The heads of the ministries and independent departments are the members of the Union Cabinet. In short, they and their departments and agencies are the administrative arms of the Prime Minister.

Central Government Ministries:

Ministry of Agriculture
Ministry of Agro and Rural Industries
Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers
Ministry of Civil Aviation
Ministry of Coal and Mines
Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
Ministry of Company Affairs
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
Ministry of Culture
Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region
Ministry of Environment and Forests
Ministry of External Affairs
Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Food Processing Industries
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
Ministry of Home Affairs
Ministry of Human Resource Development
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
Ministry of Labour and Employment
Ministry of Law and Justice
Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources
Ministry of Panchayati Raj
Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
Ministry of Power
Ministry of Railways
Ministry of Rural Development
Ministry of Science and Technology
Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways
Ministry of Small Scale Industries
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
Ministry of Steel
Ministry of Textiles
Ministry of Tourism
Ministry of Tribal Affairs
Ministry of Urban Development
Ministry of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation
Ministry of Water Resources
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports

Central Government (Independent Departments):
Department of Atomic Energy
Department of Ocean Development
Department of Space

Independent Executive Agencies

The Constitution also provides for following independent organisations, who are answerable only to the Parliament and are not under the purview of any Ministry,
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) - premier national investigative agency, analogous to the United States FBI, but limited in authority.
Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) -
Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)
Election Commission of India
National Commission for Women
National Commission on Population
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
Planning Commission - The premier agency
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) - Telecom regulator.
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) - The recruitment agency for Union Government positions based on competitive exams.

Judicial branch

India’s independent judicial system began under the British, and its concepts and procedures resemble those of Anglo-Saxon countries. The Supreme Court of India consists of a chief justice and 25 other justices, all appointed by the president on the advice of the Chief Justice of India. In the 1960s India moved away from using juries for most trials, finding them to be corrupt and ineffective, instead almost all trials are conducted by judges.

Unlike its US counterpart, the Indian justice system consists of a unitary system at both state and national level. The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court India, and state level High Courts and subordinate district level District and Session Courts.

National Judiciary

The Supreme Court has original, appellate and advisory jurisdiction. Its exclusive original jurisdiction extends to any dispute between the Government of India and one or more States or between the Government of India and any State or States on one side and one or more States on the other or between two or more States, if and insofar as the dispute involves any question (whether of law or of fact) on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends.

In addition, Article 32 of the Indian Constitution gives an extensive original jurisdiction to the Supreme Court in regard to enforcement of Fundamental Rights. It is empowered to issue directions, orders or writs, including writs in the nature of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari to enforce them. The Supreme Court has been conferred with power to direct transfer of any civil or criminal case from one State High Court to another State High Court or from a Court subordinate to another State High Court.

Public Interest Litigation: Although the proceedings in the Supreme Court arise out of the judgments or orders made by the Subordinate Courts, of late the Supreme Court has started entertaining matters in which interest of the public at large is involved and the Court can be moved by any individual or group of persons either by filing a Writ Petition at the Filing Counter of the Court or by addressing a letter to Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India highlighting the question of public importance for invoking this jurisdiction.

Such concept is known as Public Interest Litigation or PIL and several matters of public importance have become landmark cases. This concept is unique to the Supreme Court of India only and perhaps no other Court in the world has been exercising this extraordinary jurisdiction.

State Judiciary

The High Court stands at the head of a State’s judicial administration. There are 21 High Courts in the country, three having jurisdiction over more than one State. Among the Union Territories Delhi alone has a High Court of its own. Other six Union Territories come under the jurisdiction of different State High Courts. Each High Court comprises a Chief Justice and such other Judges as the President may, from time to time, appoint.

Each High Court has powers of superintendence over all subordinate courts within its jurisdiction, namely the District and Sessions courts and their lower courts. It can call for returns from such Courts, make and issue general rules and prescribe forms to regulate their practice and proceedings and determine the manner and form in which book entries and accounts shall be kept.

The District and Session Courts comprise the lowest level of courts and are trial courts of original jurisdiction, applying both federal and state laws. States are divided into districts and within each, a District and Sesions Judge is head of the judiciary. A District Judge presides over civil cases, while a Sessions Judge over criminal cases. These judges are appointed by the state governor in consultation with the state’s high court. There is a hierarchy of judicial officials below the district level, many selected through competitive examination by the state’s public service commissions.