Constitution of India

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Constitution of India
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Preamble
PARTS
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Constitution of India (Hindi: भारतीय संविधान, see names in other Indian languages) is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishing the structure, procedures, powers and duties, of the government and spells out the fundamental rights, directive principles and duties of citizens. Passed by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949, it came into effect on January 26, 1950.[1] The date 26 January was chosen to commemorate the declaration of independence of 1930. It declares the Union of India to be a sovereign, democratic republic, assuring its citizens of justice, equality, and liberty and to promote among them all fraternity; the words "socialist", "secular" and "integrity" and to promote among them all "Fraternity"; were added to the definition in 1976 by constitutional amendment.[2] India celebrates the adoption of the constitution on January 26 each year as Republic Day.[3] It is the longest[4] written constitution of any sovereign country in the world, containing 395 articles in 22 parts, 12 schedules and 94 amendments[5], for a total of 117,369 words in the English language version. Besides the English version, there is an official Hindi translation. After coming into effect, the Constitution replaced the Government of India Act 1935 as the governing document of India. Being the supreme law of the country, every law enacted by the government must conform to the constitution. Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, as chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, was the Chief Architect of Indian Constitution.

Contents

[edit] Origins

===Government of India Act 1919===jttjyj

Main article: Government of India Act 1919
Wiki letter w.svg This section requires expansion.

The Government of India Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. V c. 101) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was passed to expand participation of the natives in the government of India. The Act embodied the reforms recommended in the report of the Secretary of State for India, Sir Edwin Montagu, and the Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford. The Act covered ten years, from 1919 to 1929.

[edit] Government of India Act 1935

Main article: Government of India Act 1935
Wiki letter w.svg This section requires expansion.

The Government of India Act 1935 was the last constitution of the British Raj.

[edit] The Cabinet Mission Plan

Main article: 1946 Cabinet Mission to India

In 1946, at the initiative of British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, a cabinet mission to India was formulated to discuss and finalize plans for the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian leadership and providing India with independence under Dominion status in the Commonwealth of Nations.[6][7]

The Mission discussed the framework of the constitution and laid down in some detail the procedure to be followed by the constitution drafting body. Elections for the 296 seats assigned to the British Indian provinces were completed by August 1946. With the independence of India on August 15, 1947, the Constituent Assembly became a fully sovereign body and began work on 9 December 1946.

[edit] The Constituent Assembly

Main article: Constituent Assembly of India

The Constitution was drafted by the Constituent Assembly, which was elected by the elected members of the provincial assemblies.[8] Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajagopalachari, Rajendra Prasad,Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Nalini Ranjan Ghosh were some important figures in the Assembly. There were more than 30 members of the scheduled classes. Frank Anthony represented the Anglo-Indian community, and the Parsis were represented by H. P. Modi and R. K. Sidhwa. The Chairman of the Minorities Committee was Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, a distinguished Christian who represented all Christians other than Anglo-Indians. Ari Bahadur Gururng represented the Gorkha Community. Prominent jurists like Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, B. R. Ambedkar, Benegal Narsing Rau and K. M. Munshi Ganesh Mavlankar were also members of the Assembly. Sarojini Naidu, Hansa Mehta, Durgabai Deshmukh and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur were important women members. The first president of the Constituent Assembly was Sachidanand Sinha later, Rajendra Prasad was elected president of the Constituent Assembly.[8] The members of the Constituent Assembly met for the first time in the year 1946 on December 9.[8]


[edit] Drafting

In the August 14, 1947 meeting of the Assembly, a proposal for forming various committees were presented. Such committees include Committee on Fundamental Rights, the Union Powers Committee and Union Constitution Committee. On August 29, 1947, the Drafting Committee was appointed, with Dr Ambedkar as the Chairman along with six other members. A Draft Constitution was prepared by the committee and submitted to the Assembly on November 4, 1947.

The Assembly met, in sessions open to public, for 166 days, spread over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days before adopting the Constitution.[3] After many deliberations and some modifications, the 308 members of the Assembly signed two hand-written copies of the document (one each in Hindi and English) on the January 24, 1950. Two days later, the Constitution of India became the law of all the Indian lands.

The Indian Constitution has undergone 94 amendments in less than 60 years of its enactments.

[edit] System of government

Wiki letter w.svg
 Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (December 2009)
Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar as chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, was the Chief Architect of Indian Constitution.

The basic form of the Union Government envisaged in the Constitution was introduced by Dr. Ambedkar as follows,

“ A democratic executive must satisfy two conditions:

1. It must be a stable executive, and
2. It must be a responsible executive.
Unfortunately, it has not been possible so far to devise a system which can ensure both conditions in equal degree. ..... The daily assessment of responsibility, which is not available in the American system is, it is felt, far more effective than the periodic assessment and far more necessary in a country like India. The Draft Constitution in recommending the parliamentary system of Executive has preferred more responsibility to stability.[9]

 ”

India, thus adopted a Parliamentary form of government, with the President as the nominal head of the Executive and the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers wielding actual power.

[edit] Structure

The Constitution, in its current form, consists of a preamble, 22 parts containing 448 articles, 12 schedules, 5 appendices and over 108 amendments to date.

[edit] Parts

Parts are the individual chapters in the Constitution, focused in single broad field of laws, containing articles that addresses the issues in question.

[edit] Schedules

Schedules are lists in the Constitution that categorizes and tabulates bureaucratic activity and policy of the Government.

  • First Schedule (Articles 1 and 4) — States and Union Territories  – This lists the states and territories on of India, lists any changes to their borders and the laws used to make that change.
  • Second Schedule (Articles 59, 65, 75, 97, 125, 148, 158, 164, 186 and 221) — Emoluments for High-Level Officials  – This lists the salaries of officials holding public office, judges, and Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.
  • Third Schedule (Articles 75, 99, 124, 148, 164, 188 and 219) — Forms of Oaths  – This lists the oaths of offices for elected officials and judges.
  • Fourth Schedule (Articles 4 and 80)  – This details the allocation of seats in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of Parliament) per State or Union Territory.
  • Fifth Schedule (Article 244)  – This provides for the administration and control of Scheduled Areas[Note 1] and Scheduled Tribes[Note 2] (areas and tribes needing special protection due to disadvantageous conditions).
  • Sixth Schedule (Articles 244 and 275)— Provisions for the administration of tribal areas in Assam.
  • Seventh Schedule (Article 246) — The union (central government), state, and concurrent lists of responsibilities.
  • Eighth Schedule (Articles 344 and 351) — The official languages.
  • Ninth Schedule (Article 31-B) - This covers land and tenure reforms; the accession of Sikkim with India. It may be reviewed by the courts[18].
  • Tenth Schedule (Articles 102 and 191) — "Anti-defection" provisions for Members of Parliament and Members of the State Legislatures.
  • Eleventh Schedule (Article 243-G) — Panchayat Raj (rural development).
  • Twelfth Schedule (Article 243-W) — Municipalities (urban planning).

[edit] Changing the constitution

Main article: Amendment of the Constitution of India

Amendments to the constitution are made by Parliament. However they must be approved by a super-majority in each house, and certain amendments must also be ratified by the states. The procedure is laid out in Article 368. Despite these rules there have been over ninety amendments to the constitution since it was enacted in 1950. The Supreme Court has ruled, controversially, that not every constitutional amendment is permissable. An amendment must respect the "basic structure" of the constitution, which is immutable.

In 2000 the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC)[19] was setup to look into updating the constitution of India.

[edit] Judicial review of laws

Wiki letter w.svg This section requires expansion.

Judicial review is actually adopted in the Indian constitution from the constitution of the United States of America. In the Indian constitution, Judicial Review is dealt under Article 13. Judicial Review actually refers that the Constitution is the supreme power of the nation and all laws are under its supremacy. Article 13 deals that

1. All pre-constitutional laws, after the coming into force of constitution, if in conflict with it in all or some of its provisions then the provisions of constitution will prevail and the provisions of that pre-constitutional law will not be in force until an amendment of the constitution relating to the same matter. In such situation the provision of that law will again come into force, if it is compatible with the constitution as amended. This is called the Theory of Eclipse.

2. In a similar manner, laws made after adoption of the Constitution by the Constituent Assembly must be compatible with the constitution, otherwise the laws and amendments will be deemed to be void-ab-initio.

In such situations, the Supreme Court or High Court interprets the laws as if they are in conformity with the constitution. If such an interpretation is not possible because of inconsistency, and where a separation is possible, the provision that is inconsistent with constitution is considered to be void. In addition to article 13, articles 32, 124, 131, 219, 226 and 246 provide a constitutional bases to the Judicial review in India.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Scheduled Areas are autonomous areas within a state, administered federally, usually populated by a predominant Scheduled Tribe.
  2. ^ Scheduled Tribes are groups of indigenous people, identified in the Constitution, struggling socio-economically

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Introduction to Constitution of India". ==. Ministry of Law and Justice of India. July 29, 2008. http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/introd.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-14. 
  2. ^ "Forty-Second Amendment to the Constitution". Ministry of Law and Justice of fishys. August 28, 1976. http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/amend/amend42.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-14. 
  3. ^ a b [[:Template:cite book]]
  4. ^ Pylee, M.V. (1997). India's Constitution. S. Chand & Co.. pp. 3. ISBN 812190403X. 
  5. ^ "Constitution of India". Ministry of Law and Justice of India. July, 2008. http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/welcome.html. Retrieved 2008-12-17. 
  6. ^ Mansergh, Nicholas; Moon, Penderel (1977). The Transfer of Power 1942-7 .. Vol VII. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London. ISBN 9780115800825. 
  7. ^ "Parliamentary Archives: HL/PO/1/595/11". Parliament and India, 1858-1947. British Parliamentary Archives. http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_publications_and_archives/parliamentary_archives/indian_independence.cfm. Retrieved 2008-10-15. 
  8. ^ a b c "The Constituent Assembly Debates (Proceedings):(9th December,1946 to 24th January ,1950)". The Parliament of India Archive. http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/debates.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-22. 
  9. ^ Ahir, D.C. (1990). The legacy of Dr Ambedkar (10th ed.). South Asia Books. pp. 75–76. ISBN 978-8170186038. 
  10. ^ Part I
  11. ^ Part II
  12. ^ Part IV
  13. ^ Part V
  14. ^ Part VI
  15. ^ Part VII
  16. ^ Part VIII
  17. ^ Part IX
  18. ^ http://in.rediff.com/news/2007/jan/11indira.htm
  19. ^ http://ncrwc.nic.in/

[edit] Bibliography

  • Baruah, Aparajita (2007). Preamble of the Constitution of India : An Insight & Comparison. Eastern Book Co. ISBN 9788176299960. 
  • Basu, Durga Das (1965). Commentary on the constitution of India : (being a comparative treatise on the universal principles of justice and constitutional government with special reference to the organic instrument of India). 1 - 2. S. C. Sarkar & Sons (Private) Ltd. 
  • Basu, Durga Das (1984). Introduction to the Constitution of India (10th ed.). South Asia Books. ISBN 0836410971. 
  • Basu, Durga Das (1981). Shorter Constitution of India. Prentice-Hall of India. ISBN 9780876922002. 
  • Das, Hari Hara (2002). Political System of India. Anmol Publications. ISBN 8174886907. 
  • Dash, Shreeram Chandra (1968). The Constitution of India; a Comparative Study. Chaitanya Pub. House. 
  • Ghosh, Pratap Kumar (1966). The Constitution of India: How it Has Been Framed. World Press. 
  • Jayapalan, N. (1998). Constitutional History of India. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. ISBN 8171567614. 
  • Khanna, Hans Raj (1981). Making of India's Constitution. Eastern Book Co. ISBN 9788170121084. 
  • Basu, Durga Das (1984). Introduction to the Constitution of India (10th ed.). South Asia Books. ISBN 0836410971. 
  • Pylee, M.V. (1997). India's Constitution. S. Chand & Co.. ISBN 812190403X. 
  • Pylee, M.V. (2004). Constitutional Government in India. S. Chand & Co.. ISBN 8121922038. 
  • Sen, Sarbani (2007). The Constitution of India: Popular Sovereignty and Democratic Transformations. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195686494. 
  • Sharma, Dinesh; Singh, Jaya; Maganathan, R.; et al. (2002). Indian Constitution at Work. Political Science, Class XI. NCERT. 
  • "The Constituent Assembly Debates (Proceedings):(9th December,1946 to 24th January ,1950)". The Parliament of India Archive. http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/debates.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-22. 

[edit] External links

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