Name : Dev R Patel

Roll No : 35
Class : Fy BBI (A)
Subject : Foundation Course
 Topic : Indian Constitution

Introduction

The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. The document lays
down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure,
procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out
fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens. It is the
longest written constitution of any country on earth.

It imparts constitutional supremacy (not parliamentary supremacy, since it

was created by a constituent assembly rather than Parliament) and was
adopted by its people with a declaration in its preamble. Parliament cannot
override the constitution.

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and Constitution of India on a 2015 postage stamp of

India

It was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India on 26 November 1949

and became effective on 26 January 1950. The constitution replaced the
Government of India Act 1935 as the country's fundamental governing
document, and the Dominion of India became the Republic of India. To
ensure constitutional autochthony, its framers repealed prior acts of the
British parliament in Article 395. India celebrates its constitution on 26
January as Republic Day.
The constitution declares India a sovereign, socialist, secular, and
democratic republic, assures its citizens justice, equality and liberty, and
endeavours to promote fraternity. The original 1950 constitution is
preserved in a helium-filled case at the Parliament House in New Delhi. The
words "secular" and "socialist" were added to the preamble in 1976 during
the Emergency.

Features
1. The bulkiest constitution of the world:-The Indian constitution is one
of the bulkiest constitution of the world, comprising of 395 articles,
22 parts and 12 schedules. So far the constitution underwent 100
amendments (28 May, 2015).
2. Rigidity and flexibility:-The Indian constitution is combination of
rigidity and flexibility, which means some parts of it can be amended
by the Parliament by a simple majority, whereas some parts require a
two-third majority as well as not less than one-half of the state
legislatures.
3. Parliamentary system of government:-The Indian constitution
provides for a parliamentary system of government, i.e., the real
executive power rests with the council of ministers and the President
is only a nominal ruler (Article 74)
4. Federal system with a unitary bias:-The Indian constitution
described India as a 'Union of States' (Article 1), which implies that
Indian federation is not the result of any agreement among the units
and the units cannot secede from it.
5. Fundamental rights and fundamental duties:-The Indian constitution
provides an elaborate list of Fundamental Rights to the citizens of
India, which cannot be taken away or abridged by any law made by the
states (Article 12–35). Similarly, the constitution also provides a list
of 11 duties of the citizens, known as the Fundamental Duties (Article
51A).
6. Directive principles of state policy:-The Indian constitution mentions
certain Directive Principles of State Policy (Article 36–51) which that
government has to keep in mind while formulating new policy.
7. Secularism:-The constitution makes India a secular state by detaching
from religious dogmas (Forty-second Amendment).
8. Independent judiciary:-The constitution provides an independent
judiciary (Article 76) which ensures that the government is carried on
in accordance with the provisions of the constitution and acts as a
guardian of the liberties and fundamental rights of the citizens.
 9. Single citizenship:-The Indian constitution provides a single
citizenship for all the people residing different parts of the country
and there is no separate citizenship for the states (Article 5–11).
10. Bicameral legislatures:-The Indian constitution provides a bicameral
legislatures at centre consisting of Rajya Sabha (Council of States)
and Lok Sabha (House of the People) (Article 79).
11. Emergency powers:-The constitution vests extraordinary powers,
known as Emergency Powers in the President during emergencies out of
armed rebellion or external aggression or due to failure of
constitutional machinery in the state (Article 352–360).
12. Special provisions for minorities:-The constitution makes special
provisions for minorities, Scheduled castes, Scheduled Tribes, etc. by
granting them certain special rights and provisions.

Preamble
The preamble to the constitution is based on the “ objective resolution”
drafted and moved by Pandit Nehru and adopted by constituent assembly. It
runs as follows:-

“We THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India in

to a SOVERIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to
secure to all its citizen

• JUSTICE, social, Economic, and Political;

• LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
• EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;
• FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and
integrity of the nation; In our Constituent Assembly, this 26th
November, 1949, do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this
constitution.”

Background
In 1928, the All Parties Conference convened a committee in Lucknow
to prepare the Constitution of India, which was known as the Nehru
Report.

Most of the colonial India was under British rule from 1857 to 1947.
From 1947 to 1950, the same legislation continued to be implemented
as India was a dominion of Britain for these three years, as each
princely state was convinced by Sardar Patel and V.P.Menon to sign the
articles of integration with India, and the British government
continued to be responsible for the external security of the country.
Thus, the constitution of India repealed the Indian Independence Act
1947 and Government of India Act 1935 when it became effective on
26 January 1950. India ceased to be a dominion of the British Crown
and became a sovereign democratic republic with the constitution.
Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 60, 324, 366, 367, 379, 380, 388, 391, 392, 393,
and 394 of the constitution came into force on 26 November 1949, and
the remaining articles became effective on 26 January 1950

Formation

• 6 December 1946: Formation of the Constitution Assembly (in

accordance with French practice).
• 9 December 1946: The first meeting was held in the constitution hall.
The 1st person to address was J. B. Kripalani, Sachchidananda Sinha
became temporary president.
• 11 December 1946: The Assembly appointed Rajendra Prasad as its
president, H. C. Mukherjee as its vice-chairman and B. N. Rau as
 constitutional legal adviser. There were initially 389 members in total,
which declined to 299 after partition. Out of the 389 members, 292
were from government provinces, 4 from chief commissioner provinces
and 93 from princely states.

• 13 December 1946: An 'Objective Resolution' was presented by

Jawaharlal Nehru, laying down the underlying principles of the
constitution. This later became the Preamble of the Constitution.
• 22 January 1947: Objective resolution unanimously adopted.
• 22 July 1947: National flag adopted.
• 15 August 1947: Achieved independence. India split into the Dominion
of India and the Dominion of Pakistan.
• 29 August 1947: Drafting Committee appointed with B. R. Ambedkar
as its Chairman. The other 6 members of committee were Munshi,
Muhammed Sadulla, Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, N. Gopalaswami
Ayyangar, Khaitan and Mitter.
• 16 July 1948: Along with Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, V. T.
Krishnamachari was also elected as second vice-president of
Constituent Assembly.
• 26 November 1949: The Constitution of India was passed and
adopted by the assembly.
• 24 January 1950: Last meeting of Constituent Assembly. The
Constitution was signed and accepted. (with 395 Articles, 8 Schedules,
22 Parts)
• 26 January 1950: The Constitution came into force. (The process
took 2 years, 11 months and 18 days.)

Membership

B. R. Ambedkar, Sanjay Phakey, Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajagopalachari,

Rajendra Prasad, Vallabhbhai Patel, Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi, Ganesh
Vasudev Mavalankar, Sandipkumar Patel, Abul Kalam Azad, Shyama Prasad
Mukherjee, Nalini Ranjan Ghosh, and Balwantrai Mehta were key figures in
the assembly,which had over 30 representatives of the scheduled classes.
Frank Anthony represented the Anglo-Indian community,and the Parsis were
represented by H. P. Modi. Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, a Christian
assembly vice-president, chaired the minorities committee and represented
non-Anglo-Indian Christians.Ari Bahadur Gurung represented the Gorkha
community.Judges, such as Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, Benegal Narsing Rau,
K. M. Munshi and Ganesh Mavlankar were members of the assembly.Female
members included Sarojini Naidu, Hansa Mehta, Durgabai Deshmukh, Amrit
Kaur and Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit

The first, two-day president of the assembly was Sachchidananda Sinha;

Rajendra Prasad was later elected president.It met for the first time on 9
December 1946

Nature of Indian Constitution

1. Unitary:- In a Unitary Constitutions the powers of the Government

are centralized in one Government v.z. the States or Provinces are
Subordinates to the Centre.

Features :

1. Strong Centre:-The division of powers is in favour of the Centre and

highly inequitable from the federal angle. Firstly, the Union List contains
more subjects than the State List. Secondly, the more important subjects
have been included in the Union List. Thirdly, the Centre has overriding
authority over the Concurrent List. Finally, the residuary powers have also
been left with the Centre, while in the USA, they are vested in the states.
Thus, the Constitution has made the Centre very strong.
2. States Not Indestructible:-Unlike in other federations, the states in
India have no right to territorial integrity. The Parliament can by unilateral
action change the area, boundaries or name of any state. Moreover, it
requires only a simple majority and not a special majority. Hence, the Indian
Federation is “an indestructible Union of destructible states”. The American
Federation, on the other hand, is described as “an indestructible Union of
indestructible states”.

3. Single Constitution:-Usually, in a federation, the states have the right

to frame their own Constitution separate from that of the Centre. In India,
on the contrary, no such power is given to the states. The Constitution of
India embodies not only the Constitution of the Centre but also those of the
states. Both the Centre and the states must operate within this single-
frame. The only exception in this regard is the case of Jammu and Kashmir
which has its own (state) Constitution.

4. Flexibility of the Constitution:-The process of constitutional

amendment is less rigid than what is found in other federations. The bulk of
the Constitution can be amended by the unilateral action of the Parliament,
either by simple majority or by special majority. Further, the power to
initiate an amendment to the Constitution lies only with the Centre. In US,
the states can also propose an amendment to the Constitution.

5. No Equality of State Representation:-The states are given

representation in the Rajya Sabha on the basis of population. Hence, the
membership varies from 1 to 31. In US, on the other hand, the principle of
equality of representation of states in the Upper House is fully recognised.
Thus, the American Senate has 100 members, two from each state. This
principle is regarded as a safeguard for smaller states.

6. Emergency Provisions:-The Constitution stipulates three types of

emergencies—national, state and financial. During an emergency, the Central
government becomes all powerful and the states go into the total control of
the Centre. It converts the federal structure into a unitary one without a
formal amendment of the Constitution. This kind of transformation is not
found in any other federation.

7. Single Citizenship:-In spite of a dual polity, the Constitution of India,

like that of Canada, adopted the system of single citizenship. There is only
Indian Citizenship and no separate state citizenship. All citizens irrespective
of the state in which they are born or reside enjoy the same rights all over
the country. The other federal states like US, Switzerland and Australia
have dual citizenship, that is, national citizenship as well as state citizenship.

8. Integrated Judiciary:-The Indian Constitution has established an

integrated judicial system with the Supreme Court at the top and the state
high courts below it. This single system of courts enforces both the Central
laws as well as the state laws. In US, on the other hand, there is a double
system of courts whereby the federal laws are enforced by the federal
judiciary and the state laws by the state judiciary.

9. All-India Services:-In US, the Federal government and the state

governments have their separate public services. In India also, the Centre
and the states have their separate public services. But, in addition, there
are all-India services (IAS, IPS, and IFS) which are common to both the
Centre and the states. The members of these services are recruited and
trained by the Centre which also possess ultimate control over them. Thus,
these services violate the principle of federalism under the Constitution.

10. Integrated Audit Machinery:-The Comptroller and Auditor-General of

India audit the accounts of not only the Central government but also those
of the states. But, his appointment and removal is done by the president
without consulting the states. Hence, this office restricts the financial
autonomy of the states. The American Comptroller-General, on the contrary,
has no role with respect to the accounts of the states.

2. Federal:- In Federal Constitution, there is a division of Powers

between the federal and the State Government and both are independent in
their own spheres. The American Constitution is universally regarded as an
example of the Federal Constitution.

Features:
1. Division of Power:- For a constitution to be federal, this is the most
important characteristic. In this, one part of power should be in the hands of
the Union Government and others should be in the hands of State
Governments. There is no uniform method of this division. For example, in the
United States of America, powers given to Union Government are specifically
defined in the Constitution, while the remaining powers known as residuary
powers are given to the states. There, the States are more powerful. In the
case of India, power is divided into Union and States and the remaining power
vests in the concurrent list where both Union and States can make laws. In
case of conflict, the Union’s stand will prevail. Therefore, here the Union is
more powerful.

2. Written Constitution:- It is also important that this type of Constitution

must be in written form. In case of conflict between the Union and the States,
there must be a clear source of information which can clear the doubt
between the two. This should be lucid and unambiguous.

3. Rigid Constitution:- This type of Constitution must be rigid which means

that it cannot be amended easily. If it can be amended easily then Union can
gain more power by easily amending the Constitution. If the amendment of the
Constitution is that easy then it would create a feeling of insecurity in the
minds of the State Government and the Union will act in a dictatorial manner.

4. Supremacy of Constitution:-Constitution is regarded as the “Supreme law

of the land” and its supremacy must be maintained because this will maintain
a state of balance between the Union and the States. Both should work under
the domain of the Constitution as they derive their power through it. Neither
should commence any act which is against the provisions of the Constitution.
Any essential changes should be made according to the method provided in it.
5. Independent Judiciary:- In the state of distribution of power, there must
be an agency which can resolve the conflict (if arises) between the two and
this agency must be independent in nature. This agency is known as Judiciary.
It acts as a guardian to the Constitution and checks that any act should not
supersede the provisions of the Constitution. It is the judiciary which will
interpret the provisions of the Constitution in case any ambiguity arises. This
is known as the “doctrine of implied powers”.

6. Bicameral Legislature:- Every State in a country has different interests.

There must be a platform which can put the voice of state at the Union level.
This is possible only when there are two houses of the Union Legislation. The
first house will look into the matter of the population. The other house will
look upon the interests and rights of the States.

Structure

The Indian constitution is the world's longest for a sovereign nation. At its
enactment, it had 395 articles in 22 parts and 8 schedules. At about
145,000 words, it is the second-longest active constitution—after the
Constitution of Alabama—in the world.

The constitution has a preamble and 470 articles, which are grouped into 25
parts.With 12 schedules and five appendices, it has been amended 104 times;
the latest amendment became effective on 25 January 2020.

The constitution's articles are grouped into the following parts:

• Preamble, with the words "socialist", "secular" and 'integrity' added in

1976 by the 42nd amendment
• Part I – States and union territories
• Part II – Citizenship
• Part III – Fundamental Rights
• Part IV – Directive Principles of State Policy
• Part IVA – Fundamental Duties
• Part V – The union
• Part VI – The states
• Part VII – States in the B part of the first schedule (repealed)
• Part VIII – Union territories
• Part IX – Panchayats
• Part IXA – Municipalities
• Part IXB – Co-operative societies
• Part X – Scheduled and tribal areas
• Part XI – Relations between the union and the states
• Part XII – Finance, property, contracts and suits
• Part XIII – Trade and commerce within India
• Part XIV – Services under the union and states
• Part XIVA – Tribunals
• Part XV – Elections
• Part XVI – Special provisions relating to certain classes
• Part XVII – Languages
• Part XVIII – Emergency provisions
• Part XIX – Miscellaneous
• Part XX – Amending the constitution
• Part XXI – Temporary, transitional and special provisions
• Part XXII – Short title, date of commencement, authoritative text in
Hindi and repeals