DD Basu Commentary on The Constitution of India Volume 8

The commentary was first published within nine months of the commencement of the Constitution in 1950. A pioneering work on the Indian Constitution, the series is not merely a digest of cases, but rather a treatise on comparative constitutional jurisprudence. It is the first authoritative work on the Constitution of India that adopted an interdisciplinary approach, examining this great document from the philosophical, sociological, political as well as legal perspectives. D D Basu’s Commentary on the Constitution of India is the first Indian work on the Constitutional law to be studied from one end of the world to the other, including countries that do not belong to the Anglo-American jurisprudential tradition. This latest volume comprehensively covers the entire ambit of relations between the Union and the States in respect of legislative, administrative and financial matters. The book also traces developments in constitutional jurisprudence through the 73rd and 74th Amendments which seek to empower Panchayats and Municipalities at the grass-root level for the smooth and effective functioning of a parliamentary democracy.

Key Features of Volume 8
Volume 8 includes extensive analysis of a wide range of topics including:
• Legislative, Administrative and Financial relations between the Union and the States;
• Constitution (73rd and 74th Amendment) Acts, 1992 which attempt to strengthen democracy at the grass-root level by providing constitutional status to Panchayats and Municipalities— village and urban local governments;
• Formal requirements of contracts on behalf of the Government and personal immunity of the President and officers of the Government;
• Suits and proceedings by and against the Government and liability of the State for the acts of its agents;
• Nature and scope of the right to property; • Freedom of Trade, Commerce and Intercourse within the Territory of India;
• Independence of the subordinate judiciary and the control over subordinate courts;
• Administration of Union territories;
• Separate administrative scheme for scheduled and tribal areas for addressing the special needs of tribal communities;
• Succession to property, assets and rights vested in the pre-independence colonial government.

The late Acharya Durga Das Basu was among the world’s most highly regarded legal scholars. In India, his name is said to be synonymous with the Constitution of the country.

About the Revising Editor: Hon’ble Mr. Justice S S Subramani is a former Judge of the Madras High Court and ex-Vice Chairman of the Central Administrative Tribunal, Madras.