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Chaiti Bais story and modern India

Bad enactment, no enforcement

Interpreting a federal Constitution

ARGHYA SENGUPTA

ALOK PRASANNA KUMAR

OPINION LEAD February 4, 2014

Updated: February 4, 2014 09:36 IST

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The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2013, which creates the State of

Telangana, has been decisively rejected by the Andhra Pradesh Legislative

Assembly and Council. This rejection, together with the recording of 9,072

amendments and expression of views on its various clauses by its MLAs, and 1,157

like suggestions byits MLCs,has broughttheprocess of the creation of new States

in India into renewed fo cus. As has been opined previously in the pages of this

newspaper, the constitutional position in this context is straightforward: Article 3

of the Constitution vests Parliament with the power to form a new State, provided

that the Bill creating such a State is introduced on the recommendation of the

President and he has referred it to the legislature of the affected State for expressing its viewsthereon. This would suggest that the views of t he Andhra Pradesh Assembly will have no legal effect

the formation of Telangana is solely the prerogative of the government of India. While this may indeed

be the position of the law as it stands today, the unprecedented nature of the rejection of the Bill by t he

Andhra Pradesh Assembly requires the legal interpretation of Article 3 be reconsidered. Such

reconsideration is also prompted by the changing nature of Indian federalism, aptly demonstrated by

the curious situation of a Congress government at the State level defying its counterpart in power at the

Centre.

Unprecedented rejection

The key distinction between this instance and earlier disputes raised in relation to t he formation of a

new State lies in the f act that never befor e has an Amendment Bill been rejected by the State legislature

in question. Both inBabulal Parate(Supreme Court) andPradeep Chaudhary (Supreme Court, 2009)

seminal judgments of the Court dealing with the creation of Bombay and Uttaranchal respectively, the

issue before the Court was whether it was open to Parliament to amend the final Bill after the State

legislature had expressed its views on an earlier, unamended version. In both cases, the Supreme Court,adopting a literal interpretation of Article 3, held that there was no requirement that an amendment to a

Bill forming a new State would also have to be referred to the State legislature concerned. Such

interpretation is arguably correct the pro viso to Article 3 simply states that the Bill must be sent to

the State legislature concerned for expressing its views within a specified period. The pro vision is silent

on whether later amendments have to be referred, as well as on the effect that the views of the State

legislatures will have. Thus read literally, even a wholesale rejection of the Bill can be ignored by

Parliament, since Article 3 merely gives State Assemblies a consultative role their views are not

binding on Parliament in any way.

However, to tre at the States views as carrying merely formal value, as has been widely suggested, would

render the constitutional process of consultation entirely nugatory in a matter of national importance.

The current proviso to Article 3 was introduced by the Constitution (Fifth Amendment) Act, 1955.

Before this amendment, the President could only introduce an Amendment Bill in Parliament after

referring it to the State legislatures concerned for their views. This was a time-consuming process,

allowing States to vacillate in responding, thereby frustrating the efforts of the government of India.

This amendment was necessary to lay the groundwork for the smooth passage of the St ates

Reorganisation Commission Report that recommended a radical redrawing of State boundaries and

creation of new States. By adequately circumscribing State power, it was felt that no single State could

hold up the process of reorganisation.

But what if a State rejected the proposal to create a new State outright? Both the proviso to Article 3 as

well as the Rajya Sabha debates prior to its passage are silent on this specific question. The reason for

The rejection of the Telangana Bill by the Andhra Pradesh Assemblymust not be dismissed as having no legal consequences as that wouldrender the constitutional process of consultation entirely nugatory

COMMENT(43) PRINT T T

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Chaiti Bais story and modern India

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such silence is aptly demonstrated in a speech by MP Pro fessor N.G. Ranga who said in the House, I am

glad really now that this Bill has come to be introduced instead of the Congress Party trusting itself to

its capacity to get the lo cal majorities, which are also Congress majorities, to express the views of the

legislatures. (Rajya Sabha Debates, December 15, 1955). The proviso was thus brought in at a time

when such disagreement between the Centre and States was not a real possibility. Neither did

Parliament envisage nor did it legislate for such a situation. The rejection of the Telangana Bill by the

Andhra Pradesh Assembly is evidence of a dramatically changed time. For the le gal interpretation of

Article 3 to ignore such change would be an anachronism. It would also be inconsonant with the

Supreme Courts characterisation of the Constitution as a living tree capable of continuous growth

with concomitantly changing scenarios.

Bommai case

Such reinterpretation of provisions of the Constitution that have bearing on its f ederal character hasprecedent. In terms of the legality of the imposition of Presidents Rule in States under Article 356, the

Supreme Court inS.R. Bommai v. Union of India(Supreme Court, 1994) overruled its own precedent in

the case ofState of Rajasthan v Union of India (Supreme Court, 1977). While holding that the power of

the President to impose Presidents Rule is not above and beyond judicial review entirely, the Court

narrowed down the circumstances and the manner in which such powers could be exercised. The

premise of this shift in constitutional jurisprudence was that the principle of federalism was part of the

basic structure of the Constitution, and this principle could only be deviated from in exceptional and

extraordinary circumstances, i.e. where constitutional rule was not possible in the State. In doing so, the

Court recognised the pitfalls o f a literal minded construction of the Constitution as was done in

theRajasthan case. In the absence of any checks on the exceptional power of the President to impose

Presidents Rule and give federalism a go-by in the name of upholding the Constitution, the Court

recognised that the Constitution itself could be subverted.

The Supreme Courts course correction inBommai has a deeper lesson. That Indias constitutionally

envisaged federal structure has a strong centralising tendency is beyo nd question. Such a tendency isnot unique to India. Federal states the world over Canada, the United States, Australia all display

discernible centripetal forces irrespective of differences in their federal structure. But the decision

inBommai and now the Andhra Pradesh Assemblys rejection of the Telangana Bill marks a significant

change in this dynamic. It provides recognition to a more balanced union, with Centre and States seen

increasingly as coordinate entities. At a time when the Chief Minister of West Bengal trumps the

decision of the government of India to sign an international accord, the sole prerogative of the Central

government, and the Chief Minister of T amil Nadu prevents Sri Lankan cricketers from playing in

Chennai despite them having valid visas for travel in India, such a reworked understanding of federalism

in India is both realistic and pragmatic.

Towards a new federalism

In the face of such changes, to merely parrot an originalist constitutional vision of a strong Centre while

interpreting legal provisions is to take a blinkered view. The centralising tendency in Indias federal

structure was adopted at a time when it was necessary to weld Indias disparate elements together into a

nation. This was a task for which the government of India was uniquely positioned and required a

supporting constitutional architecture. Thus, the fe deral provisions of the Constitution were as much

lofty vision as political strategy. Such strategy now requires a careful recalibration since such a tool for

nation-building, if used unthinkingly, will be seen purely as central hegemony. Such forced unitarity will

be more harmful than a genuine recognition of a more equal f ederal structure that is perfectly

consonant with the idea of India.

This does not in any way mean that the Andhra Pradesh Assemblys views on the Telangana Bill should

be the last word on the matter. Such an inference would be plainly unconstitutional. However, it is

necessary that the Central government be required in law to adequately take into consideration the

reasons why the Andhra Pradesh Assembly rejected the Telangana Bill. This obligation should be

discharged in writing, demonstrating a proper application of mind with accompanying reasons as to why

each recommendation has been accepted or rejected. Without such consideration, the Andhra Pradesh

Reorganisation Bill, 2013, if passed, would seriously lack legitimacy and be inconsonant with the

dynamic federal spirit of the Constitution.

(With inputs from Sakshi Aravind)

(Arghya Sengupta and Alok Prasanna Kumar are research director and senior resident fellow

respectively, at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, a New Delhi-based legal policy think tank.)

Keywords: Telangana Bill,Andhra Pradesh bifurcation,Andhra Pradesh

Assembly, Seemandhra, Samaikhyandhra, Bommai case, federalism,Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation

Bill, Kiran Kumar Reddy

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COMMENTS(43) RECOMMENDED POST A COMMENT

It is right to say that the center should take into account as to why the AP assembly completely

rejected the AP reo rganization bill in order to maintain not just a smooth transition in case of

transference of assets and power to Telangana but also to ensure that its acts are not taken as a

means for gaining political mileage out of the whole issue. But one more point to note here is

that this conclusive rejection of the bill shows that maximum number of authorized people in

the state assembly are opposed to the formation of Telangana on what bases - an issue that is to

be looked into by center. Mo reover thinking of attaining a federal structure as that in USA is a

long shot fo r now untill such issues are dealt with rationality and inclusivity.

Posted on: Feb 5, 2014 at 13:16 IST

from: Piyush Sanduja

If Article 3 is over ruling the decission of a state then what kind of federal structure we have?

The authors of the constitution never thought of a central govenment which is against the will

of majority o pinion (at least 60% of AP is against division). Also, no political party in the AP

assembly (including pro telengana parties) is accepting 100% the present bill. There are

objections on Governer's role, common capital, water, power, etc. If division is for betterment

of people then what is the betterment of this bill which is not satisfactory to any one. What is

the finanical and social implications?

In the present case the whole o f AP is divided into pro and against state division. In this

situation the central government should behave more responsibly but in reality they are

behaving against the democratic norms. Instead of hadling such a sensitive issue in a hurry govt

should study all the consequencies and behave in more democratic manner.


from: raveendra

It is true that Andhra state rejected Telangana bill and now its up to center that will decide

about correct destination before considering any bill as final Center should be cool and be

ponderous to decide and nothing should do without logic and in haste.in case of Telangana bill

it is very important to see the unprecedented rejection of Andhra assembly and also measure

their weight in the social arena.

Now its need o f hour t hat center will decide that the concern raise by the MLA and MLC are

genuine and if yes they should do according to them and if they are o nly doing these thing to

gain some profit in coming election then they should be blatantly refused.


from: anoop kumar mishra

The formation of a state should be harmonious & advantageous to all

the regions of the erstwhile state. Also, the formation of new states

should start after considering the resources,infrastructure,

vegetation available. The newly formed states should enjoy all the

facilities that they used to enjoy before their formation. People must

understand that states are seen only in P OLITICAL maps. Creation o f a

new state will neither create wonders nor preventing its creation

deprives all the goo d it had. The intention behind giving central

supreme power in creation of states is that the central Govt lo oks

things in national perspective & not in r egional perspective. But,
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4/9



what if the central Govt is trying to do something for political gain?

Supreme court should be allowed to intervene if such misuse of power

happens.


from: rupesh

The arguments here are, though appealing, ill-informed. Federalism

does not mean getting a resolution t hrough the assembly by means of

brute majority and physical strength and then claiming legitimacy . The

facts in this case need a closer look. 1) The resolution by Mr Kiran

Kumar Reddy was passed by Voice vote and there was no division. 2) The

Telangana MLA s were physically stopped from having any access to the

speaker by the sheer majority o f Seeamandhra MLA s. This is verysymptomatic of the way Telangana people were denied access to justice.

Contray to what the authors argue, Article 3 is precisely meant to

address this brute strength of the majority. Demands for a separate

state almost always arise from a minority of the population. Article 3

is aimed to prevent trampling of such aspirations of minority by an

unwilling majority by sheer numbers in the state assembly.

-


from: C.S.C.Sekhar

Dear Sir,

Article 1 of the Constitution ["India shall be a Union of States"], read in conjuncture with Article

3, makes it clear that the Makers of our Constitution wanted India to be an "indestructible

Union of destructible States". Its federal features notwithstanding, it is these Unitary features

and the power of the Central Government to re-organise the units of the Union that have

facilitated the integration of many states into the Indian Union. Irrespective of the politics of

the time, it is wort hwhile to remember that the States are administrative units only, and do not

enjoy the Constitutional status of the States of the United States of America.


from: RAGHURAM S

The bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh after more than six decades cannot be done without a

referendum, for which all the political parties should agree. Even then, a lot of developments

have come up from contributions from all parts of Andhra. If the Centre yields to Telengana

lobbyists, the AP will suffer a situation like Kashmir Border. That's how Telengana group looks

at people working in Hyderabad from other parts. Taking into consideration all other future

issues from other States, the Center could address the issues raised by T. Leaders by offering

more funds for development. The cure would be worse than prolonged pain.


from: Louis S. Venugopal

Selfish and Cunning people who wanted to depend lifelong on other

regions resources like (rivers waters and capital Hyderabad) will

never understand the significance of Telangana state as till to day

more than 2000 youth students died i.e (including 1969 & after 2009)

for the genuine cause of Telangana state. The culture and society of

Telangana region is entirely different fro m Seemaandhra region and

moreover the very purpose of formation of united AP in 1956 was

diluted by disrespecting the gentlemen's agreement between Telangana

and SA region due to the arrogant nature of Andhra rulers for

benefiting their region. When Majority people taking minority people

as granted for whatever so is a big threat to Democracy and Federalismin the country. So I strongly advocate that Telangana state must be

created for safeguarding the interests of Telangana region and it is

also a 60 years old demand since the time of merger. Article-3 was

created by keeping the interests of all people.


from: Hasan

When Seemandhra wanted a separate state without extending any claim on Hyderabad in

1972,there was absolutely no murmur from tho se who demanded separate T-state just 3

years back.Mrs.indira Gandhi even diluted the mulki rules..still separatists did not raise any

protest.This shows how hollo w is the argument that T-demand is a 60 year aspiration of

people.Politicians like KCR,Nagam ,Kadiyam and Devender (when they were in power)had a

good word about the contribution of Seemandhra people and the benefits of united state.the

propaganda started with the claim of under development of T elangana but after Sri Krishna

committee, the slogan was changed to self rule and self re spect which can be claims of allregions of India.Changing of goal posts are seen even in these comments.When

constitutional niceties are being discussed, people raise questions about ethical validity ! If at

all there is an io ta of ethics in the T-movement , it would have joined hands with Jai Andhra

movement of 1972


from: Bharadwaja


5/9



I am enlightened by the article.People had no objection when an important item like

bifurcation of a state was brought as a table item in the cabinet meeting.The concerns of the

residuary state were not addressed.It was never discussed with the two parties.And the

people were not prepared for it.It came as a bolt from the blue.


from: DrMSReddy

No need to worry about the formation of the state of Telangana. As per

Article3 the state will be created.


from: N Rama Rao

All the hype created against demerger of Te langana region from Andhra

Pradesh is created by Seema Andhra politicians for safeguarding their

political power in Seema Andhra in 2014 elections.


from: kvenkataramam

You will defeat the very purpose of t he constitutional provisions and

its spirit when you use technicalities to server your own interest.

Rejection of bill for creation of Telangana is one such example. The

sole purpose of the people who rejected the bill is the assumed

gullibility of the constituency they serve and the political benefit

they can reap by doing so. They neither have the capability nor the

vision to find a solution to Telangana problem. If they were to have

those skills and acumen and the large heart they could have resolved

the issue in the years that they had from the time it was first

announced in 2009 and central govt would have been happy not tointerfere at all. Rejection of the bill here is like adjournments in

courts which is used to defeat the spirit of law. Yes technically you

have a right but ethically yo u are wrong. Federalism/democracy will

get a bo ost when minorities believe that the system can deliver

justice and not crush them for majority.


from: Srinivas

Why not of ficially (constitutionally) declare telagana as a colony of Andhra region then at least

it will show the reality of what is going o n in the practice. How long telangana needs to be in the

slavery also should be determined by AP Assembly and Paliament when they can not allow

telangana to rule themselves.


from: ravi

When power is truly decentralized at Panchayat level,such demands for

creating new States may lose force.

What is happening is some State leaders have exploited the system to get

maximum personal advantage, denying to others.Huge discretion enjoyed in

allocating resources such as land have contributed to the present

situation.


from: Bhanumurti K

IF anybody presumes that assembly rejecting the bill has to get

attraction from other quarters of the country is meaningless and

preposterous attempt as in the past UP assembly pass the reso lution in

favour of dividing UP state into 4 parts. Is that implemented by

Centre? the answer is big NO, why b ecause, the Centre is only supreme

for deciding to create new states or alter the boundaries of the

existing state with adjacent state. Uttarakhand state added 2

districts from UP during the discussion in Parliament while passing

the UP reorganisation bill which has no support of state legislatures

in state assembly or any discussion took place in this regard in state

assembly. One should clearly comprehend that new states creation is

the sole right of Central govt. or President of India. One such state

is the Telangana state, which is created by Central govt. and assembly

rejecting or approving T-Bill has no legal impact on the passage of T-

Bill in parliament.


from: Hasan

Brilliant article. Hope that Indian federalism is not made a prey to

Vote bank politics


from: heamnth

I am of the opinion the purpose keeping state reorganization under Central Government under

Article 3 in the Constitution is only to protect the boundaries of the Country intact. Failing

which some of the State leaders may pass a resolution stating that they intend the merge the

state with some other country. States Reorganization is prerogative of Central only for all

purpose.


6/9



In the case AP Assembly voice Vote is absolutely tr ash. such an important resolution having

passed within two minutes shows the commitment by legislators of t he state. In our life time it

is not possible to get passed such an important resolution with majority of the people voting in

favour of Telangana. The reasons is Seemandhra members are in majority in the ho use.

Whereas Telangana members are in minority.


from: baradangi

The unilateral decision of CM to defeat the T-Bill has no significance

or legal impact on the rejection of AP re organisation Bill as any

resolution forwarded by CM to speaker should be back by state cabinet

approval. New states are created for flexibility and on demand or oneregion feels that their development fund is totally misused by other

regions. Telangana state is going to be born by Article-3 provision,

which rests the supreme powers to o nly President or Parliament.

Moreover U nder Article-3 strictly speaking, Voting is forbidden in

state assembly for any cause albeit it is approved by one particular

region for their selfish gains to rule the people from minority

region. I am sure that Telangana state is going to be reality by this

month i.e 17th february


from: Hasan

The issue of AP state re-organization will be somehow dealt and forgotten, but the precedence

set will make or break new ground for resolution of future center vs state(s) disputes. Hope

Ambedkar's intent reflects in how we interpret our constitution today.


from: haranathp

Though I agree with your point of providing powers to State Assemblies to

stop central's Hegemony. But loo king form India's prospective where the

local government is ruled by stubborn politicians like Akhilesh Yadav,

Mayavati, Raj Thakare and many more who conspicuously lack prudence in

their judgement more over have such a narrow view in their rule that I

doubt to increase powers at the local level will be a perspicacious step.


from: Nishith Anand

Centralising tendency of federal characteristic of Indian

Constitution was call of time during those period as Indian was newly

independent country and most of the princely states were free

independent.At this scenario our constitution maker adoptedcentralising tendency in Indias federal structure to weld Indias

disparate elements together into a nation.

But now after 67 y ear of independence when India is a strong

democratic country of world,its time to reinterpretation of Federal

Constitution specially in cases where sentiment of native peo ple

invole such as state re-organisation bills.


from: Ajay Kumar Yadav

An excellent piece of writing, as I view, that underscores the need to

revisit the current interpretation of the proviso of Art 3 of the

Indian constitution to enable the states have a more genuine say in

issues affecting them which will indeed be a giant leap in realizing

in greater terms the constitutionally envisaged 'federalism'.

A suitable interpretation, or re-interpretation, of constitutional

provisions with changing or changed times in extremely necessary to

implement 'in essence' the 'fundamental law' of the country....... .

and we must not abstain from that..........


from: UJJWAL

The ultimate goal of any Law is to save the "Dharma". When the Dharma is

defeated a Krishna will born to educate the Arjuna to drive him and to

save the Dharma. At times no Laws will prevent the winning of Dharma.

"Dharmo Rakshathi Rakshithaha"


from: Srinivas

"The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2013, which creates the State of

Telangana, has been decisively rejected by the Andhra Pradesh Legislative

Assembly and Council" this very first sentance is totally wrong and so as rest of the

article. Can you imagine (pl. see the tapes o f assembly) in two minutes that

"Rejection" happened. Voice vote!! They rejected it after more than 50 days, what

joke. If this is democracy, Is this serious one which deserves such an article.


7/9



Instead of question such resolution and its approriatness, writing such articles

shows the complete lack of ground reality. Entire Telangana MLAs opposed it,

entire Telangana ministers opposed its introduction, entire Telangana society

thought it is one more attempt to oppress them, Today if there is referrundum in

Telangana, more than 98% of 40 million people support. If this bill is not going to

Parliament, that is the greatest insult to the constitution, article 3 and to all our

collective wisdom.


from: B.Gujja

Article well written!!! If State assembly's view is an empty exercise whats the point in

conducting such an exercise?

Its important to note that that we as a nation has matured enough to stay together and its hightime to revisit and ease

the federal credentials of the constitution.

As some argue there was never a majority and minority issue in state reorganisation. All the

states carved out in the

recent past (Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, chattisgarh) were minority regions and state assembly's

has passed a resolution

in favour of their creation. Its important that the differences of seemandhra and telangaga

should be reconciled before

carving a new state.


from: Madhav

To call India a federal state appears to be a fallacy. It is

essentially unitary state with certain federal characteristics. Butthe federal characteristics appear to be more in form than substance.

The Central Government can divide or merge the states with out the

approval of state legislature without even amending the Constitution.

Apart from that the Centre can even part with territories to foreign

governments as demonstrated in the case of Tin Bheega and Katchativu.

Besides, purse strings are also controlled by the centre as major

revenue streams are with them.


from: Ramakrishnan K

Argument that the rejection of Bill by bo th the house is inconsequential

and Center will still proceed ahead with bifurcation of AP shows 'the

poverty of mind' of UPA leaders. Is it not akin to saying that in a

murder trial the examination of witnesses from the side of both defence

and prosecution are only fo r a procedural requirements/formalities and

court can pronounce award of capital punishment as a pre-determined

judgment for a short-term political gain?


from: Rao C V C

The Constituion came into being when the Indian national congress was in power. The

power equations have now undergone a Himalayan change. We are now in coalition politics

and no one is in a position to forecast the polarization of politucal forces at any point of

time. Continuation of the federal structure is definitely in the interests of the country, and for

That , the political parties will have to develop a NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE to strengthen

The nation. In USSR, the federal structure vanished after Gorbachev's period, and we find

The continuance of the federal structure in USA, in spite of the differing approaches of the

Democrats and the Republicans in that country. All the po litical parties, will have to be

cautious at this time in Indian history . The telengana issue will help all political parties to

adopt the right approach to strengthen the biggest democracy in the world.


from: C p Chandra das

Article 3 in its present form is being mis-interpreted by separatist agitators. Article(3) is not

giving scope for "lobb ying" in carving out separate states. Indian states should not be formed

by "lobbying with third party", which is not affected by the decision. As the authors rightly said,

immediately after independence, India needed the strong center. But not after becoming a

matured democracy. The issue should be settled in state assembly. Either you convince the

majority or accept the majority. There is no other way around. At the same time the minority

rights needs to be protected, leaving the policy decision to the majority opinion. Otherwise

there will be anarchy in the nation.


from: Sarath

State Reo rganization is a complicated issue ever since the formation

of Indian union.There will be arguments for and against thereorganization.The reorganization through resolution can be rejected

or accepted by the state legislature with a majority of one vote or

even might through the casting vote of the speaker.However this cannot

be treated as a consensual opinion of the legislature.The opinion of

the state legislature with two third majority need only be bounded to

the parliament necessarily.


8/9



Again the state reorganization bill introduced in both houses need

only adopted with simple majority even though this issue is of extreme

importance.It will be f air if the state reorganization bill (all the

clauses in the bill) given as important as an amendment to the

constitution so that the union government will be fo rced to have a

wider consultations. Again before the adoption of such an important

bill standing committed referral should be compulsory.


from: Finto

@aravind,If division was sought we would have known whether MLAs like Jagga reddy and

JP ( both from Telangana) voted for or against the bill.

Another comment on the extent to which the non-telangana politicians went to stop the b illneed some explanation.In fact the game has been started by the ruling party..the shameless

depth to which it reached to some how bring the T-bill was unprecedented..so is the the chorus

of the T-politicians in supporting the highly partisan bill while ignoring constitutionally valid

pointers...the T-politicians were so intoxicated with the separatism, they were ready to

surrender the sovereignty of assembly to the parliament unconditionally..they were saying that

in case of division of states, parliament is supreme..would they be on the same

argument if a similarly hurried bill to make Hyderabad a separate state/ UT, is pushed through

without bothering about constitutional niceties or to take the views of all the stake holders?


from: Bharadwaja

Changing scenario from single party dominance to multiparty over the years is rightly

demonstrated in this article. One strange thing is though in both centre and state congress is

ruling, bill has been rejected by the State Assembly.


from: Srinivas B

The authors have put forth a very valid point. Issues have to be decided according to the

circumstances peculiar and particular to it. However, t he question does remain as to WHO will

ultimately decide the fate of the legislation? WHO will decide how a region and the people there

should be administered? The obvious answer is "the people," but who will "the people" be? The

people of the region itself, or the people of the entire state proposed to be bifurcated?

Moreover, HOW will the will of the people be ascertained? By a House dominated by

representatives opposing the move? Or by some o ther mechanism? That is the question.


from: Anand Bhisey

The Congress party did not do its home work bef ore making the decision

of bifurcation. It should not rush to bifurcate as it is being done

now.


from: Jayachnd Pallekonda

From the constitutional debates, clearly Article 3 was so draft ed to pro tect a minority that is at

a disadvantage versus a majority. This was needed f or doing justice to the minority. What was

not addressed, however, was the reverse situation of a "minority" actually having an advantage

over the majority, which, is precisely what we have in the present Telangana separation issue.

Despite claims for separate statehood on the basis of cultural identity and perceived

victimization, Telangana actually benefited from development to a greater degree compared to

Seemandhra and together with control over headwaters of the rivers, natural resources, and

Hyderabad, it will be walking away with the crown jewels - for Se emandhra this is a matter of

losing ability to meet f undamental needs. A literal interpretation of Article 3 would trample

indiscriminately on the rights of the majority in this situation, which we can be sure could not

have been the intention of the framers of the constitution.

Posted on: Feb 4, 2014 at 08:57 ISTfrom: Ablu Zarat

Very valid points and timely.


from: Ramakrishna Garimella

Excellent article. The Hindu should be commended for the excellence of its legal analysis. My

interpretation of the article is that while the federalism inherent in the Indian Constitution

vested a lot of power in the centre, the reality is that over the past 60 years this is being diluted.

The fo unders of the American (and Australian which is largely based on US Constitution)

distributed the power amongst the various entities and ensured that the Centre remained weak.

However the Constitution ensured that the Centre ret ained some powers exclusively to itself

and the states have largely abided by that. The instance you mentioned (TN govt ref using visas)

is more like a mutiny by the TN Govt and should not be taken as a precedent. If this state of

affairs is allowed to continue, balkanisation may well be a posibility in the years to come.


from: Bala Varadarajan

I take this opportunity to salute THE HINDU in timely publishing this article with balanced

analysis of constitutional provisions in respect of States r eorganisation under Article 3 o f

constitution and Andhra Pradesh assembly's rejection of the bill to b e placed in parliament

and referred by president of India for its views.The learned law makers would apply their


9/9


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mind in evaluating the provisions of the bill and repurcussions associated in passing the

same ,while upholding the federal structure of the country and keep it united forever .It is

bounded duty of all the lawmakers to provide due consideration to the views expressed by

their counter parts in state legislatures . No state should be reorganised without analysing

the real need of it and if it is inevitable the interest of stake holders to be considered without

any short te rm political considerations .


from: P S N RAO

Good analysis


from: Venkat

The most essential ingredient of democratic process lies in acceptance

of the majority view by one & all. State Assemblies mustn't be denied

of their rights to take decisions relating to their States.


from: asim chakrabarti

It appears that the whole article is based on the assumption that the

Rejection of the bill by State Assembly with Majority members who are

from Non T elangana Region as being Unprecedented. But, rater what

would have made the rejection unprecedented was if at least one member

from Telangana region has voted for the rejection of the Bill, i the

absence of which, the rejection of this bill is only on the expected

line of t he stance taken by the non Telangana leaders from the

beginning although for the most part in the part they have agreed forthe division in the Past.

What is unprecedented here is the fact that to what extent the Non-

Telangana politicians went to ensure the bill does not pass. It should

be noted that the bill was not rejected the day it was introduced the

house but rather was done with malicious intent only at the end of

discussions for more than 30 days. It should also be noted that the

extension period was requested from the president to discuss.


from: Aravind

Most sensible article I have seen on t his topic thus far.


from: KVRao
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Interpreting a Federal Constitution - The Hindu