CITIZEN

SYLLABUS
1) Must know the basic qualification of a voter
and include every voter in his family and
neighbourhood to exercise the same.
2) Know the powers and functions of the
president and vice-president of Indian Union
and governors in the states.
3) Know Functions of the Lok Sabha, Rajya
Sabha, Vidhan Sabha and Vidhan Parishad.
4) Know the functions of local bodies such as
municipality local board (Zila Parishad,
Cantonment Board and Panchayat) with special
reference to his own area.
5) Know functions and working of the state and
local administration.
6) Have a general knowledge of the working of
judicial system of the country.
7) Must Participate actively in a mock parliament
of the School Troop.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS OF A VOTER:
The Indian constitution confers voting rights on
any individual who is a citizen of the country and
above 18 years of age. The constitution doesn’t
differentiate between male and female voters,
bestowing on them equal rights, thus making
their votes carry equal weight. On the same
lines, no distinctions are made on the basis of
colour, race, cast, etc. as long as the said
individual is a bonafide citizen of India.

POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE PRESIDENT:

There are some fixed duties or powers of the
President of India which he has to execute for
the welfare of the country.
The Indian President has to appoint the Prime
Minister of India. The president also appoints the
council of ministers and with the Prime Minister’s
advice, He/She distributes the portfolios to the
council of Ministers.
The President of India has some executive,
judicial and legislative powers.
SOME EXECUTIVE POWERS OF THE INDIAN
PRESIDENT ARE:
 The Indian President can award a person or decrease
the verdict of an offended person, chiefly in cases
concerning punishment of death.
 The President can assign Governors of states, Attorney
Generals, Chief Justice, Chief Election Commissioner
and Ambassadors.
 The President of India is also the chief of the Indian
Armed Forces.

SOME LEGISLATIVE POWERS OF THE INDIAN

PRESIDENT ARE:
 He/She commands both the houses of the parliament
and also can postpone the same.
 A bill passed by the parliament becomes a law only
when it is passed by the President.
 The President can Dissolve the Lok Sabha

SOME LEGISLATIVE POWERS OF THE INDIAN

PRESIDENT ARE:
 Declaration of State Emergency when there is a failure
of Constitutional Machinery of the state.
 Declaration of National Emergency at the time of War,
Armed Rebellion or External Aggression.
 Declaration of Financial Emergency if the Indian
President gets the belief that the financial stability of
the country is threatened.
VICE-PRESIDENT OF INDIA:
After the President of India, The vice-president
is the highest dignitary of the country. The vice
president is also the ex officio chairman of
the council of state. He is also the primary
spokesperson of the house. It is his
responsibility to ensure that the proceedings
of the house are conducted in accordance
with the provision of the constitution.
The vice-president acts as the president when
the office of President is vacant due to
Resignation, Death or Removal. The Vice-
President enjoys all the powers and functions
entitled to the President.
GOVERNORS IN INDIA:
In India, Governors are the nominal head of states
with the real power being rested in the hands of the
Chief Ministers of the respective states. Governors
are appointed in the states by the President for a
term of 5 Years. In the Union Territories and in the
Capital City, Delhi, Lieutenant Governors are
appointed by the President for the same Period.
The Governor exercises executive powers in
appointing the Chief Minister of the state and his
council of ministers. He also appoints the Advocate
General, The Chairman and the members of the
state public commission.
While exercising these powers, He always has to
act on the advice of the Chief-Minister and the
council of ministers. A bill that has been passed by
the state legislature will become a law after the
consent of the governor. The Governor uses his
discretionary powers in certain situations. In the
Vidhan Sabha elections, if no party secures a
majority, The Governor has the authority to act on
his own and ask the leader of the single largest
party or the chosen leaders of two or more parties
to form the Government. He then appoints that
leader as the Chief Minister.
LOK SABHA:
Lok Sabha, as the name itself signifies, is
the body of representatives of the people.
The minimum qualifying age for
membership of the house is 25 Years. The
present membership of Lok Sabha is 545.

RAJYA SABHA:
Rajya Sabha is the upper house of
parliament having atmost 250 members.
Members of Rajya Sabha are not elected
by the people directly but indirectly by the
legislative assemblies of various states. 12
of the Members of Rajya Sabha are
nominated by the president from persons,
who has earned distinction in the fields of
Literature, Art, Science and Social
Sciences.
FUNCTIONS OF LOK SABHA AND RAJYA
SABHA:
The main function of both the houses is to pass
laws. Every bill bas to be passed by both the
houses and by the President before it becomes
Law. The decision is taken on subjects like
Defence, Banking, Transport, Railways,
Budget, Excise and Custom Duties etc.
Besides passing laws, parliament can by
means of resolutions, motions for
adjournment, discussions and questions
addressed by members to ministers, exercise
control over the administration of the country
and safeguard people’s liberties.
VIDHAN SABHA:
The Vidhan Sabha is the lower house or the
sole house of the state legislature in the
different states of India. It’s maximum size as
outlined in the constitution of India is not more
than 500 members and not less than 60
members, although exceptions exist.
POWER OF VIDHAN SABHA:
A “Motion of no Confidence” against the
Government in the state can only be
introduced in the Vidhan sabha. A money
bill can only be introduced in Vidhan
Sabha.
JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN INDIA:
The Government of India has 3 different
independent branches namely The
Executive, The Legislative and The
Judiciary. This system is known as the
common law system in which the judges
develop the laws with their judgements,
orders and the decisions. The different
types of courts form the different levels of
Judiciary in the Country.
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA:
The Supreme Court of India came into being on
28th January 1950 and substituted the Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council and the federal
court of India which were the apex legal
system under the colonial rule in India. The
court works extensively for the protect of the
fundamental rights of the Indian Citizens. It
also has an authority to review any judgement
or order earlier passed by it and can also
transfer cases from one high court to another
and from one district court to another.
HIGH COURTS:
The Supreme Judicial Powers at the state level
lie with the High Courts of India. Being
established in 1862, The Calcutta High Court is
the oldest High Court in India. The High Courts
may also have the original jurisdiction in
certain cases if permitted under the Federal
Law System. All the High Courts come under
the Jurisdiction of The Supreme Court of India.
LIST OF 24 HIGH COURTS IN INDIA:
 High Court of Jurisdiction at Hyderabad
 High Court of Jurisdiction at Allahabad
 Bombay High Court
 Calcutta High Court
 Chhattisgarh High Court
 Delhi High Court
 Gujarat High Court
 Guwahati High Court
 Himachal Pradesh High Court
 Jammu and Kashmir High Court
 Jharkhand High Court
 Karnataka High Court
 Kerala High Court
 Madras High Court
 Madhya Pradesh High Court
 Meghalaya High Court
 Manipur High Court
 Orissa High Court
 Patna High Court
 Punjab and Haryana High Court
 Rajasthan High Court
 Sikkim High Court
 Uttarakhand High Court
 Tripura High Court
DISTRICT AND SUBORDINATE COURTS:
The District and Subordinate Courts are the
courts below the high courts. These Courts
Administer Jurisdiction at the district level in
India. The Jurisdiction in the districts of the
state is presided by the District and Sessions
Judge. He is addressed as a Metropolitan
sessions judge when he presides over a
district court in a city which is recognized as
a metropolitan city or area by the State
Government.
For handling civil cases, the Subordinate
courts, in ascending order are junior civil
judge court, principal junior civil judge court,
senior civil judge courts.
For handling criminal courts, the ascending
order of the subordinate courts is second
class judicial magistrates court, first class
judicial magistrate court and chief judicial
magistrate court.
TRIBUNAL:
In general, a tribunal is a person or an
institution with an authority to act judicially
even if it is not referred to as a tribunal in its
title. For instance, a lawyer appearing before
court even if there is only a sitting judge, he
could also call the judge as their “Tribunal”.
APPOINTMENTS OF JUDGES:
The Constitution of India lays down the rules
for the appointment of the judges of the
Supreme Court, High Courts and District
Courts. The Judges and Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court are appointed by the President
of India.
The eligibility for the judge demands a person
to be a Citizen of India. He must have served
as an advocate for atleast five years or a judge
of any high court for ten years to become a
Supreme Court Judge. A Supreme Court
Judge can only be removed after a notice is
signed by atleast 50 members of the Rajya
Sabha or 100 members of the Lok Sabha.
FAST TRACK COURTS:
The Fast Track Courts(FTC) in India were
aimed at clearing the backlog of cases
which were pending in the district and the
session courts. These courts function on
the similar procedures as session and trial
courts. The scheme of fast track courts
was recommended by the 11th Finance
Commission. Under this scheme, the
Government sanctioned a sum of Rs. 502.9
Crs to set up 1734 FTC’s in the country. As
per the ministry of law and justice, by the
end of March 2011, these courts had
resolved 32.34 Lakh Cases.
LOK ADALATS:
The Concept of Lok Adalat is based on the
system of Alternative Dispute
Resolution(ADR). “Lok” stands for
“People” and the meaning of “Adalat” is
“Court” and therefore this institution in
general means “People’s Court”. These
Lok Adalats are efficient to handle
different cases such as motor accident
compensation cases, matrimonial and
family disputes, land acquisition disputes
and partition claims etc.
Judiciary interprets the laws and acts as a
custodian of the constitution. Courts,
Tribunals and Regulators together work
and form this integrated system for the
height of the nation.
MOCK PARLIAMENT OF SCOUT
TROOP:
The Scout Troop is run and organized as a
self-governing institution. It is
management is entrusted to the Court of
Honor consisting of the Scoutmaster and
the Patrol Leaders. The Court of Honor
attends to the day-to-day affairs of the
troop.
ROLE OF COURT OF HONOUR:
 It guards the honor of the troop.
 It safe-guards standard within the troop
 It advises and help the Scoutmasters in
the arrangement of the Troop
programmes etc.
 It attends to the internal administration
of the Troop, such as discipline, patrol
activities, expenditure, equipment and
other matters.
FUNCTIONS OF COURT OF HONOUR:
 The Court of Honor aims at the development
of the troop and its mission is to bring out
citizens to face any challenges, to grow as a
good human being by extending their
helping hand to fellow beings and make our
country proud in all possible ways.
 The COH has the authority to pass or
neglect any kind of activities put forth by the
troop.
 The COH has the authority to pass or
neglect any kind of activities put forth by the
troop.
 It is an unique body which invigilates the
troop headed by the Scoutmaster and Patrol
leaders. It is a visionary body that focuses
on the upliftment of the Scouts and supports
them in shaping their character which the
country would be proud of.
 The COH gives ample opportunity for the
Scouts to resolves issues in a democratic
way there by paving way for them to become
responsible citizens and leaders in the true
sense.