SESSIONS OF THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY

The Constituent Assembly took almost three years to complete its historic task of drafting the
Constitution for independent India. During this period, the Assembly held eleven sessions.

The Constituent Assembly at Work

At the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly held in the Constitution Hall the present
Central Hall of Parliament House on 9 December, 1946 at eleven of the Clock in the
morning, Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha was invited to be the temporary Chairman of the
Assembly, following the French precedent of appointing the oldest member to that post.
Acharya J.B. KripalanI, while inviting Dr. Sinha on behalf of all the members of the
Constituent Assembly referred to him as not only the oldest member but also the oldest
parliamentarian in India. After an inaugural address by the temporary Chairman, which dealt
largely with the background of Constitution making in other countries and invoking Divine
blessings for the proceedings of the Assembly, the members formally presented their
credentials to the Chairman and signed the Register of members.
208 members presented credentials on the first day. Members belonging to the Muslim
League did not attend the session.'

On 10 December, 1946, the House passed a resolution prescribing procedure for the election
of the permanent Chairman or the President of the Constituent Assembly and proceeded to
adopt, with such modifications as the Chairman may in his absolute discretion permit, the
Rules and Standing Orders of the Central Legislative Assembly, pending the framing by the
Constituent Assembly of its own Rules of Procedure'. The Office of the Constituent
Assembly had been functioning from many months before the first meeting of the Assembly;
by a unanimous resolution, the Assembly confirmed its existing organization. It resolved to
appoint a committee to report on the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly 'including Sections
and Committees'. 'Sections and Committees' were explicitly included in the resolution after a
prolonged debate, with a view to removing any doubt regarding the supreme authority of the
Assembly.

On 11 December, 1946, the Assembly elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as its permanent
Chairman. From 12 December to 19 December, 1946, the Constituent Assembly debated at
length the resolution regarding its Aims and Objects moved by Jawaharlal Nehru. A large
number of amendments were tabled, but the debate centered round an amendment which
sought a postponement of the resolution until the Muslim League and representatives of
Princely States joined the deliberations of the Assembly. On 21 December, the Chairman
announced postponement of further discussion of Nehru's resolution until the House
reassembled on 20 January, 1947.
The Constituent Assembly, on 21 December, 1946 set up a Committee to confer with the
Negotiating Committee of the Chamber of Princes and with other representatives of Indian
States for the purpose of fixing the distribution of seats and the method by which the
representatives of the Princely States should be returned to the Constituent Assembly.
On the same day, 21 December, 1946, the report of the Rules Committee was presented to the
House and, in order to secure informality of discussion as well as dispatch, the Assembly
went into a Committee of the Whole House. The Rules, as accepted by the Committee of the
Whole House, were adopted at a plenary session on 23 December, 1946. The Constituent
Assembly, under the new Rules, elected members to the Credentials Committee, the House
Committee and the Finance and Staff Committee. The House then decided to adjourn till 11
a.m. on 20 January, 1947.

On the first day of the second session of the preliminary sitting of the Constituent Assembly,
the House resolved to elect a Steering Committee to arrange the order of business and act as a
general liaison for the Assembly, the Sections, the Committees and the President. Eleven
members were elected to the Committee on the next day. The Objectives Resolution was
adopted by the House on 22 January 1947 in a solemn manner, all members standing. On 24
January, 1947, the Constituent Assembly resolved to elect a Vice- President and the next day
Dr. H.C. Mookherjee was elected to that office unopposed.

On 24 January, the Assembly accorded sanction to the estimated expenditure of the Assembly
for the years 1946-47 and 1947-48, prepared by the Staff and Finance Committee and
discussed earlier by the Committee of the Whole House. On the same day, the Assembly
resolved to constitute an Advisory Committee in pursuance of paragraph 20 of the Cabinet
Mission's Statement of 16 May, 1946. The Committee was to report to the Constituent
Assembly upon the list of fundamental rights, clauses for protecting minorities, and a scheme
for the administration of tribal and excluded areas.

On 25 January, 1947, the Constituent Assembly appointed a three-man Business Committee

to recommend the order of further business of the Assembly in framing the Constitution for
all India and to submit its report before the commencement of the next session. The
Assembly also constituted a Committee to report on the scope of the subjects assigned to the
Union in paragraph 15 (i) of the Cabinet Mission's statement. While constituting these
various committees, the Assembly usually left room for the inclusion of an adequate number
of representatives of Muslim League and Princely States.
The second session terminated on 25 January, 1947 and the Constituent Assembly decided to
meet on such day in April as the President might fix. In the meantime the British
Government, in their statement dated 20 February, 1947, noted with great regret that there
were still differences among Indian parties which were preventing the Constituent Assembly
from functioning according to the original intention. They made it clear that the then existing
state of uncertainty, fraught with danger as it was, could not be indefinitely prolonged and
that it was their definite intention to take necessary steps to effect the transference of power
to responsible Indian hands by a date not later than June 1948. By another statement on the
same day termination of the war time appointment of Lord Wavell and the entrustment of the
task of transferring responsibility to Indian hands to Lord Mountbatten was also announced.

When the Constituent Assembly met for its third session, from 28 April to 2 May, 1947, it
had become almost clear that the Muslim League would not participate in the work of the
Constituent Assembly. The specter of partition was on the horizon. The President of the
Constituent Assembly gave a broad hint of the shape of things to come when he said;
Whatever the nature of the Constitution that may have to be drafted whether for one
undivided India or only for parts of it, we shall see to it that it gives satisfaction to all coming
under its jurisdiction. While we have accepted the Cabinet Mission's Statement of 16 May
which contemplated a Union of different Provinces and States within the country, it may be
that the Union may not comprise all the Provinces. If that unfortunately comes to pass, we
shall have to be content with a Constitution or a part of it.... This may mean not only a
division of India but a division of some Provinces. For this we must be prepared and the
Assembly may have to draw up a Constitution based on such division.
During the course of the same speech, Dr. Rajendra Prasad observed that the declared
intention of the British Government to transfer power to Indians by June 1948, had added
urgency to the work and the Assembly must proceed in a business-like way to draw up the
Constitution in as short a time as it could. Earlier, he also cordially welcomed the sixteen
representatives of Princely States who attended the House on that day for the first time.
On the same day Nehru presented the report of the States Committee which dealt with the
distribution of seats and the manner of selection of the delegates from the Princely States.The
House thereupon adopted the following resolution:
The Constituent Assembly having taken the report of its States Committee into consideration
resolved that it be recorded.
The Assembly welcomed the States representatives who have already been chosen and
expressed the hope that other States who have not chosen their representatives will take
immediate steps to do so in accordance with the agreed procedure. The report of the
Committee on Union subjects was presented by Gopalaswami Ayyangar who sought
permission of the House to let the Committee submit a further report if it became necessary in
view of the various political decisions looming before the country. The Assembly
unanimously agreed to this proposal and postponed the discussion of the report to the next
session.
On 29 April, 1947, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel presented the Advisory Committee's interim
report on the subject of Fundamental Rights. The report was discussed during the rest of the
session. The general discussion was followed by a clause-by-clause consideration which
lasted till the last day of the session, that is, 2 May, 1947. Some amendments to the clauses of
the interim report were adopted by the Assembly and some others were referred back to the
Advisory Committee.
During the course of the third session, on 30 April, 1947, K.M. Munshi presented the report
of the Order of Business Committee. The Committee found it impossible to submit a final
report since the political conditions in the country were changing fast, and these changes had
their repercussions on the programme of the Assembly. The report had recommended, inter
alia, the appointment of two separate committees, one to report on the main principles of the
Union Constitution and the other to report on the principles of a model Provincial
Constitution. The Assembly adopted this suggestion. On 2 May, 1947, the Assembly resolved
to adjourn till such date as the President might fix. The President undertook to summon the
Assembly as soon as he felt that they had got material for the meeting.

Since his arrival in India at the end of March 1947, Lord Mountbatten had spent almost every
day in consultations with as many of the leaders and representatives of as many communities
and interests as possible. It was however, found impossible to obtain agreement either on the
Cabinet Mission plan or any other plan that would preserve the unity of India.^° The hope of
evolving a Constitution acceptable to all concerned in India having failed because of the
refusal of the Muslim League to participate in the Constituent Assembly and reoccurrence of
violence in various parts of the country, the British Government decided to ascertain the
wishes of the people on the issue of unity or partition and announced their plan in a statement
issued on 3 June, 1947. Under this scheme the existing Constituent Assembly and the new
Constituent Assembly if formed would proceed to frame Constitutions for their respective
territories and would be free to frame their own rules. The British Government, during the
course of the same statement, also expressed their willingness to transfer power earlier than
June, 1948.
When the Constituent Assembly met for its fourth session on 14 July, 1947, the Indian
Independence Bill, incorporating the proposals of the above scheme, was already on the anvil
of the British Parliament. It was introduced on 5 July, and became an Act on 18 July, 1947.
The Act provided for setting up of two independent Dominions - with effect from 15 August,
1947 and gave unlimited power to the Constituent Assembly of each Dominion to frame and
adopt any Constitution and even to supersede the Indian Independence Act itself without any
further legislation on the art of the British Parliament. It also provided that the Constituent
Assembly which started its sitting on 9 December, 1946 was to be the Constituent Assembly
of India while Pakistan which had been duly agreed upon after the partition of the provinces
of the Punjab and Bengal and the district of Sylhet from Assam would set up a fresh
Constituent Assembly for herself.
Thus, when the fourth session of the Constituent Assembly commenced on 14 July, 1947, the
Muslim league members from Indian Dominion took their seats in the Assembly. The
representatives of all the Princely States, except those of Jammu and Kashmir and
Hyderabad, also took their seats on 14 July, 1947. Members elected by the Bengal and Punjab
Legislative Assemblies to the Indian Constituent Assembly ceased to be members thereof and
the members of the partitioned constituencies of Bengal and Punjab elected their
representatives de novo to the, Constituent Assembly.
On 15 July, 1947, K.M. Munshi on behalf of the Steering Committee moved some
amendments to the Rules of the Constituent Assembly consequent upon the decision to
partition India. All references to 'Sections' in the Rules were dropped. Some other
Amendments of a formal character were also incorporated in the Rules.
On the same day, Sardar Patel moved for consideration of the report on the principles of a
model Provincial Constitution submitted by the Committee appointed for the purpose.The
report was discussed and adopted with amendments to some of its clauses. The Assembly
took up the report of the Union Constitution Committee on 21 July, 1947 on a motion by
Nehru. The discussion of the report went on for eight days but was not concluded during the
fourth session which terminated on 31 July, 1947. An important event of the fourth session
was the adoption of the national flag of India by the Constituent Assembly on 22 July, 1947.
The historic fifth session of the Assembly was held from 14 to 30 August, 1947. First sitting
of the fifth session began at 11 p.m. on 14 August and as the clock struck twelve mid-nights,
the Members, after taking a solemn pledge to serve India and her people, assumed the
governance of the country and endorsed Lord Mountbatten's appointment as Governor-
General of India.
On 15 August, 1947, the President of the Assembly read out some congratulatory messages
on India's attainment of the Independence. Lord Mountbatten, the Governor-General of India,
then addressed the House. After a speech by the President of the Assembly and hoisting of
the National Flag over the roof of the Constitution Hall the Assembly adjourned for the day.
—

The next sitting was held on 20 August 1947, when the subject of the dual role of the
Constituent Assembly - constituent and legislative - received prominent attention and on a
unanimous recommendation from the House, the President of the Assembly announced the
personnel and terms of reference of a committee to consider the precise functions of the
Constituent Assembly under the Indian Independence Act and make a report very soon. The
report of the Committee was adopted in the form of a resolution which, inter alia outlined the
functions of the Constituent Assembly as (i) continuance and completion of the work of
Constitution-making; and (ii) legislation for the Dominion until a Legislature under the new
Constitution came into being. The two functions were to be clearly separated, Provision being
made for the election of a Speaker to preside over the deliberations of the Assembly when
functioning as the Dominion Legislature.
On 20 August, 1947, the Assembly took into consideration the second report on the scope of
Union powers submitted by the Committee appointed for the purpose. In view of the
momentous changes which had occurred after the submission of its report, the Committee felt
that it would be injurious to the interests of the country to provide for a weak central
authority which would be incapable of ensuring peace, of co-coordinating vital matters of
common concern and of speaking effectively for the whole country in the international
sphere. The Committee had, therefore, drawn up three extensive lists- federal, provincial and
concurrent - and recommended a federal- constitution with a strong centre, residuary powers
being vested in the centre. The recommendations of the Committee were considered on 20,
22, 23 and 26 August, 1947. On 27 August, the House took up the Report of the Advisory
Committee on Minority Rights. The discussion on the report concluded on 28 August .

On 29 August, Satyanarayan Sinha moved a resolution for the appointment of a Committee

consisting of seven members, namely, Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, N. Gopalaswami
Ayyangar, B.R. Ambedkar, K.M. Munshi, Mohd. Saadulla, B.L. Mitter and D.P. Khaitan to
scrutinize and to suggest necessary amendments to the draft of the Constitution of India
prepared in the Office of the Assembly on the basis of the decision taken in the Assembly.
The Assembly accepted the seven names contained in the resolution but changed its text to
the following effect."
To scrutinize the draft of the text of the Constitution of India prepared by the Constitutional
Adviser giving effect to the decisions taken already in the Assembly and including all matters
which are ancillary thereto or which have to be provided in such a Constitution, and to submit
to the Assembly for consideration the text of the draft Constitution as revised by the
Committee.
On 30 August, 1947, the last day of the fifth session, the Assembly discussed the
Supplementary Report of the Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights which suggested
that in addition to justiciable fundamental rights, the Constitution should include certain
Directive Principles of the State Policy."
The sixth session of the Constituent Assembly was held only for a day on 27 January, 1948
when the Assembly adopted a motion to increase the representation of West Bengal from 19
to 21 and of East Punjab from 12 to 16. The Assembly also made a number of amendments to
its Rules inter alia, to enable those Ministers who were not members of the Constituent
Assembly to take part in the proceedings, to enable members of the Constituent Assembly to
take
part in the proceedings, to enable members to move Bills to amend the Indian Independence
Act or the Government of India Act, 1935, to amend the procedure for disputes relating to
representation of Princely States in the Assembly and to settle the procedure for passing of
the Constitution.
The President of the Assembly observed that the expected the Drafting Committee to give
him the final draft about the middle of February and as soon as it was reported it would be
printed, published in the Gazette and otherwise publicized. He hoped to call the next session
of the Assembly sometime in April for considering and adopting the Constitution.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the Chairman of the Drafting Committee submitted the draft of the new
Constitution as settled by the Committee, to the President of the Constituent Assembly on 21
February, 1948. Copies of the Draft Constitution were widely circulated and also published
for public comment. In accordance with the directions of the President of the Assembly, the
Drafting Committee met on 23, 24 and 27 March and again on 18 October, 1948, to examine
the comments, suggestions and criticisms, received from members of the Constituent
Assembly, Provincial Governments, Provincial Legislatures, Ministries of the Government of
India and the public. A Special Committee appointed by the President to go through the
various comments and suggestions also made certain recommendations. In the light of these
the Drafting Committee selected the amendments which it was prepared to support and
Indicated them in a reprint of the Draft Constitution which was circulated to members of the
Constituent Assembly. Dr. Ambedkar conveyed these decisions of the Drafting Committee to
the President of the Constituent Assembly in a letter dated 26 October, 1948.
Thus, when the Assembly met for the seventh session, on 4 November, 1948, the Draft
Constitution had been before the public for eight months. While introducing the Draft
Constitution for consideration on 4 November, Dr. Ambedkar observed that the Draft
Constitution as it had emerged from the Drafting Committee was a formidable document
containing 315 Articles and 8 Schedules. He also placed before the Assembly reports of the
Committee on Chief Commissioners' Provinces, the Expert Committee on Financial Relations
between the Union and the States and the Advisory Committee on Tribal Areas which had
been considered by the Drafting Committee.
The general debate on Draft Constitution began on 4 November, and lasted up to 9
November, 1948, when the Assembly adopted the motion to take into consideration of the
Draft Constitution.

The clause-by-clause consideration of the Draft Constitution commenced on 15 November,

1948 and up to the last day of the seventh session, namely, 8 January, 1949, the Assembly
had considered 67 Articles and also dealt with Articles 148 and 149.^^^ The eighth session of
the Assembly lasted from 15 May to 16 June, 1949. During this period the Assembly
considered Articles 68 to 301. The ninth session of the Assembly, which was held from 30
July to 18 September, 1949, reconsidered many Articles already considered, added some new
Articles and completed consideration of Articles 305 of the Draft Constitution. In the tenth
session which began on 6 October and ended on 17 October, 1949, the clause-by-clause
consideration of 315 Articles of the Draft Constitution was completed besides adopting the
Preamble to the Constitution.
Between the seventh and the tenth session, the Assembly also disposed of certain items of
worth. Amendments of the Government of India Act, 1935 and of the Rules of Procedure
were undertaken in the seventh session. In the eighth session, the decision regarding
'continued membership of India in the Commonwealth was ratified. A Bill further to amend
the Government of India Act, 1935, was passed on 18 May, 1949. The Rules of the
Constituent Assembly were further amended on the same day. In the ninth session the
Assembly made further amendments in the Government of India Act, 1935, and abolished the
jurisdiction of Privy Council. On 17 September, 1949, the Assembly passed a resolution for
translation of the Constitution into Hindi and other major languages of India. The tenth
session laid down the procedure for the Third Reading of the Constitution by amending the
Rules of Procedure. On 17 October, 1949, the Assembly decided to reduce the daily
allowance of its members from Rs.45 to Rs. 40.

The third reading of the Constitution was held during the eleventh session of the Constituent
Assembly which lasted from 14 to 26 November, 1949. At the outset, the amendments
recommended by the Drafting Committee by way of renumbering of Articles, revision of
punctuations, formal and consequential alterations, filling up of lacunae, clarification of
meanings, and remedying the defects and omissions that the scrutiny of the Draft Constitution
had revealed to them, were taken into consideration and disposed of along with amendments
suggested by the members to those amendments. The third reading actually began on 17
November and ended on 26 November, 1949, when 'the Constitution as settled by the
Assembly' was finally passed. It had already been decided by the Assembly that with the
exception of transitory provisions and articles relating to citizenship and definitions which
came into force immediately, the Constitution would come into force on 26 January, 1950.

The twelfth and last session of the Constituent Assembly was held on 24 January, 1950 when
the President announced that Jana Gana Mana would be the national anthem of India and that
Vande Mataram would received equal honour. Then the Secretary of the Constituent
Assembly, H.V.R. Ayyengar who was Returning Officer for the election of the President of
India announced that only one nomination had been received and he accordingly declared Dr.
Rajendra Prasad to be duly elected to the office of the President of India. Tributes were paid
to the President-elect by Nehru, Sardar Patel and others.^''^ While congratulating Dr.
Rajendra Prasad on his election to the office of the President of India,

Nehru said:
One task is accomplished today in this Assembly and this Assembly will cease to be, having
done its work or rather it will suffer a sea change and emerge as the Parliament of the
Republic of India.
The members then signed three copies of the Constitution - two calligraphed copies in
English and Hindi and the third copy in print in English. After the singing of Jana Gana Mana
and Vande Matram, the Constituent Assembly adjourned, sine die.