SOVEREIGNTY

• The word "sovereignty" comes from the Latin word "superanus," which means "highest." It is, in essence, a legal idea. It indicates state supremacy. To grasp the meaning of the term sovereignty, consider some of the meanings offered by political thinkers.
• Sovereignty, according to Jean Bodin, is the "total and eternal power of commanding in a state." It is unrestricted absolute power over people and subjects.'
• 'Sovereignty is that power that is neither temporary nor delegated nor subject to certain norms that it cannot change, nor answerable to any other power in the world,' writes Pollock.
• 'Original absolute unrestricted power over the undivided subjects and overall associations of subjects,' according to Burgers. It is the capacity to command and compel obedience that is underived and independent.
• 'Sovereignty, according to D.F Russell, is "the strongest force and absolute authority inside a state, unrestricted by law or anything else."

3. How does the Constitution use the word ‘sovereignty’?

• In his authoritative ‘Introduction to the Constitution of India’, the great jurist Durga Das Basu wrote that the word ‘sovereignty’ is invoked in the Indian Constitution to “declare the ultimate sovereignty of the people of India and that the Constitution rests on their authority”.
• This is illustrated by the fact that India was totally independent on January 26, 1950, while Pakistan continued to be a British Dominion in 1956, meaning it still had the British monarch as the Head of State, Basu wrote.
• Sovereignty is mentioned in the Constitution under Fundamental Duties, which are to be followed by all Indian citizens but cannot be legally enforced.
• Article 51A(c) states that it is the duty of all citizens “to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India.”
• It is also mentioned in the oaths for positions like the Chief Justices, Union Ministers, and Members of Parliament under the Third schedule: “…I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India…” 

4. What is the relationship of the Indian states with the Sovereign states?

• Article 1(1) of the Constitution sets out the fundamental relationship between the states and the Centre:
• “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.” Dr. Ambedkar explained this to mean that a) the Indian federation is not a result of an agreement by the units, and b) that the component units have no freedom to secede or break away from it, Basu wrote.
• In its structural composition, the Indian political system is described as “quasi-federal”. The political theorist K C Wheare described it as “a Unitary State with subsidiary federal features rather than a Federal State with subsidiary unitary features.”
• Wheare meant that the Indian setup is more unitary in nature (where the central government has more powers) than federal (where states have significant autonomy).
• The latter system is in place in the United States. The choice of a unitary bias that the Constitution makers made was possibly rooted in the turmoil of the Partition, and the difficulty in getting around 600 princely states to accede to India.

5. What provisions of the Constitution attest to the superior position of the Centre?

• Basu wrote, “In India, except in a few specified matters affecting the federal structure, the States need not even be consulted in the matter of amendment to the bulk of the Constitution.”
• Also, the Governors in states, seen as representatives of the Union in the States, are appointed “during the pleasure” of the President.
• The Sixteenth Amendment of 1963, amending Article 19(2) of the Constitution, which details the “reasonable restrictions” on the right to freedom of speech (under Article 19), laid down that even the advocacy of succession will not be protected under law.
• After the amendment, Article 19(2) reads, “Nothing in sub-clause (a) of clause (1) shall affect the operation of any existing law, or prevent the State from making any law, in so far as such law imposes reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred… in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence.” 

6. Importance of Sovereignty