Constitution Law and Public Administration in India

By Prof. Sairam Bhat | National Law School of India University

Learners enrolled: 4932 | Exam registration: 1117

ABOUT THE COURSE:
Two major branches of law that govern the functioning of state and administrative agencies are: (i) Constitutional Law and (ii) Administrative law. The foundational premise of the Indian Legal System is that “the Constitution of India is the fundamental law of the land”. It means that every state action, be it legislative, executive, administrative, and even judicial, must be in consonance with the Constitution of India. No State action will be valid if it is not permissible under the Constitution. As such, the Constitution is the both source of and provides limitations on the powers and actions of the three organs of the State. Further, public administrative decision making is also guided by Administrative Law. This branch of law provides the rules related to delegated legislation, use of administrative discretion, principles to be followed during administrative adjudication etc. Since, persons, be it natural or judicial, from all walks of life are either involved in or interact with State and public administrative agencies on a regular basis. This can result into multitude of challenges such as unconstitutional legislation, abuse of power, injustice etc. Hence, it is imperative for everyone to understand the Constitution law and the law governing public administration in India.

This course on “Constitutional Law & Public Administration in India” is designed with the aim to introduce and orient learners from all walks of life to the understanding of the constitutional law and public administration in India. Though both these branches of law are vast and are generally studied separately, the present course is designed to amalgamate them into a single lucid 12 weeks discourse so as to be useful for everyone. The pedagogy will involve discussion through interactive PowerPoint presentations, thought provoking questions & practical problem-solving exercises, case law discussions etc.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Civil Service Aspirants, Research Scholars, Public Administrators, Public Policy Students, Law Students, Government Officers and Employees, Professionals, Students, the General Public etc.

PREREQUISITES: Basic understanding of Constitutional, administrative and polity framework in India

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Constitutional Law & Administrative Law have implications to every citizen. They are also essential components of every industry, trade and business activity that has an interface with the State. Therefore, the course will be relevant for every citizen, government employees and public sector undertakings, industry and business professional that interact with government agencies and students of law and allied fields who want to work in the public sector. Besides and understanding of Constitutional law and administrative law is relevant for all stakeholders in the Government sector and Central /State Civil Servants.

Summary

Course Status :	Completed
Course Type :	Core
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Law
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	22 Jan 2024
End Date :	12 Apr 2024
Enrollment Ends :	05 Feb 2024
Exam Registration Ends :	16 Feb 2024
Exam Date :	27 Apr 2024 IST

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Introduction to Constitution and Constitutional Law

Constitution, Constitutionalism and Constitutional Law
Difference between Constitutional law and other laws
Types of Constitution
Salient Features of the Constitution of India
Preamble to the Constitution of India: Its Role, Vision, Interpretation and Amendment

Week 2: Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy

Concept of Fundamental Rights vis a vis Directive Principles of State Policy
Definition of State and Instrumentalities of State
Enumerated Fundamental Rights
Enforceability of Fundamental Rights vis -a -vis Directive Principles of State Policy
Primacy of Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy
Constitutional Remedies to derogation of Fundamental Rights

Week 3: Legislature of Union and States

Parliamentary democracy and Bicameral Legislatures
Federalism and Quasi-Federal Structure
Role of Prime Minister & Council of Ministers; Chief Minister and Council of Ministers
Composition of the House of People and Council of States
Sessions and Functions of the Parliament and State Legislatures
Procedure in case of (i) Finance Bills, (ii) Money Bills, (iii) Bills other than Money Bills
Division of Legislative powers: Union List, State List, Concurrent List Interpretation of Schedule VII: Doctrine of Pith and Substance; Doctrine of Colorable Legislation, Doctrine of Eclipse, and Waiver

Week 4: Governance II: Executive of Union and States

Understanding Legislative and Executive Functions
Constitutional Role of President, Vice President and Governors
Executive Functionaries: Powers and Functions
Governance through ordinance & Emergency Provisions
Contracting for Government, Executive privilege, promissory estoppel, legitimate expectation
Right to information, official secrecy, security of state and control on information;
Tortious liability; contractual liability; personal accountability, and evolution of compensatory reliefs

Week 5: Constitutional Judiciary & the power of Judicial Review

Judicial Setup in India; Difference between Constitutional Courts, Courts and Tribunals
Constitutional Courts- Supreme Court & High Courts - Jurisdiction and power
Independence of Judiciary under Indian Constitution, Judicial Appointments etc.
Judicial Review: Growth and Development,
Judicial Activism and Judicial restraint.
Growth of Public interest Litigation

Week 6: Amendment to the Constitution of India

Powers of Amendment
Amendment of the Preamble
Judicial Review of Amendments
Schedule IX Legislations
Theory of Basic Structure to the Constitution of India

Week 7: Constitutional Authorities & Local Self Governance

Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)
Office of Attorney General, Solicitor General, Advocate General
Election Commission
Union Public Service Commission and State Public Service Commissions
73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment; Panchayati Raj System & Urban Local Bodies
Initiatives towards E-Governance

Week 8: Regulation of Administrative Actions

Expansion of Administration and Growth of Administrative Law
Classification of Administrative Functions: Illustrations and Examples Legislative Functions; Judicial Functions; Executive or Administrative Functions
Nature and Scope of Administrative Law
Judicial Review of Administrative Action

Week 9: Delegated Legislations

Administrative process, nature and scope;
Growth of Delegated Legislation;
Control of delegated legislation: Legislative Controls, Judicial Controls, Executive Control;
Administrative discretion;
Excessive Delegation and Procedural Fairness
Ouster of Jurisdiction Clauses

Week 10: Growth of Administrative Tribunals

Growth of Administrative Tribunals
Clauses of Finality of Orders of Tribunals
Test to determine exercise of Quasi-Judicial Power
Principle of natural justice: Audi Alteram Partem, Doctrine of Bias, Reasoned Decisions

Week 11: Role of Public Policy in Administration, Statutory Corporations and Public Sector Undertakings

Nature, Scope and Importance of Public Policy
The distinction and interface between public policy and Fiscal, Monetary, Defense, development, Environment, Social welfare policies etc.
Statutory Corporations, Government Companies, Joint Ventures, etc
Transparent governance and prevention of corruption

Week 12: Regulatory Authorities: Checks and balances on governance

Commission of Inquiry; The CBI, Inquiries by Legislative Committees, Judicial inquiries, etc
Central Vigilance Commission
Information Commissions
Reserve Bank of India
Ombudsman, Lokpal and Lokayukta;
Planning Commission and Niti Ayog
Disaster Management Authority

Books and references

1. Durga Das Basu, Introduction to the Constitution of India (23rd ed., 2019)
2. Udai Raj Rai, Constitutional Law: Governance Structure (2d ed., 2022).
3. I.P. Massey, Administrative Law (10th ed., 2022)
4. C K Takwani, Lectures on Administrative Law (6th ed., 2017).
5. Ramesh K Arora & Rajni Goyal, Indian Public Administration: Institutions & Issues (3d ed., 2013).
6. Indian Constitution at Work: Textbook in Political Science for Class XI (NCERT, reprint 2018).

Instructor bio

Prof. Sairam Bhat

National Law School of India University

Prof. Dr. Sairam Bhat, Professor of Law at National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, India’s pioneer legal institution, with over 20 years of experience in the legal fraternity. His areas of specialization include the Law relating to Public Private Partnerships, Competition Law, Tendering, Contract Management, Environment Protection and the Law on Right to Information.

He has served as a Consultant to several Governmental and Non-Governmental Organisations and has conducted several training programmes and workshops for various officers of Government of India, and other State Governments under the aegis of various government bodies including the Administrative Training Institute, Mysore; National Academy of Direct Taxes, Delhi; Vaizag Steel; Central Silk Board; National Productivity Council; GIPARD, Goa and Fiscal Policy Institute, Bengaluru.

He did his LL.M, and Ph.D from the Department of Law, University of Mysore and has been awarded the ‘Young India Environmental Law Fellowship’ and served as Adjunct Faculty at Golden Gate University, California, USA, during the fall, 2003. As a Fulbright-Nehru Fellow, 2010, he was a ‘Visiting Researcher’ at the Georgetown University, Law Centre Washington DC, during Aug-Dec. 2010. He was also a Linnaeus-Palme Academic Exchange Fellow at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, 2012-13. He has published books titled, Natural Resources Conservation Law [SAGE], Right to Information [Eastern Book House], Contracts, Agreements and Public Policy [NLSIU Book Series -1], Energy Law and Policy in India [NLSIU Book Series-2], Right to Information and Good Governance [NLSIU Books Series-3]. He is also the Chief Editor of the Journal on Environmental Law, Policy and Development and Journal on Law and Public Policy, published by NLSIU.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: 27 April 2024 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Madras .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team