Foreword

The constitution committee was formed in January 2010 by the executive committee as per the guidelines of the General Body. It was entrusted with the task of revising the constitution and removing from it lacunas and obsoletescence and to empower it with the tools to fulfill the needs awhich the future may demand.

Initially the Nagpur City Branch had adopted the national constitution of Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists almost unchanged. The posts of secretary and treasurer were vested in a single person. There was a tacit understanding about many things. Funds were meager. Hence, there was no need for elaborate rules and regulations. With the passage of time the strength of members has increased to 250 (2010 AD) and reasons for many traditions, customs and practices have became vague and ill understood. New ideas are being admitted, nonacquiantance among members is frequent and funds are increasing. Few amendments were made to constitution as per need to overcome temporary difficulties. The parent body ISA has also grown enormously. After the registration of the society it has become mandatory to observe the laws and statues of the nation more strictly. With the increase in fiscal transactions the IT department has also started to take interest in our society. Therefore, the time has come to study our constitution thoroughly, and rejuvenate it in line with contemporary and futuristic needs. Many tacit understandings need to be codified. Particularly, the rules and regulations deserve to be rewritten for elaboration, clarity and nonambiguity.

The increasing pressures on the students allow them little time to learn and get acquainted with the knowledge outside medical world. When they become member of our society they are not familiar with the system of society management. Hence it was decided to add the annexure of general guidelines. It is hoped that this annexure will be taken in the proper spirit. It is meant for the uninitiated and not for the veterans. Only a small portion of the vast information available is included in this annexure which is thought to be practically useful.

We have also included a general introduction at the beginning. It is generally thought that the constitution comprises only of rules and regulations, where as the constitution is really the Atma of any society. So this small lesson of Adhyatma should be interesting to the reader.

Rules and regulations have been elaborated. The work done by the previous committees have been enlarged logically. A new section of byelaws has been added for management of routine work with more ease.

We hope that this constitution is

True to the past;

Aware of the present; and

Adequate for the future.

The constitution committee

Dr. Hemant Sane
Dr. Ashutosh Chaoji
Dr. Pratibha Deshmukh

AN INTRODUCTION TO CONSTITUTION

The term constitution comes from a Latin term denoting important laws, usually the ones proclaimed by the Roman emperor (“constitutiones principis”: the edicta, mandata, decrera and rescripta). The earliest known code of law was issued by the Sumerian king Urukagina of Lagash circa 2300 BC. The word constitution is formed from a prefix con meaning together, and statuere meaning to set or to place. So constitution = All (laws) set together.

A constitution is a seen as rules for government or society—often codified as a written document—that enumerates the powers and functions of an entity. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is. In the case of countries the term refers specifically to a constitution defining the fundamental political principles, and establishing the structure, procedures, powers and duties, of a government. By limiting the government’s own reach, most constitutions guarantee certain rights to the people. The term constitution really is the spirit and the overall system of law that defines the functioning of a government or an organisation, including uncodified historical constitutions that existed before the development of codified constitutions.

(After people began to live in cities and establish nations, many of these functioned according to unwritten customs, while some developed autocratic, even tyrannical monarchs, who ruled by decree, or mere personal whim. A series of political philosophers wrote implied criticisms of the practices of monarchs and sought to identify principles of constitutional design that would be likely to yield more effective and just governance. This led to considerations of what authority monarchs or other officials have and what they don’t have, where that authority is derived from, and the remedies for abuse such authority. Along the way, several writers examined how the design of government was important, even if the government were headed by a monarch and also examined how the functions of government, such as legislative, executive, and judicial, might appropriately be separated into separate branches. The prevailing theme among these writers was that the design of constitutions is not completely arbitrary or a matter of taste. There are, in a sense, three “constitutions” involved: The first is the ‘constitution of nature’ that includes all of what was called “natural law”; the second is the ‘constitution of society’, an unwritten and commonly understood set of rules for the society formed by a social contract; the third is a ‘constitution of government’ by which it establishes a government. The second would include such elements as the making of decisions by public conventions called by public notice and conducted by established rules of procedure. Such considerations apply not only to all national constitutions of government, but also to the constitutions of private associations and societies. It is not an accident that the constitutions of various associations and societies that tend to satisfy their members contain certain common elements, as a minimum, or that their provisions tend to become very similar as they are amended after experience with their use.)

In today’s modern complex society of humans many people pursue and live many different types of professions, occupations, vocations, hobbies, crafts, trades etc. One person may follow one or more of the above, and many persons follow severally or together any one of the above. Such persons invariably come to know about each other sometime or other. Naturally they become aware about some common instinct like protection, peculiarity, progress or pleasure without which their group charactestic is incomplete. This is NECESSITY.

Such necessity evokes in them a feeling which drives them to come together to fulfill this want. This is NEED.

So they form a group which is distinct in some aspect than other people or groups of people. Initially this group may have unclear ideas about the reasons and purpose. Thus what was ‘in spirit’ has become ‘in esse’. This is NASCENCE.

As the communications between persons are established and opened, there take place exchange of thoughts, ideas, experiences, information and knowledge. Reason and purpose of the group become clear, apparent (perceivable) and evident (visible). It can now be put in written form so that it forms a depository for future reference, and can also be passed on more easily to new members. This is the MEMORAMDUM, AIMS AND OBJECT(IVE)S. This is now exhibited in public as their distinctive characteristic.

Methods are now devised to achieve these aims and objective keeping in mind to maintain the concord and uniformity. These are RULES AND RUGULATIONS.

Rules generally tell us what to do and how to do.

Regulations generally tell us what the limits are and what not to do.

If we compare constitution to a vehicle carrying members as passengers then, rules are the starter and accelerator, and regulations are steering wheel and brake.

Life at a more prosaic level and requirements of day to day actions bring about development of do’s and don’ts. These are BYELAWS.

Necessity, Need and Nascence is the spirit and Memorandum, Rules Regulations and Byelaws are the body of this ‘being’ called CONSTITUTION.

The spirit is expressed in, but is not limited by, the ‘preamble’. This spirit is perceived occasionally and partially into other instruments of constitution like memorandum, rules and byelaws. It can also be gleaned from the planning and execution of various activities and programmes undertaken by such group.

The progress from preamble to byelaws is really the various stages from the ethereal to the concrete.

Non-political entities such as corporations and voluntary associations, whether incorporated or not, often have what is effectively a constitution, called memorandum and articles of association. Generally, every modern constitution confers specific powers to an organisation or institutional entity, established upon the primary condition that it abides by the said constitution’s limitations. An organization is constitutional to the extent that it “contains institutionalised mechanisms of power control for the protection of the interests and liberties of the members, including those that may be in the minority”.

In the medieval period associations were called as guilds and the emphasis was on protection, while progress was kept secret. In modern times the emphasis is on progress & pleasure while protection is taken for granted.

Lines of accountability are clearly drawn in constitution – in parliamentary systems, ministers are accountable to Parliament; in societies the office bearers are accountable to the General Body.

In all modern organisations the constitution has supremacy over ordinary statute law / rules and regulations; in such states, when an official act is (found to be) unconstitutional, i.e. it is not a power granted to the government/management by the constitution, that act is null and void, and the nullification is ab initio, that is, from inception, not from the date of the finding. It was never “law”.

So the constitution may be defined as –

“It is an embodiment, composition and compilation of

Notions, ideas and concepts

Discerned, distinguished, distilled, clarified and purified

Which express, enhance, nourish and encourage

All that is known for

Necessity, need, nascence, growth, direction, guidance, regulation and circumscription

For the common good of like-minded, like living people.”

(Notes – Discern = to perceive as separate. Distinguish = to note difference with a mark.

Distill = to separate from other elements of the mixture, drop by drop.

Clarify = to make more clear. Purity = to remove impurities.)

PREAMBLE

(Prae, pre = before + ambulāre = to walk; preamble = walking in front)

The preamble is defined as –

1. A preliminary statement, especially the introduction to a formal document, like a constitution, that serves to explain its purpose; a preface, an introduction, or
2. An introductory part of a statute, deed, or the like, stating the reasons and intent of what follows.

A preamble is an introductory and explanatory statement in a document that explains the document’s purpose and underlying philosophy. When applied to the opening paragraphs of a statute, it may recite historical facts pertinent to the subject of the statute. In the context of Associations it may be defined as –

“A preamble is an introductory statement of formation, purpose, hope, aspirations and guiding principles of an association expressing broad and lofty concepts in brief but elegantly meaningful language.”

(The courts and scholars have shown interest in any clues they can find in the Preamble regarding the Constitution’s meaning. They have developed several techniques for interpreting the meaning of statutes and these are also used to interpret the Constitution. As a result, the courts have said that interpretive techniques which focus on the exact text of a document should be used in interpreting the meaning of the Constitution; so the Preamble provides additional language against which to compare other parts of the Constitution. Balanced against these techniques are those that focus more attention on broader efforts to discern the meaning of the document from more than just the wording; the Preamble is also useful for these efforts to identify the “spirit” of the Constitution. Additionally, when interpreting a legal document, courts are very often interested in understanding the document as its authors did and their motivations for creating it; as a result, the courts have cited the Preamble for evidence of the history, intent and meaning of the Constitution as it was understood by the Founders. ⁾

The preamble may be used to interpret ambiguous areas of the constitution where differing interpretations present themselves; however, the preamble is useful as an interpretive tool only if there is an ambiguity in the article itself. It is a reliable evidence of the Founder Members’ intentions regarding the Constitution’s meaning and what they hoped it would achieve.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

As the organisation grows in number of members, activities and funds its management becomes more complicated, and lines of communication become thin. The value of assets acquired over the years increase. More and more members are stranger to each other. At this phase many procedures, mores and tradition taken as granted but not clearly expressed in rules and regulations are likely to be questioned or ignored. There is real danger that the original objects of society may become compromised. The financial management may become non transparent and some expenses may become questionable. This may happen due to genuine ignorance though with good intensions or other wise. The Latin term ultra vires describes activities of officials, within an organisation or polity, that fall outside the constitutional or statutory authority of these officials. This possibility generates need for elaborate rules and regulations particularly regarding administration and fiscal policy. Such detail rules also serve the purpose of safe guarding the interests of association and prevent it in falling into the hands of a undeserving person. Therefore there should be periodic revaluation of rules and regulations.

Rules generally tell us what to do and how to do.

Regulations generally tell us what the limits are and what not to do.

These are generally clubbed together as sometimes it is difficulty to separate them.

A regulation is sometimes incorporated within a rule. An obvious denotation also expresses a covert negative or opposite connotation. For example, a rule which states that an association will elect one president also means it will not elect more than one president. Thus this rule is also a regulation. A regulation which states that the secretary can not spend more than rupees one hundred on incidental expenses also means that he/she can spend rupees 100 or less. Such regulation is also a rule.

RULES

Rule (ruler, ruling) usually refers to standards for activities.

It is a guide for human activity.

• Rule of thumb is a principle with broad application that is not intended to be strictly accurate or reliable for every situation
• More(al) is a rule or element of a moral code for guiding choices in human behavior
• Norm is an informal but widely accepted rule, concept, truth, definition, or qualification (social norms, legal norms, coding norms)
• Procedural law is a rule that governs the application of laws to cases
• A law is a definite guideline which may informally be called a “rule”
• A court ruling is a decision by a court

REGULATIONS

Regulation is “controlling human or societal behaviour by rules or restrictions.” Regulation can take many forms:

• Legal restrictions promulgated by a government authority
• Self-regulation by an industry such as through a trade association,
• Social regulation (e.g. norms), co-regulation and
• Market regulation.

One can consider regulation as actions of conduct imposing limits or sanctions. This action of administrative law, or implementing regulatory law, may be contrasted with statutory or case law.

BYELAWS

The byelaws come lower in hierarchy than “rules and regulations” and “aims and objectives”. Bylaw or byelaw originally meant laws of a town (by = town) which were subordinate to state laws or statues. These are necessary for every day work and do not generally exhibit any major policy or principle. These are easy to amend as per need from time to time without affecting the main objects.

Shall, Should and Will

The above three verbs occur very frequently in the rules and regulation (including byelaws) of the constitution of The Society. To remove ambiguity and confusion about their meaning these are defined and their use is illustrated with examples. These should be used with the same meaning in the transactions of the Society. All three words are used as auxiliary verbs.

‘Shall’ indicates obligation, i.e. the action described must be performed.

Example – The President shall speak on the motion.

(The President must speak on the motion)

The Secretary shall record the minutes.

(The Secretary is obliged to record the minutes.)

‘Should’ indicates strong desirability with probability.

Example – We should write the reply within a month.

(We ought to write the reply within a month.)

You should submit the report in one week.

(You ought to submit the report in one week.)

The President should start the meeting in time.

(The President ought to start the meeting in time.)

‘Will’ indicates possibility with assertion.

Example – We will send the audited report to the national body.

(We assure to send the audited report to the national body.)

You will arrange the venue for the meeting.

(We desire -and are sure- you to arrange the venue for the meeting.)

The Secretary will arrange flowers for the guest.

(The Secretary is sure to arrange flowers for the guest.)

The Origin

The Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists was founded in 1947 as an independent society. The Nagpur City Branch of The Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists was established in 1973. The original members in 1973 were Drs. Pradhan, Mankeshwar, Dave, Shirolkar, Dube, Panat, Ghosh, Balankhe, Pandit, Aiyar, Phadake, Raisinghani, Rathi, Shrirao, Sheth, Bhatia, Tikale, Waikar, Shah, Sahay and Sahay.

The ISA was registered under Societies Registration Act 1960 at Chennai in 1999.

Now we are ruled by both the S R Act as well as our constitution.

The Oath

At the time of registration, each applicant shall be given a copy of the following declaration by the Secretary and the applicant shall read and agree to abide by the same:

• I will utilise my professional knowledge for service of humanity.
• I will consider the health of my patient to be my first priority.
• I will maintain the honour and noble traditions of Anaesthesia profession.
• I will treat my colleagues with respect and dignity.
• I will implement and promote aims and objects of The Society.
• I shall abide by the rules and regulations and byelaws of The Society.
• I make these promises solemnly, freely and upon my honour.