Constitution: An Introduction
"Constitution is not a mere lawyers document, it is a vehicle of life and its spirit is always the spirit of age"
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
Constitution - The fundamental and organic law of a nation that established the conception, character and organisation of the government. Indian constitution is a transformative constitution.
- Organic - because it changes via amendments
- Fundamental - because it is the basic law book of the nation
- Conception - means process (various political processes)
- Character - It represents the nature of the government (Socialist, republic, etc)
- Organisation - It establishes the design of the government (legislative, executive & judiciary)
In short, "Constitution is the rule book of the nation and is the supreme law of the nation."
Constitution of India has a special legal sanctity, since it derives its powers and authority from the people directly as evident from the Preamble.
constitution also regulates the relationship between the state and the citizens.
Brief history of Indian Constitution
Theme -------------- Story ----------- Trailor
↓ ↓ ↓
Objective Resolution ----- Constitution ------- Premable
On December 13, 1946 Pt. JL Nehru moved the historic objective resolution in the constituent assembly.
Constituent Assembly -
- 1934 - idea of Constituent Assembly was put forwarded by MN Roy.
- 1935 - INC officially demanded a Constituent Assembly
- 1946 - A scheme for Constituent Assembly was put forwarded by Cabinet Mission Plan (1946)
- Nov. 1946 - Constituent Assembly was formed
After the formation of Pakistan,
Total Strength - 299 (229 - Elected & 70- Nominated)
July-Aug 1946 - Election for the members of Constituent Assembly
Dec 9, 1946 -
- First meeting of Constituent Assembly.
- Muslim League Boycotted the meeting and demanded for a separate Pakistan.
- Attended by only 211 Members.
- Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha was elected the temporary president of the Constituent Assembly.
- Second meeting of Constituent Assembly.
- Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the president of the Constituent Assmebly.
- Vice-President - H.C. Mukherjee & V.T. Krishnamachari
- First session of Constituent Assembly
- Objective resolution was moved by Nehru
Number of sitting - 116 Days
Last session - 11th session (January 24, 1950)
Final copy of the constitution was signed by 284 members.
Drawing in the original constitution - Nandlal Bose
Calligrapher of Indian Constitution - Prem Behari Narain Raizada
Objective Resolution - The philosophy underlined in the Indian Constitution was represented in the objective resolution which was moved by Pt. Nehru in the first session of Constituent Assembly on Dec 13, 1946 and was adopted on Jan 22, 1947.
The main provisions mentioned in the Objective resolution are mentioned below -
- India to be democratic, sovereign and republic.
- India to have a federal form of the government with powers distributed between states and the centre.
- To provide freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation, association and action.
- To provide adequate safeguard for minorities and people from backward and tribal areas.
- To attain rightful and honored place in the world and make willing contributions to the promotion of world peace and welfare of mankind.
Committees of Constituent Assembly
There are 8 major committees -
- Drafting Committee - Dr. BR Ambedkar
- Union Power Committee - Pt. Nehru
- Union Constitution Committee - Pt. Nehru
- States Committee - Pt. Nehru
- Provincial Constitution Committee - Sardar Patel
- Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, minorities and tribal & excluded areas - Sardar Patel
- Rules of Procedure Committee - Dr. Rajendra Prasad
- Steering Committee - Dr. Rajendra Prasad
Total number of members in Drafting Committee - 7
First Draft - Feb 1948
Second Draft - Oct 1948
Constitution -
- Earlier 22 Parts, Now 24 Parts
- Earlier 8 Schedules, Now 12 Schedules
- Earlier 395 Articles, Now more that 444 Articles
Why the size of the Constitution is very big and bulky?
Indian Constitution is the lengthiest written constitution in the world. It is very comprehensive, elaborate and detailed document.
Reason
- Government of India Act 1935 which itself was very bulky and detailed was the basic model or inspiration for Indian Constitution.
- Unlike US where each state has its own constitution in addition to the federal constitution, constitution of India includes not only the constitution of union but also the constitution of the states.
- Indian constitution has special features which is not found in other constitution like fundamental rights, fundamental duties, DPSP, etc.
- Huge diversity of India demands special provisions for the welfare, adding to the size of the constitution.
- Fundamental rights in India are not absolute, they are accompanied with limitations unlike US constitution where limitations on Fundamental rights are read into the rights by judiciary from case to case basis.
- Article 368 allows Indian Constitution to be amended relevantly which has caused till not 105 amendments and these amendments added to its size.
Trick to remember Schedules of Indian Constitution.
(TEARS OF OLD PM)
- T - uTs and states
- E - Emoulments
- A - Affirmation & oath
- R - Rajya sabha seat allocation
- S - Scheduled areas
- O - Other tribal areas
- F - Federal list
- O - Official language
- L - Land reforms
- D - anti-Defection laws
- P - Panchayats
- M - Municipalities
Features of a limited govt.
- Doesn't cross the limit
- Doesn't exploit people rather it serves the people
- Doesn't behave arbitrary
- Guided by a Constitution
- Powers are well defined
The provisions which ensures constitutionalism are -
- Democratically framed constitution
- Separation of powers in legislative, executive and judiciary to check and balance one another.
- An independent judiciary which can provide relief to the people incase they are exploited by the system
- Rule of law
Sources of Indian Constitution
GoI Act 1935
- Federal scheme
- Emergency Provisions
- Office of governor
- Public service commission
- Parliamentary system
- Legislative procedure
- Rule of law
- Single citizenship
- Bicameralism
- Fundamental Rights
- Independence of Judiciary
- Judicial Review
- Impeachment of President
- Post of Vice-President
- DPSP
- Method of election of the President
- Federation with strong centre
- Residuary powers of the centre
- Concurrent list
- Joint sitting of the two houses
- Suspension of Fundamental Rights during emergency
- Fundamental Duties
- Ideals of Justice (Social, Economic & Political) in the Preamble
- Republic and the ideals of Liberty, Equality & Fraternity in the Preamble
- Procedure for the amendment of the Constitution
Some facts to remember
National Song
- Vande Mataram
- Written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
- Language - Sanskrit
- adopted as National song on 24 January 1950.
National Anthem
- Jana Gana Mana
- Written by Rabindra Nath Tagore
- taken from Tagore's song 'Bharat Bhagyo Bidhata'.
- Language - Bengali
- 1st sung on 27th December 1911 at the Calcutta Session of INC.
- adopted as National anthem on 24 January 1950.
National Flag
- Tricolour
- adopted on 22 July 1947.
- 1st hoisted by Sacchindra Prasad Bose in 1906 in Calcutta. Later on in 1907 another tricolour was unflured by Madam Bhikaji Kama in Stuttgart, Germany.
Difference between written and unwritten constitution
Written Constitution
- Written Constitution is one whose Articles and provisions are codified into a single legal document.
- Distinction is made between the provisions of the Constitution and the laws outside (Statutory laws).
- Constitution is the supreme authority not the parliament.
- Judiciary generally enjoys wider powers as it can declare any enactment of the legislature or action of the executive unconstitutional or void, if they go against the provisions of the constitution.
- Written constitution is an enacted constitution since it is created by a special body on an identified date.
- It can give rise to federal or unitary form of the government.
- It can be rigid (USA), flexible (Sri Lanka) or a combination of both as in case of India.
Unwritten Constitution
- Provisions are not codified into a single legal document rather it is a collection of various laws passed by the parliament as in case of Britain.
- No distinction is made as every enactment by the parliament becomes part of the constitution.
- It is the parliament which is supreme not the constitution since every act of the parliament becomes part of its constitution.
- Judiciary has limited powers and can't declare any enactment of the parliament as unconstitutional or void.
- It is not an enacted constitution but an evolved one since it was not created by a single body on a particular time rather it was evolved over a period of time.
- It only gives rise to a unitary form of government.
- It is always flexible since all it takes to amend the constitution is to pass a new law by the parliament which parliament can bring at any time.
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Next Article - Nature of Indian Political Setup
Notes on other subjects
Optional Notes
Note - This is my Vision IAS Notes (Vision IAS Class Notes) and Ashutosh Pandey Sir's Public Administration Class notes. I've also added some of the information on my own.
Hope! It will help you to achieve your dream of getting selected in Civil Services Examination 👍
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