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OUR CONSTITUTION, GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS (2000)

By M,V. Pylee. Universal Law Publishing Co. Pvt Ltd., Delhi.
Pp IX + 198. Price Rs. 185.
THE BOOK under review contains scholastic write-ups by an Emeritus
Professor M.V. Pylee, a celebrity authority on constitutional government
and politics, and management education in India, on a varied and wide
ranging national issues concerning the Constitution of India,
constitutional government and politics. Professor Pylee's purpose seems
to present the views, which he does conscientiously, to improving the
constitutional system so that constitutional morality which is "(a)
paramount reverence for the forms of the Constitution, enforcing
obedience to authority acting under and withm these forms yet combined
with the habit of open speech, of action, subject only to definite legal
control, and restrained censure of those very authorities as to all their
public acts combined too with a perfect confidence m the bosom of
every citizen amidst the bitterness of party contest that the forms of the
Constitution will not be less sacred in the eyes of his opponents than in
his own". 1
Twenty six essays 2 , presented by the author in the book under review
throw light on the working of our Constitution, government and politics
and examines a big question to what extent have we achieved the
objectives so eloquently proclaimed by the Constitution -justice, liberty
equality, fraternity, federal polity, etc. 3 In a sense, it is a revisit to one

1 Vide, Greek historian Grote as quoted in CAD, Vol I, VII at 31-34

2 The Golden Jubilee of Independence, Ambedkar's Contribution to Making of
the Constitution, Nehru's Role in Designing the Constitution, Right to Work as a
Fundamental Right, Nehru and Secularism in India, Secularism m India What it
Means, Discrimination in Higher Educational Institutions A Constitutional and
Administrative Problem, Electoral Reforms Urgent Need, If Another Hung
Parliament, What Next 9 , Was the Presidential Action Appropriate 9 , Prime Minister's
Resignation and the President's Response, Where the President Went Wrong 9 ,
Devaluation of the Governor's Office, The Supreme Court Decision A Utopian
Exeicise, The Indian Supreme Court and Politics, An Irony of History, Undignified,
Unparhamentaiy Behaviour of the Opposition in Parliament, The Interstate Council
- An Urgent Need, Caretaker Government What and Why 9 , Party Manifestoes and
Populist Promises, Indian Elections and the Menace of Independent Candidates,
Tricky Business of Constitutional Amendment, Constitutional and Administrative
Measures for the Protection and Promotion of the Ethnic and Linguistic Minonties
in India
3 M V Pvlee. Our Constitution. Government and Politics V (2000)

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584 JOURNAL OF THE INDIAN LA W INSTITUTE | Vol 44 4

of the most conceived essential feature of the Constitution of India,

namely, federalism, illuminated by the competing traditions, devised by
the founding fathers, developed by the growth of constitutional politics,
compared with the developments aftermath the World War II as well as
decolonisation giving rise to a new constitutional culture, viz.,
constitutional democracy impregnated with federalism, enriched by the
judicial decision and analysing the new ideas as well as paradigms,
conceivable new challenges to the working of our Constitution,
government and politics in quest of future directions. 4
From the classification of twenty six essays it appears that there
seem to be areas of tensions/conflicts/irritants/frictions in centre-state
relations, and from the study of these essays it discerns that federal
disputes alike constitutional disputes are always political disputes, and
therein lies the problematic nature of conflicts/irritants/ tensions/frictions
in the whole of the working of our Constitution.
In the view of the reviewer, it seems that the author of the book
under review is conscientious that no constitution order avoids the
challenges presented by the social, economic and political consequences
of modernisation. History affords testimony to it. The progressive
movements of the societies have hitherto brought formidable changes in
the societies, and the modernisation is successful if the societies are
adaptive to challenges presented by modernisation. The societies which
have inhibitions to flexibility as well as adaptability to the challenges of
modernisation shall lag behind in dealing at global level. New challenges
pose new thinking processes to excel to overcome the tensions presented
by the new challenges rather than allowing the weaknesses to overpower
the system. Though the founding fathers could not foresee the
presentation of new challenges as well as novel tensions over five decades
ago, however, they were intelligent enough to keep enough scope of
elasticity as well as flexibility in our Constitution to have adaptability
to new perceptions presented by new challenges at the close of one
millennium and the beginning of another millennium.
In reviewing the working of our Constitution one may have to
examine these questions: Who has failed whom? Whether politicians
have failed the Constitution to function as avowed by the Constitution
makers, or the Constitution has failed the wielders of power to allow
the Constitution to function as avowed by the people of India? Is it that
much difficult riddle wrapped in mystery inside an enigma? This reminds
the reviewer the words of Mathew Arnold: 5

4. See, in particular K.L. Bhatia, Federalism and Frictions in Centre-State

Relations (2001).
5. Mathew Arnold, Essays in Criticism, 2nd Series, Shelly as reproduced in
Collins Gem Dictionary of Quotation 28 (1979).

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2002j BOOK REVIEWS 58S

A beautiful and ineffective angel, beating in the void his

luminous wings in vain
The review of our Constitution is to revisit the grey areas which
have developed frictions to weaken the basic structure, and as such it is
an endeavour to plug loopholes to suggest measures to strengthen or
ruminate the basic structure It should be conceded that the Constitution
of India is the common heritage of the nation Working the Constitution
is not the sole prerogative of political parties, the right vests with the
people of India 6 This in reviewer's opinion seems to be the perception
of the author of the book under review m his essays particularly "The
Golden Jubilee of India's Independence", 7 "Ambedkar's contribution
to the making of the Constitution", 8 "Nehru's role m designing the
Constitution" 9
Good governance depends on the variable of good government and
good politics be that a single-party government or coalition government
Stability and acceptability of coalition governments may avoid too
frequent elections if such governments may aim at the creation of a
national government as a realm of reality " 1 0
Is secularism a vibrant principle of the state in India today is the
thematic thrust of "Nehru and Secularism in India" 11 and "Secularism
in India What it means", 12 in essays penned down by the author Debate
on secularism raises many a searching questions to find out lasting
solutions to such mquisitives, viz drama, religion, minorities, religious
tolerance, religious intolerance, minority institutions, fundamentalism,
etc The founding fathers were careful in not using the word "secular"
explicitly in the Constitution, because the preambulary expressions
"liberty of thought, expression, conscience, faith, belief and worship",
explicitly and implicitly permeate secularism It is entrenched on the
deep faith in the secularism embedded m "vasudeva kutumbkam" The
inclusion of the term secularism m the text of the Constitution by 42 n d
amendment is as much a matter of modern contrived history as the
statement "India has had no secular tradition" n The spirit of secularism
is on the decline and bringing disrepute to the system, because the
contrived movement looks at secularism as a clever device to woo the
minority vote banks by the ruling party According to them what passes

6 K L Bhatia op cit at 293

7 Sup/a note 3 at 1-5
8 Id at 6-11
9 Id at 12-31
10 Id at 64-80 81-92,93-96,97-102,103 107,108-119
11 Id at 839-51
12 Id at 11, 52-56
13 Id at 39

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586 JOURNAL OF THE INDIAN LAW INSTIIUIL (Vol 44 4

as secularism today is only a euphemism for the policy of appeasing the

Muslims. 1 4 The fundamentalist posture finds no beneficial use of
secularism except to provide him with a protected domain to do whatever
he likes, 15 and this warning bell given vent to by the author of the book
under review must be conceded as a singular threat to the unity and
integrity of India.
The book, Our Constitution, Government and Politics deals at length
with tricky, ticklish and diverse aspects of the working of the Constitution
of India and such a fresh look in precepts and practice is imperative,
more so in the face of the growing requirements of constitutional culture
as well as constitutional morality and the rapidly changing socio-
economic-political scenario. And for this reason alone the present
valuable monograph receives full attention of the policy conceivers,
policy makers, policy enforcers, researchers, and inquisitive students of
Constitution, government and politics. The lucid and succulent treatment
of the subject is an added attraction of this book.

KL Bhatia*

14 Id at 50
15 Id at 51
* B A (Hons ), LL M , Ph D (Poona), Head of the Department of Law, University
of Jammu, Jammu (J&K)

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