Constitutional, Statutory, Regulatory and Quasi-judicial Bodies

What the official syllabus says

HCS Main Written Examination, Paper IV: General Studies-II:

• Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.
• Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.

Topics in detail

Constitutional posts and bodies

• Election Commission of India (Article 324)
• Union Public Service Commission and State Public Service Commissions (Articles 315–323)
• Finance Commission (Article 280)
• Comptroller and Auditor General of India (Articles 148–151): audit of Union and State accounts
• Attorney General (Article 76) and Advocate General (Article 165)
• National Commission for Scheduled Castes (Article 338) and for Scheduled Tribes (Article 338A)
• National Commission for Backward Classes (Article 338B)
• Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities (Article 350B)
• GST Council (Article 279A); State Election Commissions and State Finance Commissions
• For each: appointment, tenure, removal, independence, functions and reports

Statutory and executive bodies

• National Human Rights Commission and State commissions (Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993)
• Central Vigilance Commission (CVC Act, 2003); Central Bureau of Investigation (Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946)
• Lokpal and Lokayuktas (Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013)
• Central and State Information Commissions (Right to Information Act, 2005)
• National Commission for Women (1990 Act), National Commission for Minorities (1992 Act), National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (2005 Act)
• National Disaster Management Authority (Disaster Management Act, 2005)
• NITI Aayog (set up in 2015 by executive resolution): role compared with the Planning Commission

Regulatory bodies

• Reserve Bank of India; Securities and Exchange Board of India; Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India; Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority
• Telecom Regulatory Authority of India; Competition Commission of India (Competition Act, 2002)
• Central and State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (Electricity Act, 2003)
• Food Safety and Standards Authority of India; real estate regulatory authorities (RERA Act, 2016)
• Issues: independence, accountability to Parliament, overlap between regulators

Quasi-judicial bodies

• What makes a body quasi-judicial
• Central Administrative Tribunal and State Administrative Tribunals
• National Green Tribunal (2010); National Company Law Tribunal and Appellate Tribunal
• Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Securities Appellate Tribunal, Armed Forces Tribunal
• Consumer commissions at district, State and national levels
• Issues: vacancies, independence, executive control over appointments, tribunalisation of justice

Bodies at a glance

Overlaps

Haryana's own commissions (Public Service Commission, Lokayukta, Right to Service Commission) are on Haryana: State Government, Legislature and Judiciary.