Constitutions and Law

Article 87(1) mandates that the President shall address both Houses of Parliament assembled together at the beginning of the first session after each general election and also at the beginning of the first session each year. This is known as the special address outlining the government's policy. It's a constitutional requirement different from the routine address power under Article 86.

The Supreme Court in 'Rao vs. Indira Gandhi (1971)' established that the President's powers to summon, prorogue, or dissolve Houses of Parliament must be exercised on the advice of the Council of Ministers. Acting without such advice would be unconstitutional. This judgment reinforced the constitutional convention of presidential powers being exercised on ministerial advice, making the President a constitutional head.

Article 89 of the Constitution of India specifically deals with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. It outlines their election process, removal, and other procedural matters. Articles 90, 93, and 94 deal with other parliamentary offices like the Speaker and Deputy Chairman of state legislatures.

Article 394A states that the Hindi translation of the Constitution, as adopted by Parliament, is the authoritative text. This means the Hindi version has legal authority equal to the English original for all official purposes.

Article 343(1) of the Constitution declares Hindi in Devanagari script as the official language of the Union. However, it also allows continued use of English for official purposes for 15 years initially, which has been extended.

Article 356 is the emergency provision for 'failure of constitutional machinery' in a state. It allows President's Rule if the state cannot function per the Constitution - commonly known as President's Rule.

Article 394 contains the short title clause stating 'This Constitution may be called the Constitution of India.' It appears near the end of the Constitution and deals with its commencement and title.

Both S.R. Bommai (1994) and State of Rajasthan (1977) judgments established that the Union Government cannot dismiss a state government solely because the ruling party lost the Lok Sabha election. This prevents political misuse of Article 356.

Article 246 provides the framework for distributing legislative powers through the Union List, State List, and Concurrent List. It defines the subjects on which Parliament and State Legislatures can make laws.

Under Article 246 of the Constitution, both Parliament and State Legislatures can make laws on subjects in the Concurrent List. In case of conflict between Union and State laws on a concurrent subject, Central law prevails.

The United States Constitution, adopted in 1787 and ratified in 1788, is the oldest written national constitution still in operation. It established the framework for the American federal system and has been amended 27 times. The Indian Constitution (1950), British unwritten constitution, and French constitutions (multiple since 1791) are all more recent.

Article 343(1) of the Indian Constitution explicitly states that the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. This is part of Part XVII dealing with Official Language. Article 344 deals with the Commission for Official Language, Article 345 with state official languages, and Article 346 with inter-state communication.

Article 342 of the Constitution defines Scheduled Tribes and provides the procedure for their specification. The President notifies Scheduled Tribes after consultation with the Governor, and Parliament can make amendments to this list. This is different from Article 341 which defines Scheduled Castes. Articles 343, 345, and 347 relate to official language provisions.