PATNA: Supreme Court judge Justice BV Nagarathna on Saturday urged the Centre to view states as "coordinates and not subordinates" and asserted that the separation of powers was a "constitutional arrangement of co-equals."
Delivering a lecture at the Chanakya Law University in Patna, Justice Nagarathna also called for keeping aside "inter-party differences" in the matter of "Centre-state relations," underscoring that governance must not depend on "which party may be ruling the Centre and which other party may be ruling at the state level."
Renowned jurists such as fellow Supreme Court judge Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Chief Justice of Patna High Court Sangam Kumar Sahoo, who is also the chancellor of the university, and vice chancellor Faizan Mustafa were also present on the occasion.
The Rajendra Prasad Memorial Lecture was based on the theme 'Constitutionalism beyond rights: why structure matters'.
Justice Nagarathna said federalism was "not only about autonomy" but also "distinct centres of power, each capable of acting as a counterweight to the others.
It ensures that governance is not a matter of unilateral command, but of negotiation and coordination."
She added, "Therefore, the need of the hour is to have greater coordination between the Union and state governments. The state governments are not subordinate to the Union government except as stipulated under the Constitution, and, therefore, must be accorded the treatment that is due to them irrespective of the political parties that may be in power."
"Inter-party differences or distinct political ideologies have to be kept aside in the matter of Centre-state relations as the latter is in the realm of constitutional governance which would not depend on which party may be ruling at the Centre and which other party may be ruling at the state level," she added.
"Citizens must have the benefit of both governments with regard to welfare schemes and measures that are initiated by the respective governments. That is why it is often said that the Constitution of India is said to be federal in structure and unitary in spirit," Justice Nagarathna added.
She also said, "The citizens of a state cannot be discriminated against in matters of development... There cannot be a pick and choose approach vis-a-vis the states when it is in the realm of development programmes for the citizens of a state. Equity, as a matter of fair approach, must be adopted."
Justice Nagarathna also pointed out "a mature federation ought not rush to courts as adversaries; it should turn to dialogue, negotiation and mediation. When states begin filing suits against one another, or against the Centre, it reflects not strength, but a weakening of cooperative federalism."
She added, "In equal measure, the Centre ought to view the states as coordinates and not subordinates. No doubt, the Constitution of India is said to be federal in structure and unitary in spirit. Yet, the vertical separation of powers between governments --Centre and states-- is not a hierarchy or of priority. It is a constitutional arrangement of co-equals".
In the course of her speech, the text of which ran into about 25 pages, Justice Nagarathna, who is said to be in line to become the first woman Chief Justice of India next year, also highlighted that "preservation of the Constitution cannot be seen as the task of defending rights at moments of crisis," but that it "lies equally in the routine functioning of institutions."
Among the institutions that she spoke of included the Election Commission, which was expected to "conduct elections with independence that inspires trust", the Finance Commission, which was supposed to "preserve fiscal balance without yielding to unitary pressures" and the Competition Commission of India and SEBI, which needed to "act with neutrality rather than on executive preference."