Executive, Judiciary, Ministries, Pressure Groups and Public Interest Litigation · UPPCS (Uttar Pradesh)

What the official syllabus says

Main Examination, General Studies II:

Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary: Ministries and Departments of the Government, Pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity, Public Interest Litigation (PIL).

Topics in detail

The Union and state executive

President: election by an electoral college (Articles 54 and 55), powers (executive, legislative, financial, judicial, emergency), veto (absolute, suspensive, pocket), pardoning power (Article 72), ordinances (Article 123), impeachment (Article 61)
Aid and advice of the Council of Ministers (Article 74), made binding by the 42nd Amendment, with one reconsideration allowed by the 44th Amendment
Vice-President: election and functions
Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (Articles 74 and 75): collective responsibility; size limited to 15% of the Lok Sabha by the 91st Amendment; cabinet and cabinet committees
Attorney General (Article 76)
State executive: Governor (Articles 153 to 167), discretionary powers, Chief Minister and Council of Ministers (Article 164), Advocate General (Article 165)

Ministries and Departments of the Government

Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 and (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961
Cabinet Secretariat and the Cabinet Secretary; Prime Minister's Office
Structure of a ministry: minister, secretary, additional and joint secretaries, directors; attached and subordinate offices
State secretariat and the Chief Secretary; directorates; district administration and the District Magistrate
Reforms: lateral entry, Mission Karmayogi, rationalisation and merger of ministries

The Judiciary

Supreme Court (Articles 124 to 147): composition, appointment of judges (the collegium system), removal
Jurisdiction: original (Article 131), writ (Article 32), appellate, special leave (Article 136), advisory (Article 143), review (Article 137), curative petitions (Rupa Ashok Hurra, 2002), complete justice (Article 142)
High Courts (Articles 214 to 231): writ jurisdiction (Article 226), superintendence over subordinate courts (Article 227); the Allahabad High Court and its Lucknow Bench
Subordinate courts (Articles 233 to 237); judicial service and the district judge
Independence and accountability of the judiciary; the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968
Reforms: e-Courts, National Judicial Data Grid, filling of vacancies, an All India Judicial Service (Article 312)

Pressure groups and formal or informal associations

Meaning: organised groups that seek to influence policy without contesting elections; difference from political parties
Types: business groups (FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM), trade unions, peasant organisations, professional bodies (bar councils, medical associations), student organisations, caste and religious groups, tribal and linguistic groups
Classification: institutional, associational, non-associational and anomic groups
Methods: lobbying, representations, petitions, media campaigns, litigation, strikes and demonstrations
Role: interest articulation, feedback to government, political education; criticism: narrow interests, unequal access, violence
Informal associations: resident welfare associations, khap panchayats, community networks; their effect on democratic participation

Public Interest Litigation (PIL)

Relaxation of locus standi and the epistolary jurisdiction (letters treated as petitions)
Landmark cases: Hussainara Khatoon (1979, undertrial prisoners), S. P. Gupta (1981), Bandhua Mukti Morcha (1984, bonded labour), the M. C. Mehta cases on environment, Vishaka (1997, sexual harassment at the workplace)
Achievements: access to justice for the poor, environmental protection, prison reform, accountability of public authorities
Misuse: frivolous and publicity-seeking petitions; guidelines in State of Uttaranchal v Balwant Singh Chaufal (2010)

Overlaps

General Studies V: the Governor, Chief Minister, Council of Ministers, Advocate General and the High Court of Uttar Pradesh.
Separation of Powers and Dispute Redressal: tribunals and alternative dispute resolution.