The system of checks and balances is a system of horizontal distribution of power between the different organs of a government, such as a legislature, executive, and judiciary. In the Indian context, the legislature, executive, and judiciary share the powers and keep a system of checks and balances among each other. The system in the modern world owes its origins to the constitution of the United States of America; the United States was the first country to introduce a government system where powers were divided among three governing bodies, legislature, judiciary, and the executive.

Background and History

The system of checks and balances was first incorporated into the constitution of the United States of America. The founding fathers of the US constitution were greatly influenced by the work of William Blackstone and Montesquieu. They observed that in the English system of governance, the parliament was the supreme, which means that a court of law can not amend any law passed by the British parliament. 

The framers of the constitution of the United States realised that to sustain a strong democracy, a system of checks and balances was a must. After India’s independence, the founding fathers of the Indian constitution also adopted a governing system with adequate checks and balances between bodies of power.

System of Checks and Balances

Under the principle of checks and balances, each branch of the government shall possess tools to check and limit the powers of other branches within the government. Normally, in a parliamentary democracy, the branches of the government are legislation, the executive, and the judiciary. 

A system of checks and balances keeps a government from taking unprecedented and totalitarian actions. The following points are important to understand the system of checks and balances.

  • It is a horizontal distribution of powers between different organs of the government
  • It provides different government bodies to work on the same level
  • This system prevents one body of authority from overpowering others
  • The system provides methods for different government organs to check each other

Checks and Balances on Different Organs of the Government

The constitution of India provides for a system of checks and balances so no one organ can overpower another.

On Executive

  • In the parliament proceedings, the Indian parliamentary democracy provides different instruments and methods used to hold the government accountable to the parliament—for example, no-confidence motion, question hour, and censor motion
  • The constitution provides for the feature of Judicial Review; according to this, any law made, passed, or amended by the parliament is subject to judicial review in a court of law
  • The new law or any amendment to a law must be in line with the basic features of the constitution of India
  • Otherwise, a court can declare a law null and void

On Legislature

  • The constitution prevents the legislators from meddling with the executive role by providing provisions
  • It is done so a conflict of interest may not arise between two essential organs of the government
  • The judiciary can execute their doctrine of judicial review on legislation if they find them extra-constitutional and out of line with the constitution’s basic features
  • The constitution also prevents the legislators from discussing the conducts of the judges of the High Court and the Supreme Court in the parliament

On Judiciary

  • The constitution provides for the impeachment of a sitting judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court if found guilty of not complying with his responsibilities or any misconduct
  • The appointment of judges and other judicial appointments require the government’s nod after being approved by the collegium

Challenges in the System of Checks and Balances

The following challenges may emerge in the system of checks and balances:

Overreaching of Judiciary

The judiciary may take extra-judicial actions by interfering with the workings of the legislators and the executive. Because only the judiciary can interpret legislation passed by the parliament in a court of law, it can overreach its jurisdiction.

Parliamentary Committees

The constitution provides for the execution of parliamentary committees; these committees are formed to reduce the burden of the executive. However, the recommendations proposed by such committees are advisory. The parliament and executives are not bound to agree to the recommendations proposed by these committees.

Proceedings of the Parliament

Actions like the no-confidence motion the question hours, if used repeatedly, can adversely affect the proceedings of the parliament.

Conclusion

The system of checks and balances keeps the organs of the government in check with their work and responsibilities. It is a horizontal distribution of the power of governance and provides checks and balances by the organs of the government on to each other. In a parliamentary system of government, normally, there are three organs to the government, the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. The Indian parliamentary system draws its provisions of the functioning of parliament from the constitution. The constitution provides instruments to all the organs of the government to keep a check on each other’s jurisdiction.