Unit 1.

Historical Background and Philosophy of Indian Constitution

• Introduction to the Indian constitution.

• Making of the Constitution.
• Role of the Constituent Assembly.
• Preamble and Nature of Indian Constitution
• Salient features of Indian Constitution

INTRODUCTION TO INDIAN CONSTITUTION

The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It frames fundamental political
principles, procedures, practices, rights, powers, and duties of the government. It imparts
constitutional supremacy and not parliamentary supremacy, as it is not created by the Parliament
but, by a constituent assembly, and adopted by its people, with a declaration in its
preamble. Parliament cannot override it.

The world’s longest constitution is the Indian’s constitution. At its commencement, it had
395 articles in 22 parts and 8 schedules. It consists of approximately 145,000 words, making it the
second largest active constitution in the world. Currently, it has a preamble, 25 parts with 12
schedules, 5 appendices, 448 articles, and 101 amendments.
History

The constitution of India was adopted on the 26th of November, in the year 1949.
However, it came to effect on the 26th of January, 1950. 26th of January is celebrated as
the Republic Day of India.

It was adopted by the Constitution Assembly. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the chairman of the
Drafting Committee, is widely considered to be the architect of the Constitution of India. After,
the adoption of the constitution, The Union of India became the contemporary and modern
Republic of India

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MAKING OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION
The story that exists behind the formation of the Constitution of India receives a
remarkable position in Indian history. In 1934 the seed of forming a Constituent Assembly
was first sown by an Indian pioneer of the Communist movement, Mr. M.N. Roy. Followed
by this, it was the Indian National Congress whose demand for forming a Constituent
Assembly to give shape to the Constitution of India took the center stage in 1935. Though
this demand was accepted by the British Government in 1940, the draft proposal that was sent
over by the Government to India with Sir Stafford Cripps did not receive a warm welcome
from the Muslim League. It was finally the Cabinet Mission that put forth the idea of the
Constituent Assembly which marked the beginning of formulating the Indian Constitution
thereby creating history. The supreme law of democratic India was drafted by the Assembly
from 1946 to 1950 and was finally adopted on 26th November 1949 with effect from 26th
January 1950 which has been celebrated as the Republic Day of India. The Constituent
Assembly had precisely taken two years, eleven months, and seventeen days to complete the
historic duty of drafting the Indian Constitution. During this period, the Assembly held eleven
sessions spread over 165 days, among which 114 days were spent solely on consideration of
the Draft Constitution. This article aims to throw light on all the significant events that led up
to the framing of the Indian Constitution, considered as the mother of all laws in India.

1947-1950: The framing of the new Constitution

With the ceasing of the rule of the Britishers, a new challenge was standing in front
of the Indian leaders. They wanted India to stand as an independent nation, along with
establishing a democracy based on the principles of equality, justice, liberty and fraternity.
The Constituent Assembly came into force in 1946. Members of the Constituent
Assembly included Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad and
many more supreme leaders of the country. In 1946, the Constituent Assembly had 300
members. On 9th December, 1946, the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly took place.
Dr. Rajendra Prasad was later appointed as the chairman of the Constituent Assembly. A
Drafting Committee was also established under the chairmanship of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
Framed by the Constituent Assembly of India, under the Chairmanship of Dr. Rajendra
Prasad, the Indian Constitution was adopted on 26th November 1949.
The Constituent Assembly's objective was drafting and formulating the Constitution of India
Drafting committee:
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 • It was considered to be the most important committee of the constituent
assembly
• It was chaired by Dr BR Ambedkar
• He played a pivotal role in drafting the constitution and also in passage of the
constitution in the assembly

Composition of the Constituent Assembly

It was the Cabinet Mission that had put forth the idea of a Constituent Assembly and, therefore
the composition of the Assembly was made in line with the Cabinet Mission scheme. This
came up with certain traits from which it could be inferred that the Constituent Assembly was
supposed to be a body partly elected, and partly nominated members. The elections to the
Assembly that took place in 1946 resulted in the Indian National Congress winning a total of
208 seats, and the Muslim League securing 73 seats leaving behind 15 seats that were occupied
by independents. The decision of the Princely States to not be involved in the Constituent
Assembly left 93 seats vacated. It is noteworthy that although members of the Constituent
Assembly were not elected directly by the Indian people, it comprised of representatives of all
sections of the society namely the Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Parsi, Anglo-Indian, Indian
Christians, SCs/ STS, Backward Classes, and women belonging to all of these sections.

Structure

The structure of the Constituent Assembly was:

1. 292 members elected through the Provincial Legislative Assemblies;

2. The Indian Princely States was represented by 93 members; and

3. The Chief Commissioners’ Provinces were represented by 4 members.

Thus, the total membership of the Constituent Assembly was to be 389. But the Mountbatten
Plan of 3rd June 1947 led to the partition of India thereby leading to a formation of a separate
Constituent Assembly for the newly made Pakistan. This ceased some of the representatives of
certain Provinces to be members of the Assembly, resulting in a reduction of the membership
to 299 members.

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The working of the Constituent Assembly proceeded on the basis of the Objectives Resolution
that was laid before the Assembly on 13th December 1946 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and
was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 January 1947. The Objectives Resolution
listed eight principles that were the guiding light for the framing of the constitutional structure
of India with fundamental elements of independence, and sovereignty. The Resolution stated
that the powers of the organs of the government will be derived from the people of the nation
thereby ensuring socio-economic and political justice, equality before the law of the land,
freedom to express, worship, belief, to the people in return. With the aim to eliminate caste
discrimination that had been long prevailing in the Indian society, the Resolution aimed to
provide adequate protection to individuals belonging from backward classes, tribal areas, and
minority groups. With a vision to maintain worldwide peace and ensure welfare for mankind,
the Objective Resolution proposed to keep intact the integrity, and sovereignty of the nation at
any cost. A few notable changes were brought in the Constituent Assembly by the
Independence Act, 1947 which needs to be mentioned to understand the working of the
Assembly, namely;

1. The Assembly became a fully functioning sovereign body, and by the means of the
Act of 1947, any law made under the umbrella of the British Parliament with regards
to India could be scrapped, altered, or modified.

2. The Assembly was majorly vested with two functions;

1. Make a Constitution for the free nation; and

2. Enacting laws for the country and its people to be governed by.
3. The total strength of the Assembly was fixed at 299 which was inclusive of the strength of
the

• Indian provinces (229), and

• Princely States (70).

The Assembly functioned in many other ways beyond enacting laws and framing the Indian
Constitution such as;

1. Adoption of the national flag, national song, and national anthem on 22nd July 1947,
and 24th January 1950 respectively.

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 2. In May 1949, the Assembly had ratified India’s membership of the Commonwealth.

3. The Assembly on 24th January 1950, elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as its first
President.
Finally, it was on 29 August 1947, a Drafting Committee under the chairmanship of Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar was formulated by the Constituent Assembly to prepare a Draft Constitution for
India. Repeated debates, discussions, arguments, scrapping of clauses, the addition of clauses
took place whenever the Committee used to meet and all were worth it when the Constitution
of India was adopted by the country on 26 November, 1949 with 284 members signing the
same. After that, the Assembly ceased to exist from the 26th day of January, 1950 when the
Constitution began to be applicable and a new Parliament was given way in 1952.

Preamble to the Indian Constitution

The preamble to the Constitution of India is a brief introductory statement that sets out
the guiding purpose, principles and philosophy of the constitution. The preamble gives an idea
about the following: (1) the source of the constitution, (2) the nature of the Indian state (3) a
statement of its objectives and (4) the date of its adoption.

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.

Source of the Constitution

We, the people of India.

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The phrase “We the people of India” emphasises that the constitution is made by and for the
Indian people and not given to them by any outside power.

It also emphasizes the concept of popular sovereignty as laid down by Rousseau: All
the power emanates from the people and the political system will be accountable and
responsible to the people.

Nature of Indian state

1. Sovereign: India is internally and externally sovereign – externally free from the
control of any foreign power and internally, it has a free government that is
directly elected by the people and makes laws that govern the people. No external
power can dictate the government of India.
2. Socialist: “Socialism” is an economic philosophy where means of production and
distribution are owned by the State. India adopted Mixed Economy, where apart
from the state, there will be private production too. Socialism as a social
philosophy stresses more on societal equality.
3. Secular: Features of secularism as envisaged in the Preamble is to mean that the
state will have no religion of its own and all persons will be equally entitled to
the freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate
the religion of their choice. (S R Bommai and Others v Union of India, AIR 1994
SC 1918)
4. Democratic: Indicates that the Constitution has established a form of government
that gets its authority from the will of the people. The rulers are elected by the
people and are responsible to them.
5. Republic: As opposed to a monarchy, in which the head of state is appointed on
the hereditary basis for a lifetime or until he abdicates from the throne, a
democratic republic is an entity in which the head of state is elected, directly or
indirectly, for a fixed tenure. The President of India is elected by an electoral
college for a term of five years. The post of the President Of India is not
hereditary. Every citizen of India is eligible to become the President of the
country.

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Objectives of Indian State

1. Justice: Social, Economic and Political.

2. Equality: of status and opportunity.
3. Liberty: of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship
4. Fraternity (=Brotherhood): assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity
and integrity of the nation.

Date of its adoption

The date of adoption of the Constitution is 26th November 1949. But most of the articles in
the Constitution came into force on January 26th, 1950. Those articles which came into
existence on 26th November 1949 is given by Article 394.

Article 394 states that this article (394) and articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 60, 324, 366, 367, 379, 380,
388, 391, 392 and 393 shall come into force at once, and the remaining provisions of this
Constitution shall come into force on the twenty-sixth day of January 1950, which day is
referred to in this Constitution as the commencement of this Constitution.

26 January was selected for this purpose because it was this day in 1930 when the Declaration
of Indian Independence (Purna Swaraj) was proclaimed by the Indian National Congress.

As originally enacted the preamble described the state as a “sovereign democratic republic”. In
1976 the Forty-second Amendment changed this by adding words socialist and secular to read
“sovereign socialist secular democratic republic”.

Is the Preamble a part of the Constitution?

In order to understand whether or not the preamble is a part of the Constitution, the two cases,
namely the Berubari Case and Kesavananda Bharati case play an important role.

Through this case, the Court stated that ‘Preamble is the key to open the mind of the makers’
but it can not be considered as part of the Constitution.

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Re berubari – parlt can ament thru 368 any part of constitution and preamble is not part of
constitution. But Supreme court observed preamble has been adopted and enacted similar to
the Constitution so in kesawananda Bharti vs state of kerala SC told preamble can be amended.

Kesavananda Bharati v. State Of Kerala and anr. (1973)

This case created history and holds great importance. A bench comprising 13 judges was
constituted to hear this landmark case, wherein the question before the court was, whether
the Parliament has the power to amend the Preamble and the extent to which this power can be
exercised.

Preamble only one time has amended thru 42nd amendment socialist secular and integrity

As a part of the Constitution, it can be amended under Article 368 of the Constitution, but the
basic structure of the preamble can not be amended. Because the structure of the Constitution
is based on the basic elements of the Preamble.

The Constitution initially framed the:

• Rights.

• Duties.

• Government and Legal Procedures.

• Practices.

• Powers.

• Directive Principles, for the government and citizens of India.

Indian Constitution: Features

What are the essential features of the Indian Constitution?

India, also known as Bharat, is a Union of States. It is a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic
Republic with a parliamentary system of government.

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The Indian Constitution was approved by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949,
and took effect on January 26, 1950. The Indian Constitution provides for a Parliamentary form
of government which is federal in structure with certain unitary features.

The Indian Constitution was amended several times. The 42nd Amendment Act of 1976 is
known as the “Mini Constitution” because it made a large number of changes in the various
parts of the Constitution.

Essential Features of the Indian Constitution

Important features of the constitution are as follows:

Largest Written Constitution

It is a written constitution containing as many as 395 Articles, originally divided into 22 parts
and 9 schedules. At present, there are 448 articles, 25 parts, and 12 schedules in the Indian
Constitution.

• Indian Constitution is the largest one in the world. The Constitution’s framers
included several features to prevent loopholes and flaws because they wanted to
ensure there would be no difficulties throughout its implementation.
• They framed the Chapter on Fundamental Rights on the model of the American
Constitution, the parliamentary system of Government from the United
Kingdom, the Directive Principles of State Policy from the Constitution of
Ireland, and the Emergency provisions from the Constitution of the German
Reich and the Government of India Act, 1935.
• Moreover, it lays down the structure not only of the Central Government but also
of the States. Another factor contributing to the Constitution’s bulk is the size of
the country and the diversity of the people living there.

Sovereign Socialist, Secular, Democratic, and Republic

According to the Preamble, India is a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic.

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 • Sovereign: The word Sovereign emphasizes that India is no longer dependent
upon any outside authority.
• Socialist: The term “Socialist” has been inserted in the Preamble by the
Constitution 42nd Amendment Act, 1976. In general, it means some form of
ownership of the means of production and distribution by the State. India has
chosen a mixed economy and now drifting towards privatization.
• Secularism: The term Secularism means a State which has no religion of its own
as a recognized religion of the State. It treats all religions equally.
• Democratic: The term “democratic” indicates that the Constitution has
established a form of Government that gets authority from the will of the people.
The rulers are elected by the people. Justice, liberty Equality, and Fraternity are
the essential features of democracy.
• Republic: The term Republic signifies that there shall be an elected head of the
State who will be the Chief Executive Head. The President of India, unlike the
British King or Queen, is not a hereditary monarch but an elected person chosen
for a limited period. It is an essential ingredient of a Republic.

Parliamentary form of Government

Both at the Centre and States, the Constitution established a parliamentary form of
Government. The essence of the parliamentary form of Government is its responsibility to the
legislature. The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lower House i.e., Lok
Sabha, and therefore it is called responsible Government.

Parliamentary democracy has three important characteristics namely,

• The executive is responsible to the Lower House;

• The Lower House has a democratic basis i.e. it is elected by the people; and
• The ultimate legislative and financial control is vested in this Lower House.

The Parliamentary system of Government in India is based on adult suffrage, whereby all
citizens of India who are not less than 18 years of age and are not disqualified on certain
grounds like non-residence, unsoundness of mind or corrupt practices have the right to be

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registered as voters in any election to the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies of the
States.

Partly Rigid and Partly Flexible

One of the important features of the Indian Constitution is that it is partly rigid and partly
flexible.

• Certain provisions can be amended by a simple majority in Parliament, while

there are certain other provisions whose amendment requires not only a special
majority in Parliament but also ratification by at least one-half of the State
Legislatures.

Fundamental Rights

Fundamental Rights are incorporated in part III of the Indian Constitution. This idea of
incorporating the Bill of Rights has been taken from the Constitution of the United States.

• These rights impose limitations on the powers of the State. The State cannot take
away or abridge these Fundamental Rights of the citizens guaranteed by the
Constitution.
• If it passes such a law it may be declared unconstitutional by the Courts.
• The Supreme Court is empowered to grant the most effective remedies
like Writs of Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Prohibition, Quo Warranto, and
Certiorari whenever these rights are violated.

However, the Fundamental Rights are not absolute. They are subjected to certain restrictions,
based on some social interests.

Directive Principles of State Policy

The Directive Principles of State Policy is contained in Part IV of the Constitution. Unlike
Fundamental Rights, these rights are not justiciable. Though by their very nature, they are not
justiciable in the Court of law.

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 • The idea of the welfare state envisaged in our Constitution can only be achieved
if the States endeavor to implement it with a high sense of moral duty.
• Directive Principles of State Policy support villages and rural economy called
Gram Swaraj, one of the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi.

Fundamental Duties

The provisions of fundamental duties were not provided by the original constitution. It was
incorporated by the 42nd Amendment Act, of 1976, as a Code of ten “Fundamental Duties” for
Citizens. These were added on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee.

• The 86th Amendment Act of 2002 added one more fundamental duty (11th).
These duties, like the Directive Principles of State Policy, cannot be judicially
enforced. However, they remind the responsible citizens what the Constitution
expects from them.

Adult Suffrage

Under the Indian Constitution, every man and woman above 18 years of age has been given
the right to elect their representatives for the legislature. By the 61st Amendment Act of 1988,
the voting age was reduced to 18 years from 21 years in 1989.

• The adoption of universal adult suffrage under Article 326 without any
qualification of sex, property, taxation, or the like is a bold experiment in India
having regard to the vast extent of the country and its population, with an
overwhelming illiteracy.

An Independent Judiciary

Independent judiciary

The Indian Constitution establishes an integrated as well as an independent judicial system.

The Supreme Court stands at the top of the integrated judicial system of the country and below
it, there are high courts at the state level.

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The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal, the guarantor of fundamental rights, and the
guardian of the Constitution.

The Indian Constitution established the Supreme Court of India as the apex and independent
judiciary to ensure the supremacy of the Indian Constitution. It regulates the framework of
matters such as limits of power of central and state, fundamental rights and duties, and directive
principles of state policy.

A Secular Socialist State

The Citizens of our country are free to follow any religion and they enjoy equal rights without
any distinction of caste, creed religion, or sex. The word “secular” has been included in the
Preamble by the 42nd Amendment.

• Article 15 (1) prohibits any discrimination based on religion, and Article 25 (1)
provides that subject to public order, morality, and health and the other
provisions, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right
to profess, practice, and propagate religion.
• Secularism is also subject to democratic socialism. Religious freedom cannot,
therefore, be used to practice economic exploitation. The right to acquire, own,
and administer property by religious institutions is subject to the regulatory
power of the State.

Single Citizenship

Though the Constitution envisaged a dual polity i.e., Centre and States, it provides for
a single citizenship for the whole of India. The American Constitution provides for dual
citizenship i.e., the citizen of the USA and a State citizenship. Every Indian has citizenship
throughout the country with the same rights.

Three-Tier Government

One of the prominent features of the Indian Constitution is the three-tier structure of
government. The original Constitution, like all other federal constitutions, established a dual
polity and contained laws governing the structure and authority of both the federal government

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and the states. Later, the third level of government (i.e., local) was added by the 73rd and 74th
Constitutional Amendment Acts of 1992, which is not found in any other constitution in the
world.

The 73rd Amendment Act of 1992 gave constitutional recognition to the panchayats
(rural local governments) by adding a new Part IX and a new Schedule 11 to the Constitution.
Similarly, the 74th Amendment Act of 1992 gave constitutional recognition to the
municipalities (urban local governments) by adding a new Part IX-A and a new Schedule 12
to the Constitution.

Dual Government Polity

The Indian Constitution established dual government polity by setting up a Central and
state Government. The Union government regulates the safeguarding of national issues
whereas the state government focuses on regulating regional and local issues.

The federal features of the Indian Constitution are:

Division of Powers

The federal system of the Indian Constitution decentralises powers between the state and the
centre. Article 246 under the Seventh Schedule of the Indian Constitution lays down three lists
describing jurisdiction at each level:

1. Union List: The power to make laws is vested in the Parliament of India. It consists
of laws related to national importance such as defence, foreign relations, Naval, and
military.

2. State List: The state government has the right to make laws under this list. It consists
of laws related to public order, public health, sanitation, agriculture, and transport.

3. Concurrent List: The state government and the Government of India as a joint have
the right to make laws under this list. It consists of laws related to criminal
procedure, trade unions, education, industrial, and labour disputes.

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Article 254 describes the doctrine of repugnancy. Means In case of any inconsistency between
the laws of Parliament and the laws of the state on the Concurrent List, the laws of the
Parliament will prevail.

The unitary features of the Indian Constitution are:

Single citizenship

People of India enjoy single citizenship irrespective of in which state they reside. This ensured
that the people of India are united as a whole. Articles 5 to 11 under Part II of the Indian
Constitution deal with citizenship.

Strong centre

The Central Government has powers over the state government and carries residuary powers
as well. The state government is bound by the laws of the Central Government.

Single Constitution

The Constitution of India is a uniform constitution that is applied to the whole of India. It is a
framework of duties and powers of central and state government, fundamental rights and
obligations of individuals, and directive principles of state policy that apply throughout India’s
territory.

Appointment of governor

Section 155 states that by the assent of the President the governor of India is appointed. Section
156 states that the governor must hand over his resignation to the President.

Emergency powers

The emergency powers are vested with the President under Part XVIII, from Articles 352 to
360. The emergency is applied in the state of affairs when there is adversity to the security,
sovereignty, unity, or integrity of a state.

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Separation of powers

The separation of powers is categorized into 3 branches, legislative, executive, and

judiciary, each has its own powers and responsibilities. The primary goal of the separation of
powers was to prevent the misuse of authority by one organ of government. This model of
separation of powers is known as trias politica. The idea of this system was inspired by the
model of Montesquieu in De l’esprit des Lois, 1747 (The Spirit of Laws,1747). In India, the
separation of powers is not mentioned anywhere rigidly but can be found in parts of the Indian
Constitution. The details of the three branches are as follows:

Legislature

The legislative body is responsible for the enactment of the law. It comprises of Lok
Sabha, Rajya Sabha, and the President. It regulates the executive and the judiciary, the other
two branches of law. Article 211 lays down restrictions on the legislature and refrains it from
any discussion of the conduct of Judges of the Supreme Court or of a High Court.

Executive

Part V of Chapter I deals with the executive organ. The executive body is in charge of
government administration and policy execution in accordance with the principles of natural
justice. The executive branch consists of the President under Article 53(1), the Vice President,
the Prime Minister, and the council of ministers for advice under Article 74 to the President.

Judiciary

The judiciary organ is responsible for the interpretation of the law and aiding justice in
society. It comprises the Supreme Court, High Court, and all other subordinate courts. Article
50 of Part IV, Directive Principles of State Policy, establishes the separation of the judiciary
and the executive. However, the executive organ is responsible for the appointment of the
judiciary. Article 122 and Article 212 state that courts do not have the power to examine
Parliamentary proceedings and legislative proceedings respectively.

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System of checks and balances

The system of checks and balances regulates the prevention of arbitrary and
inconsistency with the powers vested to the organs of the government. The goal behind the
checks and balances system is to guarantee that the branches of government check and balance
each other so that no branch of the government becomes too authoritative. It promotes
efficiency and specialization between the organs of the government. The judiciary organ has
the power to exercise judicial review over the acts of legislative and executive. The Judiciary
must ensure that it exercises within the limits of the law. The executive organ is responsible for
the appointment and removal of Judges in the judiciary organ and the executive is answerable
to the legislative organ.

Basic Features of the Constitution according to the Kesavanada Bharati case

In a landmark case of Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973), the Hon’ble

Supreme Court defined the principle of basic structure and held that the basic structure of the
Indian Constitution cannot be changed.

Each judge, in this case, gave their opinions separately about what they thought were
the basics or essential features of the Constitution of India. There was no consensus within the
majority view either.

Chief Justice Sikri explained that the concept of the basic structure included the following:

• The Supremacy of the Constitution of India;

• The Republican and Democratic forms of government;

• The Secular character of the Constitution;

• The Separation of powers between the three bodies i.e. the legislature, executive and
the judiciary; and

• The Federal character of the Constitution.

Justice Shelat and Justice Grover added two more features to the list provided by Justice Sikri
which are as follows:

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 • The authority to build a welfare state contained in the Directive Principles of State
Policy;

• The Unity and Integrity of India.

Justice Jaganmohan Reddy said that the elements of the basic features could be found in the
Preamble of the Constitution of India and the provisions into which they were translated. These
were:

• The Sovereign Democratic Republic;

• The Parliamentary form of Democracy; and

• The three organs of the State.

He further stated that the Constitution of India would not itself be without the fundamental
freedoms and the directive principles. Only six judges of the thirteen judges bench came to the
consensus that the fundamental rights of the citizens of India belonged to the basic structure of
the Constitution and Parliament cannot amend it.

Supremacy of the Indian Constitution

The Constitution of India is the supreme pillar of the laws in India. The core framework of the
Indian Constitution cannot be modified or altered. Laws should be made concerning the
Constitution of India. In case of any inconsistency with the Indian Constitution, the law shall
be declared void by the power of judicial review vested to the High Court and Supreme Court.

Written Constitution

The Constitution of India is the backbone for the rest of the acts. It is the longest written
constitution and it consists of a Preamble, 470 Articles divided into 25 Parts with 12 Schedules.

Rigid Constitution

The Constitution of India is rigid in the provisions mentioned under it. The process for altering
the provisions requires a special majority in the Parliament and the approval of at least half of
the state legislatures.

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Bicameralism means 2 houses

The Indian Constitution established a system of bicameralism. It divides the legislative body
into Lok Sabha (House of the People) and Rajya Sabha (Council of States). Lok Sabha or the
lower house consists of representatives of people elected through a universal adult franchise
whereas Rajya Sabha or the upper house is a permanent body that cannot be dissolved and is
elected by the legislative members of the state.

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