Making of Indian Constitution

Historical Perspective:

The Constituent Assembly was constituted in November 1946 under the scheme formulated by the Cabinet Mission Plan. The total strength of the Constituent Assembly was to be 389. Of these, 296 seats were to be allotted to British India and 93 seats to the princely states. Out of 296 seats allotted to the British India, 292 members were to be drawn from the eleven governors’ provinces and four from the four Chief Commissioners’ provinces, one from each. The elections to the Constituent Assembly (for 296 seats allotted to the British Indian Provinces) were held in July-August 1946. The Indian National Congress won 208 seats, the Muslim League 73 seats and the small groups and independents got the remaining 15 seats. However, the 93 seats allotted to the princely states were not filled as they decided to stay away from the Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assembly held its first meeting on December 9, 1946. The Muslim League boycotted the meeting and insisted on a separate state of Pakistan. The meeting was, thus, attended by only 211 members. Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha, the oldest member, was elected as the temporary President of the Assembly, following the French practice. Later, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the President of the Assembly.

On December 13, 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru moved the historic ‘Objectives Resolution’ in the Assembly. It laid down the fundamentals and philosophy of the constitutional structure. This Resolution was unanimously adopted by the Assembly on January 22, 1947. It influenced the eventual shaping of the constitution through all its subsequent stages. Its modified version forms the Preamble of the present Constitution. Indian Independence Act of 1947 made the assembly a fully sovereign body, which could frame any Constitution it pleased. The Assembly also became a legislative body. In other words, two separate functions were assigned to the Assembly that is, making of the Constitution for free India and enacting of ordinary laws for the country. These two tasks were to be performed on separate days. Thus, the Assembly became the first Parliament of free India (Dominion Legislature). Whenever the Assembly met as the Constituent body it was chaired by Dr. Rajendra Prasad and when it met as the legislative body, it was chaired by G.V. Mavlankar. These two functions continued till November 26, 1949, when the task of making the Constitution was over. The Muslim League members (hailing from the areas7 included in the Pakistan) withdrew from the Constituent Assembly for India. Consequently, the total strength of the Assembly came down to 299 as against 389 originally fixed in 1946 under the Cabinet Mission Plan. The strength of the Indian provinces (formerly British Provinces) was reduced from 296 to 229 and those of the princely states from 93 to 70. In all, the Constituent Assembly had 11 sessions over two years, 11 months and 18 days. The Constitution-makers had gone through the Constitutions of about 60 countries, and the Draft Constitution was considered for 114 days. The total expenditure incurred on making the Constitution amounted to 64 lakh rupees. On January 24, 1950, the Constituent Assembly held its final session. It, however, did not end, and continued as the provisional parliament of India from January 26, 1950, till the formation of new Parliament after the first general elections in 1951–52.

COMMITTEES OF THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY

The Constituent Assembly appointed a number of committees to deal with different tasks of constitution-making. Out of these, eight were major committees and the others were minor committees. Among all the committees of the Constituent Assembly, the most important committee was the Drafting Committee set up on August 29, 1947. It was this committee that was entrusted with the task of preparing a draft of the new Constitution. The Drafting Committee took less than six months to prepare its draft. In all it sat only for 141 days. The third reading of the draft started on November 14, 1949. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar moved a motion–‘the Constitution as settled by the Assembly be passed’. The motion on Draft Constitution was declared as passed on November 26, 1949, and received the signatures of the members and the president. Out of a total 299 members of the Assembly, only 284 were actually present on that day and signed the Constitution. This is also the date mentioned in the Preamble as the date on which the people of India in the Constituent Assembly adopted, enacted and gave to themselves this Constitution. The Constitution as adopted on November 26, 1949, contained a Preamble, 395 Articles and 8 Schedules. The Preamble was enacted after the entire Constitution was already enacted.

Salient Features

The Constitution of India has several salient features that distinguish it from the Constitutions of the other countries. It should be noted at the outset that a number of original features of the Constitution (as adopted in 1949) have undergone a substantial change, on account of several amendments, particularly 7th, 42nd, 44th, 73rd, 74th, 97th and 101st Amendments.

It is one of the lengthiest constitutions in the world. Originally (1949), the Constitution contained a Preamble, 395 Articles (divided into 22 Parts) and 8 Schedules. Presently (2019), it consists of a Preamble, about 470 Articles (divided into 25 Parts) and 12 Schedules. It was drawn from the various sources. The structural part of the Constitution is, to a large extent, derived from the Government of India Act of 1935. The philosophical part of the Constitution (the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy) derive their inspiration from the American and Irish Constitutions, respectively. The political part of the Constitution (the principle of Cabinet Government and the relations between the Executive and the Legislature) have been largely drawn from the British Constitution. The other provisions of the Constitution have been drawn from the Constitutions of Canada, Australia, Germany, USSR (now Russia), France, South Africa, Japan and so on. The most profound influence and material source of the Constitution is the Government of India Act, 1935. The Federal Scheme, Judiciary, Governors, Emergency Powers, the Public Service Commissions and most of the administrative details are drawn from this Act. More than half of the provisions of Constitution are identical to or bear a close resemblance to the Act of 1935.

The Indian Constitution contains unique blend of rigidity and flexibility of amending procedure to meet any exigency in front of Indian State. The constitution incorporated a quashi federal structure of state polity with parliamentary form of government emphasising parliamentary supremacy. The Indian Constitution establishes a judicial system that is integrated as well as independent. Part III of the Indian Constitution guarantees six fundamental rights to all the citizens. The Fundamental Rights are meant for promoting the idea of political democracy. They operate as limitations on the tyranny of the executive and arbitrary laws of the legislature. The Indian Constitution under Part IV contained Directive Principles meant for promoting the ideal of social and economic democracy. The Constitution of India stands for a Secular State. Hence, it does not uphold any particular religion as the official religion of the Indian State. The Indian Constitution adopts universal adult franchise as a basis of elections to the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies. it provides for only a single citizenship, that is, the Indian citizenship. The Indian Constitution not only provides for the legislative, executive and judicial organs of the Government (Central and state) but also establishes certain independent bodies (Election Commission, Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, Union Public Service Commission, State Public Service Commission). They are envisaged by the Constitution as the bulwarks of the democratic system of Government in India.

The Indian Constitution contains elaborate emergency provisions to enable the President to meet any extraordinary situation effectively. The rationality behind the incorporation of these provisions is to safeguard the sovereignty, unity, integrity and security of the country, the democratic political system and the Constitution. The Constitution envisages three types of emergencies, namely: (a) National emergency on the ground of war or external aggression or armed rebellion (Article 352); (b) State emergency (President’s Rule) on the ground of failure of Constitutional machinery in the states (Article 356) or failure to comply with the directions of the Centre (Article 365); and (c) Financial emergency on the ground of threat to the financial stability or credit of India (Article 360). Later, the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts (1992) have added a third-tier of Government (i.e., local) which is not found in any other Constitution of the world. The 97th Constitutional Amendment Act of 2011 gave a constitutional status and protection to co-operative societies. It added a new Part IX-B in the Constitution which is entitled as “The Co-operative Societies” (Articles 243-ZH to 243-ZT). The new Part IX-B contains various provisions to ensure that the co-operative societies in the country function in a democratic, professional, autonomous and economically sound manner.

Tomorrow, we celebrate another Republic Day, the 73rd anniversary of the entry into force of our Constitution. In so doing we reaffirm the essence of Indian nationalism, reified in a constitution adopted after almost three years of intensive debate, and in the process implicitly salute the ‘idea of India’ that emerged from both the nationalist movement and its institutionalisation in the Republic. The idea of India as a modern nation based on a certain conception of human rights and citizenship, vigorously backed by due process of law, and equality before law, is a gift of the Constitution. Earlier conceptions of India drew their inspiration from mythology and theology.

The struggle for Indian independence was, after all, not simply a struggle for freedom from alien rule. It was a shift away from an administration of law and order centred on imperial despotism. It is from this that the idea of ‘constitutional morality’ was born, meaning a national commitment to pursuing desirable ends through constitutional means, to upholding and respecting the Constitution’s processes and structures, and to doing so in a spirit of transparency and accountability, free speech, public scrutiny of government actions and legal limitations on the exercise of power. This was how freedom was intended to flourish in India. Indian nationalism is thus the nationalism of an idea of an ever-ever land — emerging from an ancient civilisation, united by a shared history, sustained by pluralist democracy under the rule of law. What knits this entire concept of Indian nationhood together is, of course, the rule of law, enshrined in our Constitution.

The Preamble of the Constitution itself is the most eloquent enumeration of the vision and intellect of our founding fathers, notably Dr, B. R Ambedkar, Patel, Dr, Rajendra Prasad and Nehru. ?The Indian Constitution established 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.

The most important contribution of the Constitution to Indian civic nationalism was that of representation centred on individuals. The establishment of a constitutional democracy in post-colonial India involved an attempt to free Indians from prevailing types of categorisation, and to place each citizen in a realm of individual agency that went beyond the immutable identity conferred by birth. In the process the Constitution transcended all those identities that both defined and divided Indians.

The Indian Constitution provided a legal structure to an implicit idea of India as of one land embracing many. It reflected the idea that a nation may incorporate differences of caste, creed, colour, culture, cuisine, conviction, consonant, costume, and custom, and still rally around a democratic consensus. That consensus is around the simple principle that in a democracy under the rule of law, you do not really need to agree all the time — except on the ground rules of how you will disagree.

Working experience of this constitution over the last 7 decades has been impeccably impressive as far as governing democratic India is concerned, which is home of135 million people with baffling diversity still ushering on the path of progress in the world. We must remind ourselves of, and rededicate ourselves to, the ideals that lie behind the Constitution whose entry into force we all celebrate on January 26.