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............................................................................................................................DescriptionThis omnibus brings together two highly acclaimed volumes of essays written by India's leading constitutional expert and political commentator, A. G. Noorani. The volume also includes nine new essays that examine key issue areas that have emerged in the debate on institutions and citizens' rights in recent times.The essays explore the Indian Constitution and its basic structure, Parliament and the making of foreign policy, the issue of lobbying and the need for appropriate legislation, as also ethical codes for parliamentarians and ministers. Further, the omnibus includes a discussion of Courts and their powers of contempt, journalist's rights and freedom of information, in addition to an analysis of the choice of candidates by political parties.Written in the author's trademark lucid style, Constitutional Questions in India scrutinizes almost every constitutional problem that arose in the last two decades. The essays in this volume deal with issues concerning the President, Parliament, the states, the Judiciary, the Civil Services, the Election Commission, the armed forces and the process of accountability on which the constitutional machinery is based.Citizens' Rights, Judges and State Accountability follows the discussion of the executive and legislative branches with a discussion of India's institutions, the Judiciary, Civil Services and the elections, and various commissions of enquiry constituted by the government. It is supplemented with insights into the freedom of information and the citizen's rights to know, and specific articles on the Constitution, parliamentary resolutions, foreign policy, and the armed forces.While highlighting the process of accountability across these institutions, the volume demonstrates how citizens can assert their rights in the face of institutional disinterest and injustice.This multi-faceted volume will be of interest to political scientists, legal scholars, sociologists, opinion leaders, and activists, in addition to the informed lay reader.............................................................................................................................ContentsConstitutional Questions in India: The President, Parliament and the StatesPreface IntroductionSection I - The PresidentThe Options When a Government Loses its Majority, When Can a Budget beDeferred and When Should Parliament be Dissolved, Dissolution of theLok Sabha and Adoption of the Budget, A President's Moves forConstitutional Amendment, The President and the Governors, BritishConventions and the Indian Constitution, Codifying the Conventions, ThePresident and Ordinances, The President's Powers and the Hawala Case,Options in a Hung Lok Sabha, Appointment of a PrimeMinister: President Shankar Dayal Sharma's Lapse, When a Prime MinisterResigns: Deve Gowda's Resignation, President S.D. Sharma's Conclave,Appointing a Prime Minister, Selecting a Prime Minister: 1969-1999Section II - ParliamentDissolution of the Lok Sabha, Dissolution on Prime Minister's orCabinet's Advice?, An Irregular Dissolution, The Prime Minister in theRajya Sabha, Rajya Sabha: Clog or Rubber Stamp?, 'Strangers' in theRajya Sabha, Parliament in Peril, Inquiries by ParliamentaryCommittees, The Speaker, Parliamentary Privileges, Press Leaks andParliamentary Privileges, Defections (1967-1997), Expulsions and theLaw on Defections, The Speaker on the Law of Defection, Resignation ofDisqualified Ministers, The Sub Judice Rule:Throttling Parliament,President, Prime Minister and Parliament, Discussing the Conduct of thePresident or Governor, Bribing Legislators During the Raj, Bribery andMPs, Bribes in Parliament:A Shocking Ruling by the Supreme CourtSection III - The StateThe Governor, Dismissing Governors, Appointment of a Chief Minister,Chief MinistenAn Endangered Species?, The States and Lok Sabha Polls,President's Rule, The President and the Bommai Case, The Centre and Lawand Order in the States: Article 355, Parliament and Law and Order inthe States, The Centres Fact-finding Teams in the States, The Army andLaw and Order, The Governor's Message to the Assembly and the Speaker,Renewing President's Rule, The High Court's Judgement on Renewal ofPresident's Rule, Defections, Speaker and the Governor, Dismissing aChief Minister: The UP Case, Dismissing a Chief Minister: The GujaratCase, The States and Foreign Relations, States and EducationCitizens' Rights, Judges and State AccountabilityPreface IntroductionSection I - The JudiciaryTackling Judicial Delinquency, The Judiciary in Decline: The System'sPrestige at its Lowest Since Inception, Farce or Obsolescence ofImpeachment Process, Imputing Bias and the Law of Contempt, Courts andthe Media, Courts and Bar Associations,The Bar and the Bench, TheSupreme Court and Demolition of Babri Masjid, The Supreme CourtsJudgment on the Ayodhya Act, 1983, The Supreme Court on Hindutva, TheJudges'Case, A Code of Conduct for Judges, Justice Shivappa's CaseSection II - The Process of AccountabilityWhen a Minister Ought to Resign, The Law of Sanction for Prosecution,Integrity of Prosecutions, The Supreme Court on the CBI IS.SatishSharma's Case, The Kargil Inquiry, The Kargil ReportSection III - ElectonsAppointing the Chief Election Commissioner, Debarring Criminals,Debarring Purveyors of Religious Hate, Election Commission and PollSurveys, Delimitation of ConstituenciesSection IV - Commissions of InquiryDissolving a Commission of Inquiry, Publishing Inquiry Reports, JainCommission's Final Report, The Tehelka Commission and Press Freedom,The Commission as VendettaSection V - The Civil ServiceCivil Servants and Ministers, TheVasudevan Case, Transfer of CivilServants, The Civil Servants' Truth, Papers of Previous RegimesSection VI - The Political ProcessPamphleteering and Politics, Split Politics in South Asia, Election ofParty Leaders: Two Political Cultures, The Congress (I)'s Constitution,The Party Organization and its Parliamentary Party, Expelling a PartyMember, Law for Parties: The German ModelSection VII - The Right to KnowCopyright in Nehru's State Papers, Freedom of Expression in Maps, Libelas Crime: A void law, Media Ethics and the Tehelka Operation, Filmcensorship:An Unconstitutional System, The Foreigner in the MediaSection VIII - Article 370 and KashmirArticles 370: Law and PoliticsSection IX - Armed ForcesThe Doctrine of Civilian Control............................................................................................................................Author DetailsA.G. Noorani is advocate, Supreme Court of India and a columnist for the Hindustan Times and Frontline. His books include India Political Trials, 1775- 1947 (OUP, 2005), The Trial of Bhagat Singh (OUP, 2005), The Muslims of India (OUP, 2002), The BJP and The RSS: A Division of Labour (2001), Islam and Jihad (2002), Savarkar and Hindutva (2002), and The Babri Masjid Question from 1528- 2003 (2003).............................................................................................................................
