INDIAN POLITY by CATway

1. Framing of the Constitution:

a) The Constitution of India was framed by a Constituent Assembly which was set up
under the Cabinet mission plan (1946).

b) The Constituent Assembly took almost 3 years (2 years, 11 months, and 18 days) to
complete its historic task of drafting the Constitution for an Independent India.

2. Committees formed and headed by:

• Committee on the Rules of Procedure

• Steering Committee
• Finance and Staff Committee Dr. Rajendra Prasad
• Ad hoc Committee on the National Flag

• Drafting Committee Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

• Committee on the Functions of the G.V. Mavalankar

Constituent Assembly

3. Sources of our constitution :

The Indian Constitution is borrowed from almost all the major countries of the world
but has its own unique features too.

Major sources are:

1. Government of India Act of 1935 - Federal Scheme, Office of Governor, Judiciary,

Public Service Commission, Emergency provisions and administrative details.
2. British Constitution – Parliamentary System, Rule of law, Legislative Procedure, Single
Citizenship, Cabinet System, Prerogative Writs, Parliamentary Privileges and
Bicameralism.

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3. US Constitution – Fundamental rights, independence of judiciary, judicial review,

impeachment of president, removal of Supreme Court and high court judges and post of
vice president.

4. Irish Constitution- Directive Principles of State Policy, nomination of members of

Rajya Sabha and method of election of president

5. Canadian Constitution- Federation with a strong centre, vesting of residuary power in

the centre, appointment of state Governor by the centre and advisory jurisdiction of
Supreme Court.

6. Australian Constitution- Concurrent list, joint sitting of two houses of Parliament.

7. Constitution of Germany- Suspension of fundamental rights during emergency.

8. French Constitution- Republic and ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity in the
Preamble.

9. South African Constitution- Procedure for amendment of the constitution and

election of members of Rajya Sabha.

10. Constitution of former USSR: Procedure of five-year plan, fundamental duties,

ideals of justice in Preamble.

4. Fundamental rights:
Currently the Constitution provided 7 fundamental rights.
Originally the Constitution provided for seven fundamental rights:

1. Right to equality
2. Right to freedom
3. Right against exploitation
4. Cultural and educational rights
5. Right to property
6. Right to constitutional remedies
7. Right to Privacy

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However, the ‘right to property‘ was deleted from the list of fundamental rights by the
44th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1978. It has been made a legal right under Article
300- A in the Constitution. A new fundamental right has been added recently which is
right to privacy.

5. Important Articles to Indian Constitution:

• Article 17 Abolition of Untouchability

• Article 21: Right to privacy
• Article 32 provides the right to Constitutional remedies which means that a person has
right to move to Supreme Court (and high courts also) for getting his fundamental rights
protected
• Article 370 Special provision of J&K
• Article 352 Proclamation of emergency (National Emergency)
• Article 356 State Emergency (President‘s Rule)
• Article 360 Financial Emergency

6. Important Amendments to Indian Constitution:

• 42nd amendment – April 1, 1977 – It is called ‘mini-constitution, it Provides for
curtailment of fundamental rights, imposes fundamental duties and changes to the
basic structure of the constitution by making India a ―Socialist Secular Republic.
• 61th amendment – – March 28, 1989 – Reduce age for voting rights from 21 to 18
• 86th amendment – December 12, 2002 – Provides Right to Education until the age of
fourteen and early childhood care until the age of six.

7. President of India:
Ram Nath Kovind is now 14th President of India Bullet Points facts about Presidents:

1) The President of India is the Head of the state of India and the Commander-in-chief of
the Indian Armed Forces. He is the 1st citizen of the country.

2) The President resides in an estate known as the Rashtrapati Bhavan, situated in

Raisina Hill in New Delhi.

3) The first and only female president of India was Smt. Pratibha Patil (2007-2012).

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4) The President is elected by the Electoral College composed of elected members of the
parliament houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and also members of the Vidhan Sabha,
the state legislative assemblies. Remember here Vidhan Parishad (Legislative council)
doesn't take part in Election of president)

5) There have been 14 presidents of India since the introduction of the post in 1950.
Apart from these 14, three acting presidents have also been in office for short periods of
time.

6) Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, is the only person to have held office for
two terms.

7) Two presidents, Zakhir Hussain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, have died in office.

8) Mr. Ram Nath Kovind was a lawyer by the profession and before becoming president,
He was the Governor of Bihar.

8. LIST OF PRESIDENTS OF INDIA

1. Dr Rajendra Prasad (1950-1962)
2. Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1962-1967)
3. Zakir Hussain (1967-1969)
4. Varahagiri Venkata Giri (1969-1974)
5. Fakruddin Ali Ahmed (1974-1977)
6. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1977-1982)
7. Giani Zail Singh (1982-1987)
8. Ramaswamy Venkataraman (1987-1992)
9. Shankar Dayal Sharma (1992-1997) 10. K R Narayanan (1997-2002)
11. APJ Abdul Kalam (2002-2007)
12. Pratibha Patil (2007-2012)
13. Pranab Mukherjee (2012- 2017)
14. Ramnath Kovind (25 July 2017 onward)

Special Insight: NO muslim president could complete the full term before A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

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9. Resignation
S.No Appointment Submits Resignation to

1. President Vice President

2. Vice President
3 Prime Minister
4. Judge of Supreme Court
5. Governor President
6 Judge of High Court
7. A member of Public Service
Commission (Union Commission or
Joint Commission)
8. Speaker of Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha
9. Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha Speaker of Lok Sabha
10. Deputy Chairman of Council of States Chairman
11. Member of house of Parliament Chairman of upper house or the
Speaker of Lower House
12. Speaker of Assembly Deputy Speaker of Assembly
13. Deputy Speaker of Assembly Speaker of Assembly
14. Chairman of Legislative Council of Deputy Chairman
States
15. Deputy Chairman of Legislative Chairman
Council of States
16. A member of Public Service Governor
Commission (State Commission)

10. Some important points to remember:

1) Total no. Of seats in lower house (Lok Sabha): 545
2) Total no. of seats in upper house (Rajya Sabha): 250
3) Supreme court judge retires at 65 of age while high court judge retires at 62
years of age.
4) Chief justice of India gives oath to President of India. Chief justice of High court
gives oath to Governor.
5) How many sessions in a year held in Lok Sabha: 3 [monsoon session, winter
session and budget session]
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6) The state which has the highest no. Of Representatives in both the houses: UP
7) Which high court has the largest jurisdiction in term of number of state:
Guwahati high Court. Total high courts in our country are 24.
8) Minimum age of President and vice-president is 35 years.
9) Minimum age of PM: Complete 25 years of age if he is a member of the Lok
Sabha or 30 years if he is a member of the Rajya Sabha.
10) NITI Aayog or the National Institution for Transforming India is a Government of
India policy think-tank established by the Narendra Modi government to replace
the Planning Commission. Narendra Modi, Chairperson Amitabh Kant, CEO Rajiv
Kumar, Vice Chairperson
11) The first hour of a sitting of the House normally allotted for asking and answering
of questions: Question Hour.
12) A bill containing only provisions dealing with all or any of the matters specified in
sub‐clauses (a) to (g) of Clause (1) of Article 110 of the Constitution. Such a bill
cannot be introduced without the recommendation of the President and it also
cannot be introduced in the Rajya Sabha- Money Bill
13) Right to information act came into picture from 2005. Right to Information Act
2005 special is its power and practicality to seek and get information from
government authorities.
14) The Attorney General for India is the Indian government's chief legal advisor, and
its primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of India. He is appointed by the
President of India under Article 76(1) of the Constitution and holds office during
the pleasure of the President. KK Venugopal is the current attorney general of
india.
15) Constitutional Bodies and Non- Constitutional Bodies Constitutional Bodies are
formed by the Constitution which helps the Government to run properly. Some
Important constitutional Bodies:

1.Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)

2.Election Commission.
3. Finance Commission
4. CAG
5. National Commission for SCs / STs
6. Attorney General Non constitutional body which does not find its name in the
constitution of India. Hence, it cannot derive power from constitution of India.
Statutory body can also be called as a nonconstitutional body A statutory body is

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one that derives its existence and authority from a statute (i.e. law). Eg: Wildlife
Board constituted under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Non-statutory body
would thus be one that has no legislative backing. Eg: NITI Aayog. These non-
statutory extra-constitutional bodies are usually created through an executive
order (i.e., the order of the govt, in layman's terms).

16) Longest serving PM of India: Pundit Jawahar Lal Nehru

17) Part of Indian constitution: President, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
18) Chairman of Rajya Sabha: Vice President
19) 14th Finance commission: 2015-2020 Its chairman: Dr. Y V Reddy
20) 21st Law Commission of India: 2015-2018
Chairman: Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan
The LCI is a non-statutory and non-constitutional body constituted by the Union
Government from time to time.
Recommendations: 21st LCI will give its major recommendations on a review of
the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the criminal justice system and the bail law in order
to ensure uniformity in the procedure of granting the relief

11. 1st to hold the office :

The first President of India Dr. Rajendra Prasad
The first Prime Minister of India Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru
1st vice president of India Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
1ST Chief Justice of India HJ Kania
The first Home minister of India Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel
The first Education Minister Abdul Kalam Azad
The first Prime Minister of India who did not Charan Singh
face the Parliament
The first Muslim President of Indian Republic Dr. Zakhir Hussain
The first Prime Minister of India who Morarji Desai
resigned without completing the full term
The first law minister of India Dr. B. R. Ambedakar
1st speaker of Lok Sabha GV Mavalankar

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12. First women to hold the office:

First woman Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi
The first woman foreign Minister of Sushma Swaraj
India
The first woman Governor of a state in Mrs Sarojini Naidu
free India
The first woman Minister in a Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
Government
The first woman to become speaker of Meira Kumar
lok sabha
The first woman Chief Minister of an Mrs Sucheta Kripalani
Indian State
The first woman Chief Justice of High Mrs Leela Seth (Himachal Pradesh High
Court Court)
The first woman Judge in Supreme Kumari Justice M. Fathima
Court of India Beevi

First woman Defence Minister to hold Nirmala Sitharaman

the position independently
1st woman to become foreign minister of Sushma Swaraj
India

13. Important Time Limits in Indian Constitution :

Maximum duration for which a member of
either House of Parliament may be absent 60 days
without permission, before his seat is
declared is vacant
Maximum interval between two sessions of Six months Maximum
Parliament/State Assembly
Life of Presidential Ordinance Six months + Six weeks*
Maximum period within which an election is
to be held to fill a vacancy created by the Six months
death, resignation or removal, or otherwise
of a President
Maximum duration for which President’s Six months
rule can be imposed in a state extendable upto a maximum of three years
Time after which money bill passed by Lok
Sabha is deemed to have been passed by 14 days
Rajya Sabha when no action is taken by it

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Maximum period for which the term of a Lok 1 year at a time

Sabha/State Legislature may be extended
while a Proclamation of Emergency is in
operation
* Six months being the maximum interval between two sessions of the Parliament and six
weeks being the time allowed for the Parliament to approve/disapprove the ordinance after
its reassembly.

ALL THE BEST

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