INDIAN POLITY

CONSTITUTION

Framing of the Indian Constitution

• The idea to have a Constitution was first given by MN Roy (A pioneer of
Communist Movement in India).
• The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to write the Constitution of
India.
• The Constitution was framed by the Constituent Assembly of India, set-up
on 16th May 1946, in accordance with the Cabinet Mission Plan, under the
Chairmanship of Sach-chidanand Sinha, initially. Dr Rajendra Prasad and
HC Mukherjee were elected as the President and Vice-President respectively
on 11th December 1946. BN Rau was appointed as the Constitutional
Advisor.
• The Constituent Assembly held 11 sessions.
• The total membership of the Constituent Assembly was 389, of these 292
were representatives of British States; 93 were representatives of Princely
States and 4 were from the Chief Commissioners Provinces of Delhi, Ajmer-
Merwara, Coorg and British Baluchistan.
• The Constituent Assembly set up 13 committees for framing the
constitution. On the basis of the reports of these committees, a draft of the
Constitution was prepared by a seven-member Drafting Committee under
the Chairmanship of Dr B R Ambedkar, also known as the Father of the
Indian Constitution.
• Drafting Committee appointed with Dr. B. R. Ambedkar as the
Chairman.other 6 members of committee was : K.M.Munshi, Muhammed
Saadulah, Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, Gopala Swami Ayyangar, N. Madhava
Rao(He replaced B.L. Mitter who resigned due to ill-health), T. T.
Krishnamachari(He replaced D.P. Khaitan who died in 1948),

Enactment of the Constitution

• The Constituent Assembly took 2 years, 11 months and 18 days to
complete the Constitution.
• Some of the provisions related to citizenship, elections, provisional
Parliament etc were given immediate effect.
• The Constitution, is adopted on 26th November, 1949, contained a
Preamble, 395 Articles divided into 22 Parts and 8 Schedules. Presently, it
has 448 Articles divided into 25 Parts and 12 Schedules.
 • The enforcement of Constitution was delayed till 26th January because, in
1929, on this day Indian National Congress demanded Poorna Swaraj in
Lahore Session, Chaired by JL Nehru.
• The Constitution came into force on 26th January, 1950, known as Republic
Day of India. The Constituent Assembly adopted our National Flag on 22nd
July, 1947. It was designed by Pingali Venkayya. The National Flag is a
horizontal tricolour of India saffron (kesaria) at the top, white in the middle
and India green at the bottom in equal proportion. The ratio of width of the
flag to its length is two to three.
• The national calendar based on the Saka Era, with Chaitra as its first month
and a normal year of 365 days was adopted from 22 March 1957.
• National anthem Jana-gana-mana, composed originally in Bengali by
Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted in its Hindi version by the Constituent
Assembly as the National Anthem of India on 24January 1950. It was first
sung on 27 December 1911 at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National
Congress.

(1946)
Members Portfolios Held
Jawaharlal Nehru External Affairs & Commonwealth Relations
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Home, Information & Broadcasting
Dr Rajendra Prasad Food & Agriculture
Dr John Mathai Industries & Supplies
Jagjivan Ram Labour
Sardar Baldev Singh Defence
CH Bhabha Works, Mines & Power
Liaquat Ali Khan Finance
Abdur Rab Nishtar Posts & Air
Asaf Ali Railways & Transport
C Rajagopalachari Education & Arts
II Chundrigar Commerce
Ghaznafar Ali Khan Health
Joginder Nath Mandal Law

Note Interim government was formed from the newly elected Constituent Assembly.
Preamble
• It is the preface or the introduction of the Constitution. It is an integral part
of the Constitution. The interpretation of the Constitution is based on the
spirit of the Preamble.
• In Berubari Case (1960), SC declared Preamble not to be a part of Indian
Constitution.
• It is a part of the Indian constitution, also emphasized in Kesavananda Bharti
Case.
• In the 1995 case of Union Government Vs LIC of India also, the Supreme
Court has once again held that Preamble is the integral part of the
Constitution but is not directly enforceable in a court of justice in
India.There are 85 words in the Preamble of the Constitution of India.
• The Objective Resolution, drafted and moved by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
and adopted by the Constituent Assembly, ultimately became the Preamble.
• The idea of the Preamble was borrowed from the Constitution of USA.
• Preamble can be amended under Article 368 of the Constitution, but the
basic structure of the preamble can not be amended.
• The words, Socialist, Secular and Integrity were added by the 42nd
Constitutional Amendment Act in 1976.

The Preamble
‘‘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 Constitution:

UK • Rule of Law
• Cabinet System
• Prerogative Writs
• Parliamentary Government
• Bicameral Parliament
• CAG Office
• Single Citizenship
• Law making procedures

USA • Written Constitution

• Vice-President as the Ex-officio Chairman of Upper House
• Fundamental Rights
• Supreme Court
• Independence of Judiciary and Judicial Review
• Preamble

Erstwhile
USSR • Fundamental Duties, Ideal of justice (social, economic and political)
in the Preamble

Australia • Concurrent List,

Freedom Trade and Commerce
• Joint sitting of Parliament

Japan • Procedure established by law

Germany • Suspension of Fundamental Rights during the Emergency

Canada • Scheme of federation with a strong Centre

• Distribution of powers between the Centre and the States and
placing Residuary Powers with the Centre

Ireland • Concept of Directive

Principles of State Policy.
Method of election of the President
South • Procedure for amendment of the constitution and election of member
Africa of Rajya Sabha
France • Republic and the ideals of Liberty equality and fraternity in the
Preamble.

Main Features
• Bulkiest written Constitution in the World(395 articles, 22 parts and 12
schedules).
• Combination of Rigidity and Flexibility
• Parliamentary System of Government
• Federal System with a Unitary bias
• Fundamental Rights and Duties
• Directive Principles of State Policy
• Integrated and Independent Judiciary
• Single Citizenship
• Emergency Powers
• Universal Adult Franchise

Important Articles
Part I
Union and its Territories (Article 1-4)

1. The Constitution says, “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States”.

2. Admission or establishment of new States.
3. The Constitution empowers the Parliament to form new States and to alter
the areas, boundaries or names of existing States.
• Article under which Sikkim was made part of Indian Union : Article 2a.
• Article under which Telangana was made part of Indian Union : Article 3.
• Article 3 original provision was amended by Constitution (fifth amendment)
Act, 1955 on 24 December 1955.
 • No where under Part I, it is mentioned that India is a federal state. It rather
uses the phrase “Union of States”.
Note Through J & K Reorganisation Act of 2019, the state of Jammu and Kashmir
was divided into two Union Territory i.e. Union Territory of Ladakh and the Union
Territory of Jammu and Kashmir

Part II
Citizenship (Article 5-11)
Article 5 speaks about the citizenship of India at the commencement of the
Constitution (Nov 26, 1949). Article 11 gave powers to the Parliament of India
to regulate the right of citizenship by law. This provision resulted in the
enactment of Citizenship Act 1955 by the Indian Parliament.

The Citizenship Act of 1955 prescribes five ways to acquire citizenship of India
1. By birth 2. By descent
3. By registration 4. By naturalisation
5. By incorporation

Three modes of losing citizenship

1. Renunciation 2. Termination
3. Deprivation

A PIO card applicant has to be a person of Indian origin who is a citizen of any
country, other than Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Afghanistan, China
and Nepal; or a person who has held an Indian passport at any time or is the spouse
of an Indian citizen or a person of Indian origin. OCI Card is for foreign nationals
who were eligible to become a citizen of India on 26.01.1950 or was a citizen of
India on or after that date. Applications from citizens of Bangladesh and Pakistan
are not allowed. OCI is not dual citizenship. There are no voting rights for an OCI
cardholder. The President of India is termed the first Citizen of India.
Through Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist,
Jain, Parsi and Christian religionsminorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and
Pakistan who entered India before 31st December, 2014 will be given Indian
citizenship.

Part III
Fundamental Rights (Article 12-35)
Rights to Equality (Article 14-18)
• Equality before Law (Article 14).
• Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place
of birth.(Article 15)
• Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment. (Article 16)
• Abolition of untouchability (Article 17).
• Abolition of titles. (Article 18)

Rights to Freedom (Article 19-22)

• Protection of certain rights regarding; Speech and expression, assembly,
association, movement, residence, and profession (Article 19)
• Protection in respect of conviction for offences. (Article 20).This provides
for three types of protection of the individual against the State.

1. Retrospective criminal legislation: This is also known as ex-post facto

criminal legislation. Under this, a person cannot be convicted for an act that
was committed at a time when the act had not been declared by law as an
offence.
2. Double jeopardy: This indicates that a person cannot be convicted for the
same offence more than once.
3. Prohibition against self-incrimination: This implies that no person
accused of an offence shall be compelled by the State to bear witness against
himself.

• Protection of life and personal liberty (Article 21).

• Article 21A:This article was introduced by the 86th Constitutional
Amendment in 2002. It provides that the State shall provide free and
compulsory education to all children between the ages of 6 and 14.
• Protection against arrest and detention in certain cases (Article 22). This
article is applicable to both citizens and non-citizens. This provision extends
certain procedural safeguards for individuals in case of an arrest.

Rights against Exploitation (Article 23-24)

• Prohibition of human trafficking and forced labour (Article 23). Article 23
protects citizens not only against the State but also from private citizens.
Under Article 35 of the Constitution, the Parliament is authorized to enact
laws to punish acts prohibited by Article 23.
 • Prohibition of employment of children in any factories, etc (Article 24).This
Article forbids the employment of children below the age of 14 in any
hazardous industry or factories or mines, without exception.

Rights to Freedom of Religion (Article 25-28)

• Freedom of conscience and right to profess, practice and propagate one’s
religious beliefs. (Article 25)
• Freedom to manage religious affairs (Article 26).
• Freedom from taxation for promotion of any particular religion (Article 27).
• Freedom from attendance of religious instructions or religious worship in
certain educational institutions (Article 28).
Secularism means developing, understanding and respect for different religions. It
is believed that the word ‘Secularism’ has its origin in late medieval Europe. In
1948, during the constituent assembly debate, a demand was made by the KT Shah
to include the word ‘Secular’ in the Preamble to the Constitution.

Cultural and Educational Rights(Article 29-30)

• Protection of interest of minorities (Article 29). Article 29(1): This provides
all citizen groups that reside in India having a distinct culture, language and
script, the right to conserve their culture and language. Article 29(2): The
State shall not deny admission into educational institutes maintained by it or
those that receive aids from it, to any person on the basis of race, religion,
caste, language, etc.
• Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions
(Article 30).Article 30 also called “Charter of Education Rights”. Article
30(1): All religious and linguistic minorities have the right to establish and
administer educational institutions of their choice. Article 30(2): The State
should not, when granting aid to educational institutions, discriminate
against any educational institution on the ground that it is under the
management of a minority, whether based on religion or language.

Freedom of Press is implicit in the Article 19. Article 20 and 21 cannot be

suspended even during National Emergency. (Article 352)
Right to Property under Article 19 (1) (f) was repealed by the 44th Amendment
Act, 1978, and was made a legal right under Article 300A.
Rights to Constitutional Remedies
• Right to move to the Supreme Court (Article 32) and the High Courts
(Article 226) in case of violation of the Fundamental Rights BR Ambedkar
called Article 32 as the Heart and Soul of the Constitution. This right is
suspended at the time of national emergency under article 359. Under article
32 Supreme court acts as a guarantor and defender of the fundamental rights.
• Writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo-warranto
can be issued under this.

Writ Meaning Intended Purpose

Habeas Corpus You may have the body To release a person who
has been detained
unlawfully whether in
prison or in private
custody.
Mandamus We Command To secure the
performance of public
duties by lower court,
tribunal or public
authority.
Certiorari To be Certified To quash the order
already passed by an
inferior court, tribunal or
quasi judicial authority.
Prohibition The act of stopping To prohibit an inferior
something court from continuing the
proceedings in a
particular case where it
has no jurisdiction to try.
Quo Warranto What is your authority To restrain a person from
holding a public office to
which he is not entitled.