LCS201 | CONSTITUTIONAL LAW I

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Constitutional Law I is a foundational course aimed at introducing undergraduate law students to the theory, doctrine, and practice of constitutional law in India. This is the first of two core courses on constitutional law that the LL.B (Hons.) cohort is required to complete by the applicable regulations. This course first provides a brief introduction to constitutions and constitutional theory, as well as the making of India’s Constitution, before focusing on the structures of constitutional governance envisaged by the Indian Constitution. Through the concept of Separation of Powers, we will focus on the horizontal division of institutional power between the Executive, the Legislature, the Judiciary, and Fourth Branch institutions. Thereafter, through the concepts of Federalism and Decentralisation, the course will focus on the vertical division of institutional power between the Centre, the States and local government institutions.

A subsequent course – Constitutional Law II – will cover the provisions relating to Citizenship (Part II), Fundamental Rights (Part III), Directive Principles (Part IV), Fundamental Duties (Part IVA), as well as the role of the judiciary, among other topics.

Constitutional Law I provides a critical look at the development of constitutional law, and the bearing that these developments have on some of the biggest political questions of our times. Recognizing that constitutional developments are not inevitable but contingent and context driven, the course seeks to understand what constitutional choices were available to constitutional decision-makers, what choices were made and why, which choices were discarded (and why), with what effect, and how these choices impacted the distribution of power: who benefits, who is empowered, who is disempowered, by the particular formulation of constitutional text and doctrine. The course thus adopts a ‘law and society/contextual’ approach to legal issues, broadly speaking.  This will include a focus on factors internal to the law, such as the text of the Constitution and statutes as well as case law generated by the courts, but will aim to also explore factors beyond which influence these legal developments. The course will also emphasise the importance of history, dating back to the colonial era and the way these concepts and institutions have evolved over time across post-colonial India’s landscape.

Through these explorations, students will come to understand that the constitution of deeply divided societies like India is always a ‘work in progress’ and its dynamism is its main driving force. The Constitution is also incomplete in another sense: instead of going for permanent solutions on all issues, the framers either left a few issues in transition or kept them in abeyance to be tackled by posterity. Carrying forward the task of filling these gaps in the Constitution requires lawmakers, judges, lawyers, and citizens alike to understand and engage with the founding principles and bases for our constitutional design. This is the central aim of the course.

Modes of teaching: This is a reading intensive course. Specific readings will be prescribed for every class, and classroom discussions will be structured around these readings. Readings are divided into three categories: background readings, mandatory readings, and optional readings. Overview readings provide background and context for the issue under discussion. I strongly encourage you to do the background readings before you begin the mandatory readings. Mandatory readings are, well, mandatory. You are expected to read these and come to class. Close reading and engagement with the prescribed texts will be essential for understanding the often complex texts and judgments, to move classroom discussions forward, and to score well in exams. I will therefore expect you to have read for every class, and I will proceed with classroom discussions and setting of exam papers, on that basis. Based on past experience, your ability to follow classroom discussions and your performance in the course will definitely suffer, if you do not read for class. Optional readings will help you delve deeper into the issue. These are optional, but you should seriously consider reading them either before or after class. Where not expressly indicated as overview or optional, all readings are mandatory.

Module-wise break up: The course is divided into the following broad modules:

Module 1: Constitutions, Constitutionalism, and the making of the Indian Constitution

Module 2: The concept of Separation of Powers and the nature and evolution of the Executive in India

Module 3: The nature of the Legislature and its evolution in India

Module 4: The nature of the Judiciary and its evolution in India

Module 5: The concept of Federalism in India, its institutional structures and evolution over time

Module 6: The concept of Decentralisation, its institutional structure in India and its evolution over time.

Module 7: Conclusion: Contemporary assessments of Indian constitutionalism