Punitive and preventive detention

Crime is an act against the society at large and requires for stricter action from the authorities. The criminal justice administration allows detention of a person in two circumstances, or a detention can be one of the two kinds:

Punitive detention, and

Preventive detention

Punitive detention is the detention as a punishment for the crime committed by an individual. It takes place after the actual commission of an offence or at least after an attempt has been made. The time taken from actual offence to detention can vary in length. It is a punishment imparted to the wrongdoer and involves strict measures. The duration of such a detention depends on what the law stipulates for the particular offence.

Preventive detention is the detention made as a precautionary measure. This kind of detention can be made by the authorities even on a slight apprehension that the person can commit a crime. It is generally made for protecting the society from any future happening. It is not a punishment but a precaution. This detention comes to an end the moment the apprehension of danger ends.

Against corruption!

I wish people can understand that the only way to stop corruption is to stop being corrupt themselves.........something that they will never do........we feed the snake and then cry when it bites.........all I know is that we cannot clap with just a single hand……corruption is there, because we support it for our own selfish needs

If one really wants to stop this evil, then one needs to change oneself…….it is very easy to attend protest marches, shout slogans, blame the system, but it is very difficult to change ourselves, very difficult to speak the truth specially when the truth is against us

If one really wants to fight corruption, then one should:

Stop cheating in exams or appearing in them when one’s attendance is less than seventy percent or get proxy attendance marked

Stop giving donations for securing admission in educational institutions

Stop spitting in public places, stop throwing garbage on roads

Stop giving money to the traffic constable when stopped for speeding, jumping signals, tripling on bikes, not wearing helmets/seatbelts, drunken driving, parking at a no parking zone or violating any other traffic rule

Stop giving money to the police officer at the time of enquiry for getting passport

Stop breaking rules

Public smoking is an offence, stop doing it

Stop female infanticide/feticide and getting sex determination test done (again an unlawful act)

Stop giving money to the clerks for getting our work done at college/university/different offices (work like getting documents, mark sheets, things that we have a legal claim to)

Stop a fight at some public place

Stop and actually attend to some accident victim

Stop and help some hungry/needy person

Stop taking and/or offering dowry

Stop giving false information so as to suit our interests

Stop discrimination on the basis of sex, caste, class, religion, region, race, place of birth

Stop being lazy at work and start meeting deadlines

Stop playing games on internet during work hours in office

Stop claiming funds/ scholarships that are undeserved, by giving false information

Stop getting assured work done in courts

Stop taking commissions from companies for endorsing their product/services, if the same are substandard

Stop misusing official powers

Stop being a mute spectator when somebody’s rights are being infringed, somebody is being physically, emotionally, psychologically abused

Stop child labor and child abuse

Stop environmental damage, cruelty to animals, felling of trees, pollution

Stop the violation of rights of women, children, old people, minorities, refugees, indigenous people, and other vulnerable groups

Stop injustice

And the list goes on………..

This is just the tip of the iceberg and one needs to stop and think on what is right and what is wrong and then take a conscientious decision………. And stop neglecting one’s duty as a responsible human being…….

Article 21 and the concept of environmental protection and sustainable development.

Article 21 of the constitution of India provides for the right to life and personal liberty. It states that “no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.”In Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra v State of UP¹, also known as the Dehradun quarrying case, the Supreme Court of India has held that pollution caused by quarries adversely affects the health and safety of people and hence, the same should be stopped as being violative of Article 21.In this case, the Supreme Court for the first time held that the right to wholesome environment is a part of right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Further, in the case of Subhash Kumar v State of Bihar², again the apex court held that the right to get pollution free water and air is a fundamental right under Article 21.  Following this decision, the right to pollution free environment was incorporated under the head of right to life and all the law courts within the Indian territory were bound to follow the same. This laid down the foundation of environmental litigation in India.

Similarly, public health and ecology³ were held to be the priorities under Article 21 and the constitution of a green bench⁴ was also ordered by the Supreme Court.

In the case of Ratlam Munipality v Vardicharan⁵, where the problem of pollution was due to private polluters and haphazard town planning, it was held by the Supreme Court that pollution free environment is an integral part of  right to life under Article 21.

  1. r l e k v state of u. p. AIR 1985 SC 652

   ^{2. vellore citizen’s welfare forum v UOI AIR} 1996 SC 2715

   3 subhash kumar v state of Bihar 1991 SC 420

   ^{4  vellore citizen’s welfare forum v UOI AIR} 1996 SC 2715

   5.ratlam municipality v vardicharan AIR 1980 SC 1622

TRIPS and International trade

The TRIPS agreement introduced intellectual property law into the international trading system for the first time, and remains the most comprehensive international agreement on intellectual property to date. The TRIPS Agreement is a part of the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO) which India has ratified and which came into force from January 1, 1995.  The TRIPS Agreement lays down minimum standards for protection and enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) in member countries and requires them to bring their laws and regulations on Intellectual Property (IP) into conformity with their obligations within the time frame stipulated in the Agreement. 

Article 69 of the TRIPS agreement states that members agree to cooperate with each other with a view to eliminating international trade in goods infringing intellectual property rights.

 Unlike other treaties on intellectual property, TRIPS has a powerful enforcement mechanism. States can be disciplined through the WTO's dispute settlement  mechanism. 

With respect to the implications of the agreement, it envisages a one year transition period for developed countries to bring their legislation and practices into conformity. Developing countries and countries in the process of transformation, centrally planned economy into market economy would have a five year transition period and least developed countries eleven years.

The TRIPS Agreement says WTO member countries must comply with the substantive obligations of the main conventions of WIPO — the Paris Convention on industrial property, and the Berne Convention on copyright.  The TRIPS Agreement also introduces additional obligations in areas which were not addressed in these conventions, or were thought not to be sufficiently addressed in them.

Therefore internationalising IPRs creates the capability to own the rights to a broad base of products. These products cannot be legally produced for the duration of the patent without permission from the patent owner. Prior to TRIPs many developing countries did not provide IPR protection on agricultural chemicals or plant varieties. This meant that they could produce them locally or import them at cheaper prices. Developing countries are now prevented from borrowing foreign technology and agricultural companies are able to obtain higher prices for their products as other avenues for obtaining them are closed.

Patents may indeed make the food supply more vulnerable - economically and ecologically. Patenting encourages monocultural production and is likely to increase this trend even beyond that of the Green Revolution. It is crucial to the method of monocultural agriculture that a diverse base of varieties is preserved so that entire varieties of crops are not destroyed. It also threatens diversified control of the supply of food increasing the possibility of scarcity. "A patent granting a single corporation monopoly control over one of the world's most important food crops is a threat to world food security.

The TRIPS agreement tends to regularize the international trade by providing certain minimum standards which are to be followed by the member countries.

However, there are certain problems related to the application of the provisions of the TRIPS agreement to the developing countries. The grant of patent might adversely effect the development of the African and Asian countries.

Suggestions

The TRIPS agreement effects the international trade in more than one manner. On one hand, it provides protection to the intellectual property, on the other, it adversely effects the interests of the developing countries.

In order to bring about uniform development of all the countries, it is required that certain changes are made in the agreement. The various changes that are required are:-

(1)    There is should be a change in the grant of patent on crops so as to prevent any food scarcity due to monopolization in crops.

(2)    Regarding medicines, only process patent should be given so as to encourage a healthy competitive market and also to make available the various life saving drugs.

(3)    There is a need to provide provisions for the benefit of the developing and the under developed nations so as to ensure their proper economic development.

Dominance of Union in the distribution of legislative process

The Constitution of India is a federal Constitution with the distribution of various powers between the Union and the States. The most important feature of a federal Constitution is the distribution of legislative power between the Center and the states. The distribution of power is an essential feature of federalism. The object for which a federal state is formed involves a diversion of authority between the national government and the separate states.

A basic test applied to decide what subjects should be allotted to the one or the other level of government is that functions of national importance should go to the center, and those of local interest should go to the regions.

The distribution of legislative powers is covered under Part XI Chapter I of the Constitution and the List of subjects is given in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution. While there is a distribution of legislative powers, in cases of emergency or under certain circumstances, the Union Legislature has power to make laws superseding the State laws under the topics covered in the State list. Similarly, as far as the Concurrent List is concerned, in cases of repugnancy, the laws made by the Union Legislature shall prevail over the ones made by State Legislatures. The Union Parliament has also the power to make law for two or more States, when they request it to do so.

Thus, going by the scheme of Part XI Chapter I of the Constitution of India, it can be inferred that it has been intended by the Constitution makers that the Parliament should have a dominant role in the legislative field as compared with the state legislatures. The Union List has greater number of Entries, further the Union laws shall prevail in cases of repugnancy with the state laws made in respect of the Concurrent List or the State List under special circumstances like emergency or in case when a resolution is passed by the Council of States when  the same acquires a national importance .

                Therefore, overall it can be stated that there is a dominance of the union in the distribution of legislative process between the union and the state. The aim behind such dominance is to create a stronger center with wider legislative powers as the strength of the nation depends upon its center and a strong center will lead to a strong country.

National security vis-à-vis privacy in cyber space

The union home ministry’s request to the department of telecom to ensure monitoring of social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter in order to "strengthen cyber security paraphernalia" raises number of questions on fundamental freedoms and privacy.

The said request raises certain questions relating to whether the individual’s right to privacy enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution can be taken away by such a government action.

Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution provides for the right to speech to the citizens, (the freedom of press being an implied part of it) subject to certain restrictions including national security and public disorder under clause (2) of the said Article. A citizen’s right to speech can be curtailed if the government fears that it will cause public disorder, effect sovereignty and integrity and the security of the state. And following the recent unrest in the Arab world following a twitter update, which caused the downfall of the governments of Tunisia and Egypt and leaving thousands dead, the State will try to control the freedom in cyber space for the same extends beyond the national borders.

The government wanting to monitor feeds that are also kept private by the user and not just the public feeds also raises a question as to the right of privacy. Can the privacy be curtailed for the purpose of ensuring security and innocent individuals allowed to be harassed? However, the right to privacy is a part of the right to life given a sacrosanct position under Article 21 which cannot be infringed in any circumstance, except by the procedure established by law. Following the Maneka Gandhi case, the clause “procedure established by law” is construed as “due process of law”, giving greater validity to the individual’s right. Another question is that if the government formulates such a law, then will it be hit by the touchstone of Articles 14, 19 and 21 which would check its constitutionality. However, the question is how far can the privacy law be extended? In Mr. X vs. Hospital Z, the Apex Court has ruled that one man’s right to privacy cannot be extended to the limit that it damages another’s right to life. So, where the freedom of speech becomes a threat to public order and national security, it is difficult to protect it under privacy law.

And another question raised is not legal or moral but economic. Is it prudent to spend large amount of public money in monitoring the bulk of feeds on networking sites when large funds are required for the development of the nation especially at the time when the world is reeling under global meltdown and a threat of a second recession in less than 3 years time is looming large?

State responsibility for the indiscriminate shooting of protesting unarmed farmers by the police

Police took direct aim at retreating unarmed farmers in Maharashtra killing 3 and arresting others while they were protesting for the resumption of water supply for their daily life and their crops. The gathering was unarmed while the police took direct aim when the farmers were retreating. Such an act by the police shows a certain disregard to the plight of poor farmers.

Article 300[1] of the Constitution of India lays down the State responsibility for the torts committed by its servants. In Nilabati Behera, Saheli and a wide variety of cases, the judiciary has held the police responsible for prison torture and the State as being vicariously responsible. The State is deemed to be responsible for all the wrongful acts of its employees committed in the course of employment.

The criminal law also does not allow the police to use force in excess of the maximum punishment for the offence for which a person is charged. Law prohibits use of force that can cause death except for such offenders whose crime is punishable with death. Even the assembly cannot be termed as an unlawful assembly, not fulfilling the conditions under Section 141 IPC[2], as the purpose of the same was not to cause damage but only demand water supply for their sustenance, the same being their fundamental right under Articles 19[3] and 21[4], the use of force on them was totally unwarranted.

Such an action is a gross violation of human rights, a clear abuse of power and a symbol of maladministration and calls for intervention so that liability is fixed.

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[1] Article 300 in The Constitution Of India 1949

300. Suits and proceedings

(1) The Governor of India may sue or be sued by the name of the Union and the Government of a State may sue or be sued by the name of the State and may, subject to any provisions which may be made by Act of Parliament or of the Legislature of such State enacted by virtue of powers conferred by this Constitution, sue or be sued in relation to their respective affairs in the like cases as the Dominion of India and the corresponding Provinces or the corresponding Indian States might have sued or been sued if this Constitution had not been enacted

(2) If at the commencement of this Constitution

(a) any legal proceedings are pending to which the Dominion of India is a party, the Union of India shall be deemed to be substituted for the Dominion in those proceedings; and

(b) any legal proceedings are pending to which a Province or an Indian State is a party, the corresponding State shall be deemed to be substituted for the Province or the Indian State in those proceedings

[2] Section 141IPC. Unlawful assembly

An assembly of five or more persons is designated an “unlawful assembly”, if the common object of the persons composing that assembly is—

First.— To overawe by criminal force, or show of criminal force, 1[the Central or any State Government or Parliament or the Legis­lature of any State], or any public servant in the exercise of the lawful power of such public servant; or

Second.— To resist the execution of any law, or of any legal process; or

Third.— To commit any mischief or criminal trespass, or other offence; or

Fourth.— By means of criminal force, or show of criminal force, to any person, to take or obtain possession of any property, or to deprive any person of the enjoyment of a right of way, or of the use of water or other incorporeal right of which he is in possession or enjoyment, or to enforce any right or supposed right; or

Fifth.— By means of criminal force, or show of criminal force, to compel any person to do what he is not legally bound to do, or to omit to do what he is legally entitled to do.

Explanation

An assembly which was not unlawful when it assem­bled, may subsequently become an unlawful assembly.

[3] Article 19 in The Constitution Of India 1949

19. Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech etc

(1) All citizens shall have the right

(a) to freedom of speech and expression;

(b) to assemble peaceably and without arms;

………………….

[4] Article 21 in The Constitution Of India 1949

21. Protection of life and personal liberty No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law

Right to self determination

Human rights are the rights enjoyed by an individual by virtue of being born as a human being. These are those basic, fundamental rights, without which the mere human existence would be difficult. These are essential for the overall development of an individual and include certain basic rights like the right to life and personal liberty, right to food and adequate standard of living and so on. Human rights can be classified into individual’s rights and collective rights. While the individual’s rights can be enjoyed by a single individual, an individual can benefit from collective rights only in a group. The collective rights, also known as the third generation rights are available to certain groups of individuals and include rights such as right to development, right to a protected environment, right to self determination or the physical protection of the group as such through the prohibition of genocide.

The right to self determination is the right of a group of individuals to decide their political status. It is applied to the colonial people, those belonging to trust territories and non governing territories.  The principle is regarded to be fulfilled for the trust territories, either, by self government or independence and for non self governing territories by either emerging as sovereign and independent state or free association with an independent state or integration with another state.

Para I of Article I of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as of the International Covenant  on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights lays down that all people have the right to self determination. The wordings are identical in both the Covenants and stand as:

All peoples have the right of self determination. By virtue of that right they freely, determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.

The principle of self determination does not extend to the people of an integral part of a sovereign state and thus, they do not possess the right to self determination because the exercise of such a right by them would result in secession. The right to self determination cannot be invoked by any section of the people of any part of the country on the basis of the stipulation in the Covenant.

Thus, the right of self determination is the basic right of a group of individuals belonging to a non sovereign territory to determine their political status.

Cooperative Federalism

Introduction

          The Government of India Act, 1919 laid down the foundation of a federal form of government in India. It introduced diarchy in India. A federal structure results in the division of powers between the center and the units.

The Government of India Act, 1935 also laid down the provisions for a federal form of government in India. It provided for the distribution of legislative powers between the union and the provinces.

          The Government of India Act, 1935, further provided for the cooperative relationship between the provinces. Provisions were laid down to promote harmony and to resolve the differences between the various provinces.

          Sections 131, 132 and 133 of the Government of India Act, 1935 laid down provisions for resolving the disputes related to waters. These dealt with the problems relating to inter Province Rivers and river valleys.

          Section 135 of the Government of India Act, 1935 laid down provisions for the creation of councils dealing with the coordination between the various provinces of the British India. The need for creating a cooperative relation between the provinces was felt even before the independence.

          The Government of India Act, 1935 laid down the foundation for the creation of a cooperative relationship in the federal structure. The present Constitution has elaborated the principles which were laid down under the Act.

Cooperative federalism under Indian Constitution

          There has been a felt need for a change from competitive to cooperative relationship in the working of the federal constitution. Cooperative federalism means that the center and the states share a horizontal relationship and neither is above the other. This trend has been promoted by three factors:

(1)   the exigencies of war when for national survival, national efforts takes precedence over fine points of Centre state division of powers;

(2)   technological advances means making of communication faster;

(3)   the emergence of the concept of social welfare state in response to public demands for various social services involving huge outlays which the governments of the units could not meet by themselves out of their own resources.

The concept of cooperative federalism helps the federal system, with its divided jurisdiction to act in unison. It minimizes friction and promotes cooperation among the various constituent governments of the federal union so that they can pool their resources to achieve certain desired national goals.

The Constitution of India provides various provisions dealing with the cooperative aspect of federal structure. The constitution makers deliberately provided for such features in the constitution in order to ensure the smooth working of the government.

Full Faith and Credit Clause

Article 261 of the Constitution of India provides that full faith and credit shall be given throughout the territory of India to all the public acts, records and judicial proceedings of the Union and of every State. This is a step to promote cooperation and faith between the center and the states.

Clause (2) empowers the Parliament to lay down by law the mode of proof as well as the effect of acts and proceedings of one state in another state.

According to clause(3), final judgments or orders delivered or passed by civil courts in any part of the territory of India can be executed anywhere in the country according to law.

The full faith and credit clause promotes uniformity and unity throughout the territory of India. It develops a sense of harmony and unity in the country. It promotes cooperation between the states and the center and gives due credit to all the public acts.

Inter State Council

Article 263 provides that the President may by order appoint an Inter state Council if it appears to him that public interest would be served by its establishment. The President may define the organization, procedure and duties of the Council.

In T.N. Cauvery Sangam v. Union of India[i], the Supreme Court has held that once the Central government finds that the dispute referred to in the request received from the State government cannot be settled by negotiations, it becomes mandatory for the central government to constitute a tribunal and to refer the dispute to it for adjudication. Further, if the central government fails to make such a reference, the court may, on an application under Article 32 by an aggrieved party issue mandamus to the central government to carry out its statutory obligation.

Sarkaria commission on Centre state relations has strongly recommended for the establishment of an inter state council to effect coordination between states.

In Dabur India Limited v. State of Uttar Pradesh[ii], the Supreme Court suggested the setting up of a council under Article 263 to discuss and sort out problems of central state taxation.

Zonal Councils

Zonal Councils have been introduced in India by the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. These councils have been created in order to bring the states of a particular region in close conformity with each other. The Zonal Councils were created as an instrument of intergovernmental consultation and cooperation mainly in socio economic fields and also to arrest the growth of controversies and particularistic tendencies among the various States.

There exists five Zonal Councils:

(1)  Northern- comprising of the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and the union territories of Delhi and Chandigarh.

(2)  Eastern- comprising of the states of Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and Sikkim.

(3)  Western- comprising of the states of Gujrat, Maharashtra, Goa and the union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

(4)  Central- comprising of the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh

(5)  Southern- comprising of the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala and the union territory of Pondicherry.

Each State included in a zonal council enjoys a complete equality of status as:

(1)  each state has an equality of representation in the council;

(2)  each Chief Minister is to act as the Vice chairperson of the council in rotation for a year;

(3)  meetings of the council are to be held in each member state by rotation;

(4)  the Chief Secretary of a member state is to act as the Secretary of the council in rotation for one year.

A zonal council is an advisory body and has no executive or legislative function to perform.

River water Disputes

Article 262 empowers the Parliament to provide by law for adjudication of any dispute or complaint with respect to the use, distribution or control of the waters of any interstate river or river valley.

A river board may be established by the Central government for advising the governments interested in relation to matters concerning the regulation or governance of an inter State river or river valley.

Planning and Finance

Planning makes inter governmental cooperation very necessary for in a federal structure, the governments are not arranged hierarchically. The Directive Principles of state Policy emphasize towards economic democracy, economic empowerment of the weaker sections of the society, and a welfare state without which political democracy does not have much meaning for the larger section of the poor people in the country.

In 1950, the Government of India set up the Planning Commission with the Prime Minister as its chairman. It has a vice president and a few central ministers and a few non official experts as its members.

It has been assigned the following functions:

(1)                          to make an assessment of material, capital and human resources of the country and investigate the possibilities of augmenting such of these resources as are found to be deficient in relation to the nation’s requirements;

(2)                          to formulate a plan for the most effective and balanced utilization of the country’s resources;

(3)                          on a determination of priorities, to define the stages in which the plan should be carried out and propose the allocation of resources for the due completion of each stage;

(4)                          to indicate the factors which are tending to retard economic development and determine the conditions which in view of the current social and political situation, should be established for the successful execution of the plan;

(5)                          to determine the nature of the machinery which will be necessary for securing the successful implementation of each stage of the plan in all its aspects;

(6)                          to appraise from time to time the progress achieved in execution of each stage of the plan and recommend the adjustments of policy and measures that such appraisal might show to be necessary; and

(7)                          to make such interim and ancillary recommendations as might on a consideration of the prevailing economic conditions, current policies, measures and development programmes, or on an examination of such specific problems as maybe referred to it for advice by the Central or State governments.

National Development Council

The National Development Council was established in 1952 in order provide a mechanism to give sense of participation to the states in the planning processes. It consists of the Prime Minister, the State Chief Ministers, representatives of the Union Territories and members of the Planning Commission. In 1967, its membership was enlarged by the addition of all members of the Union cabinet and Chief Ministers of the Union Territories.

The functions of the council are to strengthen and mobilize the efforts and resources of the nation in support of the plans; to promote common economic policies in all vital spheres and to ensure the balanced and rapid development of all parts of the country.

The council reviews the working of the plan from time to time, considers important questions of social and economic policy affecting national development, and recommends measures for the achievement of the aims and targets set out in the national plan.

The Sarkaria Commission has suggested that it should be renamed as National Economic and Development Council and be constituted under Article 263.

Other Bodies

(a)              University Grants Commission: The University Grants Commission was created under the University Grants Commission Act, 1956. It gets its funds from the center only. It grants fund both for maintenance and development to central universities while only for maintenance to state universities.

(b)             Other bodies to coordinate higher education:  The Indian Medical Council, created under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, the All India Council for Technical Education, formed under the All India Council for Technical Education Act, 1987 are some of the bodies regulating and coordinating higher education in India.

(c)              Damodar Valley Corporation: The Damodar Valley Corporation is the joint enterprise of center and the states of Bihar and West Bengal and has been established under the provisions of Article 262 to  develop the inter state valley of the Damodar river for irrigation, power and flood control.

(d)             Drugs Consultative Committee: Section 7 of the Drugs Act, 1940, empowers the Central Government to constitute the Drugs Consultative Committee to advise the central and state governments on any matter tending to secure uniformity throughout India in the administration of the Act. The committee consists of two representatives of the central government and one representative of each of the state governments.

Working of cooperative federalism in India- analysis

          The planning commission is very instrumental in providing funds and grants to the states for the purpose of carrying on the centre’s development plans. The grants are given under the provisions of Article 282. These grants are provided for the implementation of the centre’s programmes in the states and are an effective mode of controlling the states by the center. The States want greater grants from the center but are unwilling to participate in increasing their funds by taxation. All the states want to increase their shares of grants but do not want to take any responsibility. It is required that the richer states have a greater share in raising fund.

          Further, the grant of funds by the center to the states is politically motivated and the center tends to promote some states over the others. The states blame the center for not providing adequate funds for the purpose of carrying on various developmental programmes.

          There are various conflicts regarding the sharing of river water. States do not want to help the other water deficit states and there is requirement to make the states to act for the overall benefits of the country and not act for their individual interests.

          As the Zonal Councils are only advisory bodies, they have not achieved much. The Sarkaria Commission has expressed that the Zonal Councils have not been able to fulfill their aims and objectives. It recommended that these should be reactivated and appointed under the provisions of Article 263 to give them a constitutional status. With a greater authority, the Zonal Councils will be able to achieve more.

Position in other federations

          The exigencies of war and financial crisis have lead to the development of cooperative features in all the federal constitutions. A strong cooperative relationship ensures that the nation is unified despite its federal nature.

In U.S.A., the intergovernmental cooperation has been built mostly around the system of conditional central grants to the states for centrally sponsored schemes. The Constitution of USA also provides for the inter governmental tax immunities between the center and the states.

In Australia, financial difficulties of the state lead to the creation of Commonwealth Grants Commission as well as the Australian Loan Council in 1927. The council comprises of the Prime ministers of center and states and meets once a year. This arrangement has reduced competition among the governments for funds. Further, expedients like conditional grants, loans by the center to the states, income tax sharing between the center and the states with accent on state financial needs, have also come to be adopted to promote inter governmental cooperation.

In Canada also, cooperative techniques like Central grants to provinces, delegation of power by the center to the provinces, referential legislation have been developed.

Thus, a cooperative relationship, in which the two powers are horizontally arranged instead of hierarchically, has become a rule in all the federations as it leads to the most productive outcome.

Conclusion

          A cooperative relationship between the Centre and the States is the need of the hour. Without a cooperative relationship, it will not be possible to move ahead in the present economic world. The various technological advancements, economic and trade activities and external aggressions across the world call for a cooperative relationship between the center and the states in order to provide stability and security in the country. The Sarkaria Commission report has also emphasized on the creation of a strong center state relationship. Cooperative federalism is the means to achieving a strong nation. There is requirement of giving greater flexibility and authority to the National development council by constituting it under the provisions of Article 263.

          Further, there should be greater involvement of the states in the planning process and greater coordination in raising the funds for meeting the demands of the developing economy.

          Thus, a cooperative relationship is developed by the creation of various councils which work for the benefit of the states as well as the center and also by giving full credit to all the acts throughout the territory of India.

Suggestions

          For a more effective cooperative federal relationship it is required that the following steps are taken:

(a)  The Zonal Councils should be reorganized under the provisions of Article 263 to give them a constitutional status, thus providing them with greater authority and flexibility for proper functioning.

(b)  The participation of the states in the planning commission and planning process should be increased so as to ensure the formulation of more object oriented plans which seek to promote the welfare of all the states.

(c)   The states should be encouraged to take a more active part in raising the funds for their developmental works. More grants should be provided to the poorer states which cannot raise funds as compared to the richer states.

(d)  The grants given by the center to the states should not be politically motivated but based on the requirements of the states.

(e)   The states should act for the overall development of the country and should not act only for their own individual interests.

Thus, it is required that the cooperative federalism is encouraged over the competitive relationship between the center and the states.

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[i] (1990)3 SCC 440

[ii] AIR 1990 SC 1814