of audience in all courtsin the territory of India. The Attorney Generalrepresents the Union and the States before theCourts but is also allowed to take up private practiceprovided; the other party is not the State. He is nota member of the either House of the Parliament.Still he enjoys the right to attend and speak in theparliamentary deliberations and meetings (of boththe Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha), without aright to vote.

He is not a full time officer of the House, nor ishe a member of a Cabinet, he is not barred fromprivate practice except that he cannot advice orhold briefs against the Government of India. Heshould not defend accused persons for criminalprosecution without the permissions of theGovernment of India. He is entitled to all privilegesand immunities as a Member of the Parliament.The Attorney General of India is assisted by twoSolicitor General and four assistant SolicitorGeneral.

The Attorney General is not paid salary but aretainer that is determined by the President. Theretainer of the Attorney General of India is equalto the salary of a judge of the Supreme Court. Asa convention, after the change of the Government,the Attorney General resigns and the newGovernment appoint a new Attorney General ofits own choice. The Attorney General holds officeduring the pleasure of the President and receivesremuneration as determined by the President.

COMPTROLLER AND AUDITORGENERAL

Article 148 of the Indian Constitution providesfor an Independent office of the Comptroller andAuditor General of India (CAG). He is the head ofthe Indian Audit and Account Department. At bothCentral and State level the Comptroller and AuditorGeneral of India controls the entire financial systemof the country.

Appointment of CAG

The Comptroller and Auditor General of Indiais appointed by the President of India for a fullterm of 6 years or 65 years of age whichever comesearlier. By writing a resignation letter to thePresident, the Comptroller and Auditor General canresign at any time. The President can remove himfrom his past on the same ground and in the samemanner as a judge of the Supreme Court of India.He can be removed by the President on the basis of

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a resolution passed in the both Houses of theParliament with special majority, either on theground of proved misbehavior or incapacity.

Powers and Functions of the CAG

The Parliament enacted the CAG's Act, 1971(duties, powers and conditions of service). This Actwas amended in 1976 to separate accounts fromaudit in the Central Government. CAG audits theaccounts related to all expenditure from theConsolidated Fund of India, consolidated fund ofeach state and consolidated fund of each unionterritory having Legislative Assembly.

He audits all expenditure from the ContingencyFund of India and the Public Account of India inboth Central and State level. He audits the receiptsand expenditure of all bodies and authoritiessubstantially financed from the Central or Staterevenues, Government companies and othercorporations and bodies when so required by relatedlaws.

He advices the President with regard to theprescription of the form in which the accounts ofthe center and the states shall be kept. He submitshis audit reports relating to the accounts of theCenter to President and relating to the accounts ofa state to the Governor.

He audits all transactions of the Central andState governments related to debt, sinking funds,deposits, advances, suspense accounts andremittance business. He audits the accounts of anyother authority also on a request of President orGovernor. CAG acts as a guide, friend andphilosopher of the Public Accounts Committee ofthe Parliament.

Immunities enjoyed by the CAG

CAG is appointed by the President, but he doesnot hold office in accordance with Presidents'pleasure. However the President can remove himafter a resolution to this effect is passed by boththe Houses of the Parliament. Once, CAG ceases tohold his office, he become ineligible for furtheroffice.

The Parliament determines his salary and otherservice conditions.

The administrative expense of the office of CAGis charged upon the Consolidated Fund of India.No minister can be called upon to take any

responsibility for any action done by CAG. TheComptroller and Auditor General of India is notrepresented by any minister in the Parliament.

ADVOCATE-GENERAL

Each State shall have an Advocate-General forthe State, an official corresponding to the Attorney-General of India, and having similar functions forthe State. He shall be appointed by the Governorof the State and shall hold office during thepleasure of the Governor. Only a person who isqualified to be a Judge of a High Court can beappointed Advocate-General. [Art. 165 (1)]

It is the duty of the Advocate-General to giveadvice to the Government of the State upon suchlegal matters, and to perform such other duties ofa legal character, as may from time to time bereferred to him by the Governor, and to dischargethe functions conferred on him by this Constitutionor any other law for the time being in force.

The Advocate-General shall hold office duringthe pleasure of the Governor, and shall receive suchremuneration as the Governor may determine. Heshall have the right to speak and to take part inthe proceedings of, but no right to vote in theHouses of the Legislature of the State.

FINANCE COMMISSION

Although the Constitution has made an effortto allocate every possible source of revenue eitherto the Union or the States, but this allocation isquite broad based. For the purpose of allocation ofcertain sources of revenue, between the Union andthe State Governments, the Constitution providesfor the establishment of a Finance Commissionunder Article 280. According to the Constitution,the President of India is authorized to set up aFinance Commission every five years to makerecommendation regarding distribution of financialresources between the Union and the States.

Constitution

Finance Commission is to be constituted by thePresident every 5 years. The Chairman must be aperson having 'experience in public affairs'. Otherfour members must be appointed from amongstthe following:-

1. A High Court Judge or one qualified to beappointed as High Court Judge;

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2. A person having knowledge of the financesand accounts of the Government;

3. A person having work experience infinancial matters and administration;

4. A person having special knowledge ofeconomics.

Functions

The Finance Commission recommends to thePresident as to:-

� the distribution between the Union and theStates of the net proceeds of taxes to be dividedbetween them and the allocation between theStates of respective shares of such proceeds;

� the principles which should govern the grants-in-aid of the revenue of the States out of theConsolidated Fund of India;

� the measures needed to augment theConsolidated Fund of a State to supplementthe resources of the Panchayats andMunicipalities in the State;

� any other matter referred to the Commissionby the President in the interest of sound finance.

Assessment of Finance Commission

Ever since the inauguration of the Constitution,thirteen such Commissions have been set up. Yearafter year the terms of reference have been madewider and wider with each Finance Commission.Even issues like debt burden of the State, financingof relief expenditure and returns of public sectorunder takings have been placed under the purviewof Finance Commissions. Further, the UnionGovernment has mostly accepted therecommendations of the Finance Commissions.

However, it has been alleged by critics that therole assigned to the Finance Commission has beengreatly undermined to the creation of the PlanningCommission which has tended to play increasingrole in determining the transfer of funds to thestates. According to a study, between 1951-74 morefunds were transferred to the states through thePlanning Commission and the Finance Ministrythan the Finance Commission. Generally, theFinance Commission is only required to plug thenon-development budgetary gaps in the financesof the States only, while the plan outlays aredetermined by the Planning Commission. Similarly

the discretionary grants are also regulated by theFinance Ministry and the Planning Commission andthe Finance Commission hardly play any role inthis respect.

INTER-STATE COUNCILS

Under Article 263 of the Constitution thePresident is empowered to establish an inter-StateCouncil, at any time, if he satisfies that publicinterest would be served thereby. Constitutionoutlines the duties and responsibilities of thisCommission. These are:-

� To inquiry into and advising upon disputeswhich may have arisen between States

� To investigate and discuss subject of commoninterest between the Union and the States orbetween two or more States

� To make recommendation for co-ordination ofpolicy and action relating to such subject

In exercise of this power the President hasestablished a Central Council of Health, a CentralCouncil of Local Self-Government, and a TransportDevelopment Council.

However, the Sarkaria Commission on Center-State relation has recommended the constitution ofa permanent Inter-State Council. Such a councilwas set up in 1990 consisting six Union CabinetMinisters and the Chief Ministers of all States. PrimeMinister is the chairman of this council.

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSIONS

Article 315 provides for service commissions forboth the Union and the States. For the Union it isknown as Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)and for the States it is known as State Public ServiceCommission (SPSC). There is a provision for a jointSPSC for two or more states if the state legislaturesof the concerned states pass a resolution to thiseffect and acting on it Parliament enacts a law inthis regard.

A Public Service Commission consists of aChairman and a number of members. The numberof members and the conditions of service shall bedetermined in the case of UPSC or a JointCommission by the President and in the case of astate PSC by the Governor. The conditions of serviceof a member of a Commission shall not be variedto his disadvantage during his term of office (Art.318).

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Appointment, term of office, etc:

The Chairman and members of the UPSC or aJoint Commission are appointed by the Presidentwhile those of a State Commission are appointedby the Governor of the State. No qualifications areprescribed for being a member or chairman. TheConstitution does not prescribe the number ofmembers of a Commission. But it is laid down inArt. 316 that at least half of the members of everyCommission shall be persons who have held officeunder the Government of India or of a state for 10years. Under this clause officers belonging to IAS,IPS, IFS, and other Central Services serving theUnion and officers of the armed forces who haveretired or are on the verge of superannuation's areappointed members. This is to ensure that personswho have a first hand experience of governmentservice guide the policies to be adopted by theCommission. They are in a better position tounderstand the needs of the government and thequalities required of a candidate. Generally theseniormost member is appointed as Chairmanthough it is not a legal requirement.

A member of a Commission holds office for aterm of 6 years from the date he enters upon hisoffice or until he attains the age of 65 years in thecase of UPSC and 62 years in the case of a StateCommission or a Joint Commission.

Resignation:

A member of a Commission may resign his officeby a writing addressed to:

� The President in the case of UPSC or a JointCommission

� The Governor in the case of a State Commission

Removal:

The President may remove him on the groundof misbehavior. The Supreme Court alone mayinquire about misbehavior on a reference made bythe President. It is to be noted that a member ofState Commission may be removed only by thePresident (and not by the Governor). Once theSupreme Court has reported that the member wasguilty of misbehavior, the President has no choicebut to remove the member.

In some cases the President may remove amember without making a reference to the SupremeCourt. These are:

� The member is adjudged an insolvent,

� The member engages in some other employmentwhile in office,

� The member is unfit to continue in office byreason of infirmity of mind or body.

Whether the infirmity incapacitates the memberfrom discharging his duties is for the President todetermine. Blindness may not cause such infirmityin all cases.

Independence of UPSC and PSC members:

The Constitution seeks to maintain theindependence of members through the followingprovisions:

� The Chairman and members do not hold officeduring pleasure. They hold it for a fixed term.

� A member may be removed only by thePresident and that too on the grounds and inthe manner provided in the Constitution.

� The conditions of service of a member shall notbe varied to his disadvantage after hisappointment.

� The expenses of the Commission are chargedon the Consolidated Fund of India or of theState.

� A member on the expiration of his term isineligible for reappointment.

� A member is prohibited from takingemployment under the government afterceasing to be a member.

Prohibitions in regard to holding of officesafter ceasing to be a member:

� The Chairman of UPSC shall be ineligible forfurther employment under the Government ofIndia or of any states.

� The Chairman of a State Commission shall beeligible for appointment as the Chairman or amember of the UPSC or as the Chairman ofany other SPSC. Other than these posts, he isnot eligible for any other employment underUnion of the State government.

� A member of the UPSC is eligible forappointment as Chairman of the UPSC orChairman of any State Commission. But hecannot take up any other employment underthe government of India or of any state.

� A member of a State Commission shall beeligible for appointment as Chairman or

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member of UPSC or Chairman of any StateCommission (including the one of which he isa member). But he will not be eligible for anyother employment under the Government ofIndia or of a State.

Functions of the Commission:

Article 320 lays down the function of a PublicService Commission. Article 321 provides that theParliament or the legislature of a state may add tothe list of functions. The functions are of two types:(a) duties (b) advisory functions.

Duties:

The duties of a Public Service Commissionenumerated in Art. 320 are:

� To conduct examinations for appointment tothe services of the union and the services of theState (in case of a State PSC).

� It is the duty of the UPSC if requested by twoor more States to assist those States in framingand operating schemes of joint recruitment forany Services requiring special qualifications.

Advisory functions:

A Commission has many advisory functions.It must be consulted

� On all matters relating to method of recruitmentto civil services and civil posts.

� On the principles to be followed in makingappointments to civil services and posts, inmaking promotions and transfers from oneservice to another and on the suitability of suchcandidates.

� On all disciplinary matter affecting a personunder the government (Central or State) in acivil capacity. This includes memorandums andpetitions relating to such matters.

� On any claim by or in respect of a person inservice under the government (Central or State)that any costs incurred by him in defendingany proceeding instituted against him for actsdone in the execution of his duty should bepaid by the government.

� On any claims of the award of a pension inrespect of injuries sustained by a person whilein government service in a civil service in acivil capacity.

The UPSC submits its annual report to thePresident which is laid before Parliament. Similarly,

every PSC submits its annual report to the Governorwhich is laid before the State Legislature.

ELECTION COMMISSION

India is a representative democracy which hasopted for a Parliamentary Form of Government.Under this system people elect their representativesboth for the state legislatures as well as forParliament through exercising their right to voteduring periodic elections. Thus the success ofdemocracy depends on successful electionmechanism. For a healthy and functioningdemocracy it is essential that there is anindependent institution to conduct and supervisethe election procedure. Realizing this importance,the Constitution has provided for an independentElection Commission.

Composition of the Election Commission:

Art 324 provides for a Chief ElectionCommissioner to be appointed by the President.He can also appoint any number of ElectionCommissioners. Since 1993, the ElectionCommission consists of a Chief ElectionCommissioner and two Election Commissioners. Ifthe Election Commission is a multi-member bodythen the Chief Election Commissioner acts as theChairman of the Election Commission. The decisionsare arrived at by either consensus or majority in amulti-member Election Commission. There is aprovision to appoint Regional Commissioners beforeeach general election to Lok Sabha and StateAssembly and before the general election andthereafter before each biennial election to theLegislative Council. The President appoints themin consultation with the Election Commission.

Removal of the CEC and ElectionCommissioners:

The CEC can be removed only on the samegrounds and in the same manner as a judge of theSupreme Court. An Election Commissioner or aRegional Commissioner can be removed by thePresident only on the recommendation of the ChiefElection Commissioner.

Functions of the Election Commission:

The Election Commission superintends, directsand controls the elections to Parliament, State

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Legislatures and Union Territories, Presidential andVice-Presidential elections. In this regard, itperforms the following functions:

(a) Preparation of electoral rolls.

(b) Conduct of elections.

(c) Counting of votes and declaration of results.

(d) To advise the President in regard to the questionwhether a Member of Parliament (Art. 103) ora State Legislature has become subject to anydisqualification (Art. 192).

(e) To advice the President in the appointment ofRegional Commissioner.

The Constitution contains a bare outline of thelaw of election and the powers and functions ofthe Election Commission. The detailed provisionsare contained in the following Acts:

� The Presidential and Vice-Presidential ElectionAct, 1950.

� The Representation of People Act, 1950.

� The Representation of People Act, 1951.

� The Delimitation Act, 1972.

Secular basis for electoral rolls (Art. 326):

The provisions discussed below are of generalapplications and apply to elections to theParliament and the state legislatures.

For every territorial constituency there will beone general electoral roll. No person shall beineligible for inclusion in the electoral roll ongrounds of religion, race, caste, sex or any of them.

Adult suffrage (Art. 326):

Any person who is a citizen of India and whois 18 years of age (61st Amendment Act, 1988) iseligible to vote in Lok Sabha and State Assemblyelections unless he is disqualified by a law. Thecommon disqualification are based on unsoundness

of mind, conviction for crime, corrupt practice, atan election etc. They are contained in theRepresentation of People Act.

Powers of legislatures with respect toelections (Arts. 327 & 328):

The Parliament has the power to make lawsregarding all aspects of elections (Art. 327). Thestate legislature has a subordinate role. It can enacta law in respect of election to state legislature onlyto the extent that Parliament has not made anyprovisions. In other words it can supplementparliamentary legislation (Art. 328).

Parliament has enacted the Representation ofPeople Act of 1950 and 1951 and the DelimitationCommission Acts of 1962 and 1972 under thisprovision.

Independence of the Election Commission:

The role of the Election Commission is pivotal.Impartiality of elections is vitally linked to theindependence of the Commission. Other provisionsdealing with CEC and Election Commissioners aredealt within the Chief Election Commissioner andother Election Commissioners (conditions of service),Act.

Election disputes (Art. 329):

Article 329 bars the interference of Courts inelectoral matters. If a Delimitation Commissiondraws the boundaries of a territorial constituencyit cannot be challenged in any Court of law.

Article 329 also provides that no election toeither House of Parliament or to a House of a StateLegislature shall be called in question except by anelection appropriate law. Since 1966, a High Courtalone has the jurisdiction to hear an electionpetition. Appeal lies with the Supreme Court.

ELECTORAL REFORMS SUGGESTED BY ELECTION COMMISSION IN 2004

� A candidate contesting elections must provide all the information in the affidavit furnished by him. Anywillful concealing of information or providing wrong information should be punishable by two yearsAlign of e.g. imprisonment.

� The security deposit for Lok Sabha should be raised to Rs. 20,000/- and

Rs. 10,000/- for Legislative Assembly. For SC/ST candidates it should be reduced by 50 per cent.

� Any person who is accused of an offence punishable by imprisonment for five years or more should bedisqualified from contesting election even when trial is pending, provided charges have been framedagainst him by the competent court.

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� Restriction on the number of seats from which one may contest: At present a person can contesta general election or a group of bye-elections or biennial elections from a maximum of two constituencies.There have been several cases where a person contests election from two constituencies, and wins fromboth. In such a situation he vacates the seat in one of the two constituencies. The consequence is thata by-election would be required from one constituency involving avoidable labour and expenditure onthe conduct of that by-election. The law should be amended to provide that a person cannot contestfrom more than one constituency at a time.

� Exit Polls and Opinion Polls: Various agencies conduct opinion polls prior to the poll on the likelyvoting pattern and publish the result of such surveys through different media. Similarly, on the dateof poll, actual result of the election is sought to be predicted on the basis of Exit Polls. Such polls mayinfluence the voting pattern in the subsequent phases. The Opinion Polls and publishing results thereof,should not be allowed from the day of issue of statutory notification calling the election and till thecompletion of the poll. The result of Exit Polls should not be allowed to be published until the completionof the poll in the last phase.

� During the election period, the name and address of the publisher should be given along with thematter/advertisement in the print media. No surrogate advertisements should be allowed.

� Negative voting: In the ballot paper, there shall be a column "None of the above," to enable a voterto reject all the candidates, if he chooses so.

� Compulsory maintenance of accounts by political parties and audit thereof by agencies specified by theElection Commission. The political parties must be required to publish their account annually forinformation and scrutiny of the general public.

� Government sponsored advertisements where any general election is due on the expiration of the termof the House, advertisements of achievements of the governments, either Central or State, in anymanner, should be prohibited for a period of six months prior to the date of expiry of the term of theHouse and in case of premature dissolution, the date of dissolution of the House. However,advertisements/dissemination of information of poverty alleviation and health related schemes could beexempted from the purview of such a ban.

� Ban on transfer of election officers on the eve of elections: No transfer shall be made, without theconcurrence of the Commission, of any Election Officer as soon as a general election/by-election becomesdue in any parliamentary or Assembly Constituencies.

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE COMMISSION

Article 344 states that at the expiration of 5years form the commencement of this Constitutionand later after 10 years from such commencementthe President shall appoint a commission. TheCommission will consist of a chairman andmembers representing different languages specifiedin the 8th Schedule.

The duties of the commission will be to makerecommendations to the president as to-

(a) The progressive use of the Hindi language

(b) Restrictions on the use of English language

(c) The language to be used for the purposesmentioned in Art. 348

(d) The form of numerals

(e) Any other matter that may be referred to theCommission by the President.

The Official Language Commission constitutedin 1955 felt that the Central Government shouldtake concrete steps for its employees to learn andbecome proficient in Hindi. Under opposition fromvarious groups, it was decided to replace Englishby Hindi progressively and not suddenly.

NATIONAL COMMISSION FORSCHEDULED CASTES

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes,a Constitutional body monitors the safeguardsprovided for Scheduled Castes and also reviewsissues concerning their welfare.

The SCs constitute 16.23% of India's population

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spread all over the country, with 80% of them livingin the rural areas. They constitute more than afifth of the population of UP, Punjab, HimachalPradesh and West Bengal. Punjab has the highestproportion of SCs to the State population. Morethan half of the SC population is concentrated inthe five States of Uttar Pradesh (35.1 million), westBengal (18.4 million), Tamil Nadu (11.8 million),Andhra Pradesh (12.3 million) and Bihar (13.0million).

Due to their social disability and economicbackwardness, they were grossly handicapped ingetting reasonable share in elected offices,Government jobs and educational institutions and,therefore, it was considered necessary to follow apolicy of reservations in their favour to ensure theirequitable participation in governance.

Functions and duties of the commission are:

a) To investigate and monitor all matters relatingto the safeguards provided for the ScheduledCastes under this Constitution or under anyother law for the time being in force or underany order of the Government and to evaluatethe working of such safeguard;

b) To inquire into specific complaints with respectto the deprivation of rights and safeguards ofthe Scheduled Castes;

c) To participate and advise on the planningprocess of socio-economic development of theScheduled Castes and to evaluate the progressof their development under the Union and anyState;

d) To present to the President, annually and atsuch other times as the Commission may deemfit, reports upon the working of thosesafeguards;

e) To make in such reports recommendations asto the measures that should be taken by theUnion or any State for the effectiveimplementation of those safeguards and othermeasures for the protection, welfare and socio-economic development of the Scheduled Castes;and

f) To discharge such other functions in relationto the protection, welfare and development andadvancement of the Scheduled Castes as thePresident may, subject to the provisions of anylaw made by Parliament, by rule specify.

NATIONAL COMMISSION ONSCHEDULED TRIBES

The National Commission for Scheduled Tribeswas first formed by the Government of India in1978 as a Non-statutory Multi-MemberCommission. Initially, the Commission was set upthrough a resolution for both the Scheduled Castesand Scheduled Tribes. In the year 1987, theGovernment of India re-structured the duties ofthe Commission by authorizing it to advice on theBroad Policy Issues and Levels of Development ofSCs and STs. The National Commission forScheduled Tribes (NCST) was established byamending Article 338 and inserting a new Article338A in the Constitution through the Constitution(89th Amendment) Act, 2003. By this amendment,the erstwhile National Commission for ScheduledCastes and Scheduled Tribes was replaced by twoseparate Commissions namely- (i) the NationalCommission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), and (ii)the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes(NCST) in 2004.

Scheduled Tribes live in contiguous areas unlikeother communities. It is, therefore, much simplerto have an area-approach for development activitiesand also regulatory provisions to protect theirinterests. In order to protect the interests ofScheduled Tribes with regard to land alienationand other social factors, provisions of "FifthSchedule" and "Sixth Schedule" have beenenshrined in the Constitution.

Functions of the Commission are:

a. To investigate and monitor all the mattersrelating to the safeguards provided for the SCsand STs under the Constitution of India orunder any other law and to evaluate theworking of such scapegoats.

b. To enquire into specific complaints withrespect to the deprivation of the rights and thesafeguards of the SCs and the STs.

c. To participate and advise on the planningprocess of socio-economic development of theScheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes andto evaluate the progress of their developmentunder the Union and any State.

d. To present to the President, annually andat such other times as the Commission maydeem fit, reports upon the working of thosesafeguards.

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e. To make in such reports orrecommendations as to the measures thatshould be taken by the Union or any State forthe effective implementation of those theprotection, welfare and socio-economicdevelopment of the Scheduled Castes and theScheduled Tribes as the President may by luredspecify.

The term Scheduled Tribes is defined in theConstitution of India under Article 366(25) as suchtribes or tribal communities or parts of groupswithin such tribes or tribal communities as aredeemed under Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribesfor the purposes of this Constitution.

According to the Article 342(1), the Presidentmay, with respect to any State or Union Territory,and where it is State, after consultation with theGovernor thereof, notifies tribes or tribalcommunities or parts thereof as Scheduled Tribes.This confers on the tribe or part of it a Constitutionalstatus invoking the safeguards provided for in theConstitution, to these communities in theirrespective States/UTs.

Thus only those communities who have beendeclared as such by the President through an initialpublic notification will be considered as ScheduledTribes. Parliament may, by law, include in orexclude from the list of Scheduled Tribes, any tribeor tribal community or parts of thereof. The list ofScheduled Tribes is State-specific. In other words,a community declared as Scheduled Tribe in oneState need not be so in another State.

The Commission presents an annual report tothe President. The President places all the reportsbefore the Parliament along with memorandumexplaining the action taken on therecommendations made by the Commission. Thememorandum also contains the reasons for the nonacceptance of any recommendation.

CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL(CAT)

CAT was set up in pursuance of theamendment of Constitution of India by Articles323A (1976) which empowers the Parliament toset up Tribunals for dealing with disputes andcomplaints with respect to recruitment andconditions of service of persons appointed to serviceand posts connected with the Union of India. It isone of the important steps taken in the direction ofdevelopment of Administrative Law in India.

Even before Article 323-A was enacted tribunalsexisted in various areas and their existence wasrecognised by the Constitution, but they were notintended to be an exclusive forum, and therefore,they were subject to judicial review by the HighCourts under Articles 226 and 227. Distinct fromthis existing tribunal system, a new experiment hasbeen introduced by Article 323-A which providesfor exclusion of the jurisdiction of the High Courtsunder Articles 226 and 227, notwithstanding anyother provisions in the Constitution. The object ofthis experiment is to lessen the backlog of casespending before the High Courts and to provide anexpert and expeditious forum for disposal ofdisputes of Government servants relating to servicematters.

Administrative Tribunals were established atDelhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Allahabad. Today,there are 17 Benches of the Tribunal locatedthroughout the country wherever the seat of a HighCourt is located, with 33 Division Benches. Inaddition, circuit sittings are held at Nagpur, Goa,Aurangabad, Jammu, Shimla, Indore, Gwalior,Bilaspur, Ranchi, Pondicherry, Gangtok, Port Blair,Shillong, Agartala, Kohima, Imphal, Itanagar,Aizwal and Nainital.

Constitution of CAT

� A Chairman who has been a sitting or retiredJudge of a High Court heads the CentralAdministrative Tribunal. Besides the Chairman,the authorized strength consists of 16 Vice-Chairmen and 49 Members.

Jurisdiction

� In addition to Central Government employees,the Government of India has notified otherorganizations to bring them within thejurisdiction of the Central AdministrativeTribunal.

� The provisions of the Administrative TribunalsAct, 1985 do not, however, apply to membersof paramilitary forces, armed forces of theUnion, officers or employees of the SupremeCourt, or to persons appointed to the SecretariatStaff of either House of Parliament or theSecretariat staff of State/Union TerritoryLegislatures.

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Application

� A person aggrieved by any administrative orderpertaining to any matter can make anapplication to CAT for redressal of hisgrievances. The jurisdiction of the Tribunalextends not only to the actual employment butalso to the process of recruitment also.

� An application is not to be admitted unless theapplicant has exhausted all remedies availableto him under the service rules. However thisrule is not absolute and CAT may entertain anapplication in extraordinary circumstances.

� A person is deemed to have availed of all theremedies available to him if a final order hasbeen made by the Government or otherauthority or the officer concerned rejecting theappeal or representation of the employee. ORWhere no final orders passed by such authorityeven after 6 months from the date of the appealor representation.

Procedure of justice

� The Tribunal is not bound to follow theprocedures laid down in the Code of CivilProcedure 1908 or Evidence Act, but shall be

guided by the principles of natural justice indeciding cases and the procedure.

� The Central Administrative Tribunal isempowered to prescribe its own rules ofpractice for discharging its functions subject tothe Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 andRules made there under. For this purpose, theCentral Administrative Tribunal Rules ofPractice, 1993 have been made.

� Parties to the dispute may appear in person orbe represented by a lawyer before the Tribunal.The Supreme Court has held in a case that theCAT must confine itself to the limits of judicialreview.

� No interim orders, whether by way ofinjunction or stay shall be made on anapplication unless copy of the application alongwith other documents are furnished to theparty against whom such application is madeand opportunity is given to such party to beheard in the matter.

� However ex-parte interim orders can be issuedin exceptional cases valid for 14 days. In thiscase the administration should approach CATwithin 14 days to put across their point of viewand try for vacation of such interim stay orders.

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