Indian Constitution and
Civil Life Constitution
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The
Constitution
of India is the supreme law of the land. It lays down the
framework defining fundamental political principles, establishes the
structure, procedures, powers and duties of the govt institutions, sets
out fundamental
rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens. It is the
longest
written constitution of any sovereign country in the world, containing
395
articles in 22 parts, 12 schedules and 116 amendments.
Drafting of constitution
On 14 August
1947 meeting of the Assembly, a proposal for forming various committees was
presented. Such committees included a committee on Fundamental Rights, Union
powers Committee and Union Constitution Committee.
On 29 August
1947, the Drafting Committee was appointed, with Dr BR Ambedkar as the chairman
along with 6 other members assisted by a constitutional adviser. The
constitutional adviser was Sir Bengal Narsing Rau (who became first Indian
Judge in International Court of Justice from 1950-54). The constituent assembly
constituted of 381 members representing each and every province of the country
had members belonging to different communities and regions of India. It also
had members representing different political persuasions. Jawahar Lal Nehru,
Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Shyama Prasad
Mukharjee were some important figures in the assembly discussions.
There were
more than 30 members of the scheduled classes. The anglo-Indian community was
represented by Frank Anthony and the Parsis were represented by HP Modi,
constitutional experts like Alladi Krishnaswamy Aiyer, BR Ambedkar, BN Rao and
KM Munshi were also members of the assembly. Sarojini Naidu and Vijaylakshmi
Pandit were important woman members.
Dr Sachidanand Sinha was the first
President of the Constituent Assembly. Later, Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected
President of the Assembly.
A draft
constitution was prepared by the committee and submitted to the Assembly on Nov
4 1947. Draft constitution was debated and over 2000 amendments were moved over
a period of two years.
Finally, on
26 Nov 1949, the process completed and Constituent Assembly adopted the
constitution.
284 members
signed the document and the process of constitution making was complete. The
assembly met in sessions open to the public, for 166 days, spread over a period
of 2 years, 11 months, and 18 days before adopting the Constitution.
Borrowed features of
the constitution
The
architects of India’s constitution were heavily influenced by the British model
of the Parliamentary democracy. In addition, a number of principles were
adopted from the Constitution of the USA, including the separation of powers
among the major branches of the government, the establishment of a Supreme
Court, and the adoption, albeit in modified form, of a federal structure.
British Constitution
1.
Parliamentary
form of Govt
2.
Idea
of single citizenship
3.
The
idea of the rule of the law
4.
Institution
of speaker and his role
5.
Law-making
procedure
United States of America Constitution
1.
Charter
of the Fundamental Rights, which is similar to the USA Bills of Rights.
2.
Federal
structure of the govt.
3.
Power
of judicial review and independence of the judiciary.
Irish Constitution
1.
Constitutional
enunciation of the directive principles of state policy.
French Constitution
1.
Ideals
of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
Canadian constitution
1.
Quasi-federal
form of govt (a federal system with a strong central govt) idea of residual
powers.
Australian Constitution
1.
Be
idea of the concurrent-list-Freedom of trade and commerce within the country
and between the states.
Soviet Constitution
1.
Planning
commission and five-year plans
2.
Fundamental
Duties.
SALIENT FEATURES OF
INDIAN CONSTITUTION
The
constitution was enacted by the constituent assembly on 26 Nov 1949, and came
into effect on 26 Jan 1950. The date 26 Jan was chosen to commemorate the Purna
Swaraj declaration of Independence in 1930.
With its
adoption, the Union of India officially became the modern and contemporary
Republic of India and it replaced Government of India Act 1935 as the country’s
fundamental governing document.
The
constitution declares India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic
republic, assuring its citizens of justice equality, and liberty and endeavors
to promote fraternity among them. The words “socialist” and “secular”were added
to the definition in 1976 by a constitutional amendment. India celebrates the
adoption of the constitution on 26 Jan each year as the Republic Day.
WRITTEN, LENGTHY AND DETAILED
CONSTITUTION:
Our
Constitution is written, lengthy, and detailed. Written constitution is that
which is based on written laws duly passed by a representative body elected for
this very purpose. In other words, a written constitution is enacted
constitution. An unwritten constitution, on the other hand, is an evolved
constitution. The constitution of the USA
is an example of a written
constitution and that of English of
an unwritten one.
PARTLY RIGID AND PARTLY FLEXIBLE
CONSTITUTION
A flexible
constitution is that which can be amended like an ordinary law of the country
i.e. by a simple majority of the Parliament. On the other hand, a rigid
constitution is that one which prescribes a difficult procedure for its own
amendment. The constitution of the USA is the best example of a rigid
constitution because it can be amended only if a proposal for constitutional
amendment is passed by a two-third majority of each House of the Congress (the
US Parliament) and ratified by at least three-fourths of the federating states.
The constitution of the Great Britain, on the other hand, is highly flexible.
This is so because it can be amended by a simple majority of its Parliament,
much like the ordinary laws of the country.
The Indian constitution is neither
very flexible nor very rigid. Some provisions of the constitution can be amended by a simple
majority of the Parliament, like ordinary laws of the land while most of the
provisions can only be amended by a two-third majority of the Parliament. For
very important provisions of the Constitution, such as the manner of election
of the President and the extent of the legislative powers of the Union and the
states, an amend passed by a two-third majority of the Parliament should also
be ratified by at least one-half of the State Legislatures. The Indian
Constitution thus, combines the flexibility of the British Constitution and the
rigidity of the American Constitution.
PARTLY FEDERAL AND PARTLY UNITARY
Our
constitution declares India a Union of States (federation). It prescribes dual
set of governments-the Union Govt and the State Govts. The subject of
administration have also been classified into three lists- the Union List,
State List and the Concurrent List. Whereas, subjects of national importance
like currency, defence, railways have been assigned to the Union Govt and
placed under the Union List, subjects of local importance like agriculture, law
and order, health and entertainment have been assigned to the states and form a
part of the State List. Both the Union govt and the State govts operate within
the spheres of their authority. The Union Parliament and the state legislatures
enjoy co-equal powers to make laws in regard to the concurrent subjects. These
subjects are of common importance such as marriage and divorce, adoption etc.
However, if there is a conflict between a Union law and a law passed by one or
many state legislatures, the law made by the union Parliament would prevail
over the state law.
The Indian
Constitution possesses other features of a federation too, for example,
supremacy of the constitution. This means that the Union and the state
governments both operate within the limits set by the constitution. Both the
govts derive authority from the constitution itself. Not only this, the Supreme
Court is given the responsibility of interpreting the Constitution in case of a
dispute or confusion. The Supreme Court of India is the guardian of the
Constitution and fulfills its role as a Federal Court too. The Indian
Constitution, though federal in form, has a strong unitary bias. The Central
Govt possesses extensive powers compared to the State Govts. The exercise of
these powers by the Centre gives the Constitution the strength of a unitary
govt. The Union Government can supersede the authority of the states both in
the normal and abnormal times. The President of India can declare three
different types of emergency. During the operation of an emergency, the powers
of the State Govt are greatly curtailed and the Union Govt becomes all in all.
Even in normal times, the Union Parliament can legislate upon a subject given in
the State List, if the Rajya Sabha passes a resolution by a two-third vote that
such legislation is necessary in the national interest. Another unitary feature
of our Constitution is that it gives Union Parliament the power to alter the
boundaries of the existing states or to carve out new states out of the
existing ones. It is on account of these features that the Indian Constitution
is said to be federal in form but unitary in spirit.
PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM
The
Constitution of India adopts Parliamentary system of govt at the centre and in
the states. In such a system, the executive power is wielded by the Council of
Ministers which is collectively responsible to the legislature. The Ministers
continue in office so long as they enjoy the confidence of a majority of
members in the legislature. The moment
they lose this confidence, a vote of no-confidence is passed against them and
they have to resign. The responsibility of the executive to the legislature is
also ensured by the right of the members of the legislature to put questions to
the ministers. The members may table adjournment motions and call attention
motions against the policies pursued by the govt. The ministers are duty-bound
to answer all such questions and satisfy the members of the legislature.
SOVEREIGNTY
Sovereignty is one of the foremost elements of any
independent state. It means absolute independence, i.e. govt which is not
controlled by any other power internal or external. A country cannot have its
own constitution without being sovereign. India is a sovereign country. It is
free from external control. It can frame its own policies.
SOCIALIST
The word
socialist was not there in the Preamble of the Constitution in its original
form. In 1976, the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution incorporated
“Socialist” and “Secular” in the Preamble. The word socialism had been used in
the context of economic planning. It signifies major role in the economy. It
also means commitment to attain ideals like removal of inequalities, provision
of minimum basic necessities to all, these ideals have been incorporated as
well as partly, implemented in the Constitution.
SECULARISM
In the context
of secularism in India, it is said that India is neither religious, nor
irreligious nor anti-religious. It implies that in India there will be no
‘State’ religion-the state will not support any particular religion out of
public fund. This has two implications:
1.
Every
individual is free to believe in and practice any religion.
2.
State
will not discriminate against any individual or group on the basis of religion.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
Constitution
belongs to the people of India. The last line of the Preamble says “hereby Adopt, Enact and Give to ourselves
this constitution”. In fact, the Democratic principles of the country flow
from this memorable last line of the Preamble. Democracy is generally known as
the govt of the people, by the people and for the people.
The democratic
principles are highlighted with the provisions of Universal Adult Franchise,
elections, Fundamental Rights, and responsible govt.
The Preamble
also declares India as a Republic.
It means that the head of the state is the President who is indirectly elected
and he is not a hereditary ruler as in the case of British Monarch.
JUSTICE
Justice
promises to give people what they are entitled to in terms of basic rights to
food, clothing, housing, participation in the decision-making and living with
dignity as human beings. The Preamble covers all these dimensions of
justice-social, economic and political. Besides, the granting of political
justice in the form of universal adult franchise or the representative form of
democracy.
LIBERTY
The Preamble
also mentions about liberty of thought and expression. These freedoms have been
guaranteed in the constitution through the Fundamental Rights. Though freedom
from want has not been guaranteed in the Fundamental Rights, certain directives
to the state have been mentioned in the Directive Principles.
EQUALITY
Equality is
considered to be the essence of modern democratic ideology. The constitution
makers placed the ideals of equality in a place of pride in the Preamble. All
kinds of inequality based on teh concept of rulers and the ruled or on the basis
of caste and gender, were to be eliminated. All citizens of India should be
treated equally and extended equal protection of law without any discrimination
based on caste, creed, birth, religion, sex etc.
FRATERNITY, DIGNITY, UNITY AND
INTEGRITY
In the
background of India’s multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious society
and keeping in view the partition of the country, the farmers of the
constitution were very much concerned about the unity and integrity of our
newly independent country. There was a need for harmonious co-existence among
various religions, linguistics, cultural and economic groups. Inclusion of
phrases like dignity of individuals, fraternity among people and unity and
integrity of the nation in the Preamble highlight such a need.
