Constitution of India

India ie. Bharat is a Union of States.  It is a Sovereign Socialist Democratic Republic with a
parliamentary system of government.  The Republic is governed in terms of the Constitution
of India which was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 th November 1949 and came
into force on 26th January 1950.
The Constitution provides for a Parliamentary form of government which is federal in
structure with certain unitary features.  The constitutional head of the Executive of the Union
is the President.  As per Article 79 of the Constitution of India,  the council of the Parliament
of the Union consists of the President and two Houses to be known as the Council of States
(Rajya Sabha) and the House of the People (Lok Sabha).  Article 74(1) of the Constitution
provides that there shall be a Council of Ministers with a Prime Minister as its head to aid and
advise the President, who shall exercise his functions in accordance to the advice.  The real
executive power is thus vested in the Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as its
head.
The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the House of the People (Lok Sabha). 
Every State has a Legislative Assembly.  Certain States have an upper House called State
Legislative Council.  Governor is the Head of a State.  There shall be a Governor for each
State and the executive power of the State shall be vested in him.  The council of Ministers
with the Chief Minister as its head advises the Governor in the discharge of the executive
functions.  The Council of the Ministers of a state is collectively responsible to the
Legislative Assembly of the State.
The Constitution distributes legislative powers between Parliament and State legislatures as
per the lists of entries in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution.  The residual powers vest
in the Parliament.  The centrally administered territories are called Union Territories.

The term constitution is a Latin word that denotes an important law. A

constitution is a codified written document which is the system for
government. This text establishes the rules and principles of an
autonomous political entity. The Constitution of India is considered to be
the supreme law of land. It lays down the framework defining
fundamental political principles, establishing the structure, procedures,
powers and duties of the government and mentions the fundamental
rights, directive principles and duties of citizens. It is the longest written
constitution of any sovereign nation and a total of 117,369 words in the
English language. However, besides the English version, there is also an
official Hindi translation available. The Indian constitution declares India
as a `Sovereign, Socialist Democratic, Republic` with a parliamentary
system of government.

The Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on

26th November 1949 and it came into force on 26th January 1950. Every
law of the land enacted by the government must conform to the
constitution. India became independent from the colonial rule of the
British Empire and a need for a competent government aroused.
However, during the prominence of the British Raj, the Government of
India Act 1935 was passed, which was the last constitution of India during
the British rule. The act laid down principles stating and granting
autonomy to the Indian provinces. The Government of India act also
provided for establishment of an Indian Federation and the Provincial
assemblies include more elected Indian representatives, who in turn could
lead majorities and form governments. But Governors retained
discretionary powers regarding summoning of legislatures, giving assents
to bills and administering certain special regions. This present constitution
of India is modeled on the basis of the Government of India Act.
After the Second World War came to an end, a new government came to
power in the United Kingdom. A new British government announced its
Indian Policy in 1946, at the initiative of British Prime Minister Clement
Attlee. A cabinet mission was formulated to discuss and finalize plans for
the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian leadership and
providing India with independence. The main aim of the Cabinet mission
was to discuss the framework of the Constitution of India and lay down
the procedure to be followed by the constitution drafting body. The
constitution was drafted by the Constituent Assembly and it was elected
by the elected members of the provincial assemblies. Sachidanand Sinha
was chosen as the first president of the Constituent Assembly and later
Rajendra Prasad was elected president of the Constituent Assembly. The
Constituent Assembly of India consisted of the prominent figures of the
nation including Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajagopalachari, Rajendra Prasad,
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad as well as Shyama
Prasad Mukherjee. The assembly also comprised of members from the
Anglo-Indian community, scheduled classes, Parsis community and the
Gorkha Community. Women members were also represented the
constituent assembly and Sarojini Naidu was a well-known women
member.

The constituent assembly met on August 14, 1947 and various decisions
were taken in the committee. The concept of Indian Flag was taken in the
assembly meeting. A flag with three colours, Saffron, White and Green
with the Ashoka Chakra was selected. Furthermore, the National Emblem
of India was decided and it has been taken from the Sarnath Lion Capital
of Ashoka. The Indian Government adapted it on 26th January 1950 when
the country became a republic. In addition to that it
was decided to form a drafting committee with Dr. B.
R. Ambedkar as the Chairman along with six other
members. A Draft Constitution was prepared by the
Drafting Committee of Indian Constitution and
submitted to the Assembly on November 4, 1947.
The assembly finally took over a period of 2 years,
11 months and 18 days before adopting the
Constitution. The Constitution of India opens with
the Preamble which is like the preface of the
constitution. The Preamble is not a part of the Constitution of India as it is
not enforceable in a court of law. Nevertheless, the Preamble is useful as
an interpretive tool. It is an integral part of the constitution and describes
the basic structure of the Constitution of India. The Preamble of the
constitution of India puts forth:

"We, The People of India, Having Solemnly Resolved To Constitute India

Into A Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic and to secure to
all its citizens:

Justice, social, economic and political;

Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
Equality of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all
Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity
of the Nation;
In Our Constituent Assembly This Twenty-Sixth Day of November, 1949,
Do Hereby
Adopt, Enact and Give To Ourselves This Constitution"

However, the original draft of the constitution had only the words
`Sovereign Democratic Republic` in the first line. The words `Socialist
and Secular` were inserted by the 42nd amendment and the words
`Unity of the Nation` were changed to `Unity and Integrity of the
Nation.`

The structure of the Constitution of India comprise of the preamble,

twenty-two parts containing three hundred and ninety five articles, twelve
schedules of Indian Constitution, ninety-four amendments of Indian
Constitution, and five appendices. The Constitution distributes its
legislative powers between Parliament and State legislatures. The
residuary powers invest in the Parliament and the centrally administered
territories are called Union Territories. The Constitution provides for a
Parliamentary form of government which is federal in structure with
certain unitary features. The constitutional head of the Executive of the
Union is the President. Since the enactment of the constitution has
supported for a steady concentration of power to the central government,
especially to Prime Minister Office or the (PMO). In Article 79 of the
Constitution of India it is laid down that the council of the Parliament of
the Union will consist of the President and two Houses as the Council of
States (Rajya Sabha) and the House of the People (Lok Sabha). In Article
74(1), it is stated that the Constitution provides that there shall be a
Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head to aid and advise
the President. The real executive power is thus vested in the Council of
Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head.

The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the House of the

People (Lok Sabha). Every State of India will have a Legislative Assembly.
However, a few States have an upper House, also called State Legislative
Council. The constitution also puts it as there will be a Governor for each
state and the executive power of the State is vested in him. He is
appointed by the President as the Head of the State. The Council of
Ministers with the Chief Minister as its head advises the Governor in the
discharge of the executive functions. The Council of the Ministers of a
state is collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the State.
All the ministers in the state and the union level are elected by the
citizens of India. The first India General Elections were conducted in India
in 1951, for 489 constituencies representing 26 Indian states. There were
a few two-seat and even a three-seat constituency only.

The Constitution of India is the lengthiest written document. It is flexible

as well as a quasi -federal in nature. The constitution discusses about the
Central, State Governments, Union Territories, their offices, the Supreme
Court, High Courts, other Courts, the Election Commission of India and all
other Government bodies function. One of the salient features of the
constitution of India is its federal character. The Indian Union comprises
of the Central and State Governments and the Union Territories. There
are 28 States and 6 Union Territories. The States of India are divided on
the basis of the languages spoken by the people. Another feature of the
constitution is its single Citizenship. Though India is a federal country,
Indian Citizenship Act of 1955 mentions the qualifications to acquire
citizenship rights. It can be acquired by birth, descent, registration,
naturalization and other specified ways.

The citizens of Indian are ensured of certain Fundamental Rights and

Fundamental Duties by the Constitution. All Indian citizens are
guaranteed six Fundamental Rights. Another feature of the Indian
constitution is the Directive Principles of State Policy. The Constitution of
India provides its Government to take policy decisions and implement
them for the welfare of the Indian people. Indian constitution is an
extensive document and its features are from Western legal traditions.
The constitution of India has adopted its characteristics from the British
Constitution, United States Constitution, Irish Constitution, French
Constitution, Canadian Constitution, Australian Constitution and Soviet
Constitution.
What are the human rights under Indian constitution?

Human beings are rational beings. They by virtue of being humans possess certain basic and
inalienable rights which are known as Human Rights. Since these rights are available to them
by virtue of being humans, as such they come into existence at the time of their birth. The
Constitution of India as adopted in 1950 provides certain rights to its citizens known as the
Fundametal Rights(Part-3,article 14-35). These rights are similar to those rights which are
provided in Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the rights provided in Iternational
covenant on civil and political rights and international rights on social, econamic and cultural
rights
Human Rights under Indian Constitution
Today human rights are central to the discourse of International Public Policy and
Scholarship. And the mechanisms have evolved dramatically since the signing of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on 10 December 1948.
Human Rights do not exist in a vacuum, inevitably, they are formulated by individuals and
state and they are implemented by states themselves. However, a number of national,
regional and international bodies exercise responsibility for overseeing the monitoring of
human rights and ensuring that states comply with obligation.
The Constitution of India was drafted by the Constituent Assembly on 9th December, 1946
and after long discussions and debates by the foremost legal luminaries and thinkers of our
country the draft Constitution was finally adopted on 26th November, 1949. The framers of
the Indian Constitution were influenced by the concept of human rights and guaranteed most
of human rights contained in the UDHR. The UDHR contains Civil and Political as well as
Economic Social and Cultural rights. While Civil and Political rights has been incorporated in
Part III of Indian Constitution i.e. Fundamental Rights, as Economic Social and Cultural
rights have been incorporated in Part IV of the Constitution i.e. Directive Principles of States
Policy. The inclusion of important provisions of UDHR in the Constitution of India has given
them supremacy over all other statutory provisions.
The table shows that many of Civil and Political rights enshrined in the UDHR also find
mentioned in Part III of Indian Constitution as Fundamental Rights. However,these are
certain rights which are contained in the UDHR but have not been expressly mentioned in
the Constitution. These rights are

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or

punishment (Article 5).

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law(Article 6).

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and
impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal
charge against him (Article 10)

Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved
guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for
his defence [Article 11. (1)]

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or
correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to
the protection of the law against such interference or attacks (Article 12.)

Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country
[Article 13. (2)].

Everyone has the right to a nationality [Article 15. (1)]

Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have
the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage,
during marriage and at its dissolution [Article 16. (1)]

Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through
freely chosen representatives [Article 21. (1)]
 Article 21 of the Indian Constitution is of widest amplitude and several unremunerated rights
fall within it.

These rights are:

1. Right to go abroad
2. Right to privacy
3. Right against Solitary Confinement
4. Right against Bar Fetters
5. Right to Legal Aid
6. Right of Speedy Trial
7. Right against Hand Cuffing
8. Right against delayed execution
9. Rights against Custodial violence
10. Rights against Public hearing
11. Rights to Health Care or Doctor’s assistance
12. Right to shelter
Other rights which have been held to emanate from Article 21 are the following:

1. Right to know
2. Right to Compensation
3. Right to Release or Rehabilitation of Bonded Labour
4. Rights against Cruel and Unusual Punishment
5. Rights of inmates of protective homes

The Supreme Court started reading the some of the provisions in Part IV of the Indian
Constitution i.e. Directive Principles of States Policy (DPSP) into the Fundamental Rights.
The 42th Amendment Act 1976 had inserted Article 48A in Part IV of the constitution
requiring the state to endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard
the forest and wild life of the country. The Supreme Court interpreted the right to life in
Article 21 to mean life free from environmental pollution.

Civil and Political Rights

Universal
Indian
S.No.1 Declaration of
constitution
Human Rights

Everyone has the

right to life, liberty
1 Article 21
and security of
person.(Art.3)

2 No one shall be Article 23

held in slavery or
servitude; slavery
and the slave
trade shall be
prohibited in all
 their forms. (Art.4)

Equality before
Law and Non- Article 14 and
3
discrimination 15
(Art.7)

Right to effective
4 Article 32
remedy (Art.8)

Rights against
arbitrary arrest,
5 detention and right Article 22
to habeas corpus
(Art.9)

Rights ex-post
6 facto law Article 20(1)
[Art.11(2)]

Right to freedom
7 of movement Article 10(1)(d)
[Art.13(1)]

Article 19 (1)(f)
Right of own (but it was
property and not omitted by the
8
be deprived of Constitution)
property (Art.17) (42th
Amendment)

Right to freedom
of thought,
9 Article 25(1)
conscience and
religion (Art.18)

Right to freedom
of opinion and
10 Article 19(1)(a)
expression (Art.
19)
 Right to freedom
of peaceful
11 assembly and Article 19(1)(b)
association
[Art.20(1)]

Right to equal
12 access to public Article 16(1)
service [Art.21(1)]

Right of social
13 Article 29(1)
security (Art.22)

Right of form and

14 join Trade Unions Article 19(1)(c)
(Art.23)

The following table shows that most of the economic, social and cultural rights proclaimed in
the UDHR have been incorporated in Part IV of the Indian Constitution. However, the
Constitution of India is conspicuous by absence of express mention of certain rights
proclaimed in the UDHR such as right to special care and assistance to mothers and
children, whether born in or out of wedlock [Art.25(2)]; Parents’ right to choose the kind of
education for their children [Art.26(3)]; Right of everyone to freely participate in the cultural
life of the community to enjoy art and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
[Art.27(1)]; and right of every one to protection of the moral and material interests resulting
from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author [Art.27(20]

In respect of the above rights absence of express mention does not mean that these rights
have not been incorporated in the Indian Constitution. As a matter of fact,the above rights
are either subsumed in the exiting right to any part thereof or have been expressed in a little
different scope. For example Article 39(f) charges the state to direct its policy towards
securing, “that Children are given opportunities and facility to develop in a healthy manner
and in condition of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against
moral and material abandonment.” Similarly, Article 42 makes “provision for just and humane
conditions of work and maternity relief.” Article 47 provides for the “Duty of the State to raise
the level of nutrition and standard of living and to improve public health.”

So far as human rights concerning economic, social and cultural aspects are concerned,the
fact remains that Directive Principle of State Policy contained in Part IV of the Constitution
are definitely much more exhaustive than the Universal Declaration. There are number of
principles and rights contained in Part IV of the Constitution which do not find mention in the
Universal Declaration.

Such rights and principles are:

1. Equal justice and free legal aid (Article 39 A)

2. Organization of village panchayat (Article 40)
3. Participation of workers in management industries (Article 43-A)
4. Uniform Civil Code (Article 44).
5. Promotion of education and economic interests of scheduled castes, scheduled
tribes and other weaker sections (Article 46).
6. Protection and improvement and safeguarding of forests (Article 48 A) etc

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Universal Declaration Indian

S.NO.
of Human Rights Constitution

Art. 23 (1) Right to

work, to free choice of
1 an employment, to Article 41
just and fovourable
conditions of work etc,

Art. 23 (2) Right to

equal pay for equal
2 Article 39(d)
work conditions of
work etc,

Art. 23 (3) Right to

3 just and favourable Article 43
remuneration

Art. 24 (1) Right to

4 Article 43
rest to leisure

Art. 25 (1) Right of

everyone and a
Article 39
5 standard of living
(a) and 47
adequate for his and
his family

Art. 26 (1) Right to

education and free
Article 41
6 education in
and 45
elementary and
fundamental stages
 Art. 28 Right to proper
7 Article 38
social order

As the subject itself is so wide there is no appropriate conclusion as Human Right is

concern. No doubt these rights has been incorporated in Indian Constitution, However, it is
still a failure with events of human rights violation making headline in one form or the other.
The violation of Human right may be in different form. We should be ashamed with rising
issue of honour killing, corporal punishment, custodial death, fake encounter killing, etc. If we
want to give the exact interpretation of term Unity in Diversity it is the responsibility of very
Indian to respect rights of another individual irrespective of race, colour, sex, caste,
language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other
status. To erase human right violation may be impossible but it always possible to bring
changes if we take individual responsibility on our own shoulder.