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Constitution of India
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Constitution of India (Hindi: भारतीय संिवधान, see Constitution of India
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 26
November 1949, it came into effect on 26 January 1950.[1]
The date 26 January was chosen to commemorate the
declaration of independence of 1930. It declares the
Preamble
Union of India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular,
PARTS[show]
democratic republic, assuring its citizens of justice,
Fundamental Rights
equality, and liberty and, to promote among them all,
PART
fraternity. The words "socialist", "secular", "integrity" and
I ∙ II ∙ III ∙ IV ∙ V ∙ VI ∙ VII
"to promote among them all fraternity" were added to the
VIII ∙ IX ∙ X ∙ XI ∙ XII ∙ XIII
definition in 1976 by constitutional amendment.[2] India
∙ XIV
celebrates the adoption of the constitution on 26 January
XV ∙ XVI ∙ XVII ∙ XVIII ∙
each year as Republic Day.[3] It is the longest[4] written
XIX ∙ XX ∙ XXI
constitution of any sovereign country in the world,
XXII
containing 444 articles in 22 parts, 12 schedules and 108
SCHEDULES[show]
amendments[5], for a total of 117,369 words in the English
First ∙ Second ∙ Third ∙
language version. Besides the English version, there is an
Fourth ∙ Fifth
official Hindi translation. After coming into effect, the
Sixth ∙ Seventh ∙ Eighth ∙
Constitution replaced the Government of India Act 1935
Ninth
as the governing document of India. Being the supreme
Tenth ∙ Eleventh ∙ Twelfth
law of the country, every law enacted by the government
APPENDICES[show]
must conform to the constitution. B. R. Ambedkar , as
I ∙ II ∙ III ∙ IV ∙ V
chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, was the
AMENDMENTS[show]
chief architect of the Indian Constitution.
List ∙ 1 ∙ 10 ∙ 38 ∙ 39 ∙ 42

Contents Politics of India[show]

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• 1 Background
• 2 Evolution of the Constitution
o 2.1 Acts of British Parliament before 1935
o 2.2 Government of India Act 1935
o 2.3 The Cabinet Mission Plan
 o 2.4 Indian Independence Act 1947
• 3 Constituent Assembly
o 3.1 Drafting
• 4 Structure
o 4.1 Parts
o 4.2 Schedules
• 5 System of government
o 5.1 Federal Structure
o 5.2 Parliamentary Democracy
o 5.3 Independent Judiciary
• 6 Original Unamended Constitution of India
• 7 Changing the constitution
• 8 Judicial review of laws
• 9 Notes
• 10 See also
• 11 References
• 12 Bibliography

• 13 External links

[edit] Background
Main article: Indian independence movement

The majority of the Indian subcontinent was under British colonial rule from 1858 to
1947. This period saw the gradual rise of the Indian nationalist movement to gain
independence from the foreign rule. The movement culminated in the formation of the
Dominion of India on 15 August 1947, along with the Dominion of Pakistan. The
constitution of India was adopted on 26 January 1950, which proclaimed India to be a
sovereign democratic republic. It contained the founding principles of the law of the land
which would govern India after its independence from British rule. On the day the
constitution came into effect, India ceased to be a dominion of the British Crown.

[edit] Evolution of the Constitution

[edit] Acts of British Parliament before 1935

After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British Parliament took over the reign of India
from the British East India Company, and British India came under the direct rule of the
Crown. The British Parliament passed the Government of India Act of 1858 to this effect,
which set up the structure of government in India. It established in England the office of
the Secretary of State for India through whom the Parliament would exercise its rule,
along with a Council of India to aid him. It also established the office of the Governor-
General of India along with an Executive Council in India, which consisted of high
officials of the British Government. The Indian Councils Act of 1861 provided for a
Legislative Council consisting of the members of the Executive council and non-official
members. The Indian Councils Act of 1892 established provincial legislatures and
increased the powers of the Legislative Council. These acts increased the representation
of Indians in the government, but it was limited in its powers. The Government of India
Acts of 1909 and 1919 further expanded the participation of Indians in the government.

[edit] Government of India Act 1935

Main article: Government of India Act 1935

The provisions of the Government of India Act of 1935, though never implemented fully,
had a great impact on the constitution of India. Many key features of the constitution are
directly taken from this Act. The federal structure of government, provincial autonomy,
bicameral legislature consisting of a federal assembly and a Council of States, separation
of legislative powers between center and provinces are some of the provisions of the Act
which are present in the Indian constitution.

[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. The Constituent Assembly first met and began work on 9
December 1946.

[edit] Indian Independence Act 1947

Main article: Indian Independence Act 1947

The Indian Independence Act, which came into force on 18 July 1947, divided the British
Indian territory into two new states of India and Pakistan, which were to be dominions
under the Commonwealth of Nations until their constitutions were in effect. The
Constituent Assembly was divided into two for the separate states. The Act relieved the
British Parliament of any further rights or obligations towards India or Pakistan, and
granted sovereignty over the lands to the respective Constituent Assemblies. When the
Constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950, it repealed the Indian
Independence Act. India ceased to be a dominion of the British Crown and became a
sovereign democratic republic. 26 November 1949 is also known as National Law Day.

[edit] 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 and 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 9 December.[8]

[edit] Drafting

In the 14 August 1947 meeting of the Assembly, a proposal for forming various
committees was presented. Such committees included a Committee on Fundamental
Rights, the Union Powers Committee and Union Constitution Committee. On 29 August
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 4 November 1947.

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.[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 24 January
1950. Two days later, the Constitution of India became the law of all the Indian lands.

Constitution of India has undergone 108 amendments in less than 60 years since its
enactment.

[edit] Structure
The Constitution, in its current form, consists of a preamble, 22 parts containing 448
articles, 12 schedules, 5 appendices[9] and 94 amendments to date.[10] The Women's
Reservation Bill, 2010, if passed by both houses of parliament and ratified by half of the
states, would be 108th Amendment to the Constitution. Although it is federal in nature
with strong unitary bias, in case of emergencies it takes unitary structure.

[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.

• Preamble • Part XII - Finance, Property,

• Part I[11] - Union and its
Territory
• Part II[12] - Citizenship.
• Part III - Fundamental Rights
• Part IV[13] - Directive
Principles and Fundamental Duties.
• Part V[14] - The Union.
• Part VI[15] - The States.
• Part VII[16] - States in the B
part of the First schedule(Repealed).
• Part VIII[17] - The Union
Territories
• Part IX[18] - Panchayat system
and Municipalities.
• Part X - The scheduled and
Tribal Areas
• Part XI - Relations between
the Union and the States.
Contracts and Suits
• Part XIII - Trade and Commerce
within the territory of India
• Part XIV - Services Under the
Union, the States and Tribunals
• Part XV - Elections
• Part XVI - Special Provisions
Relating to certain Classes.
• Part XVII - Languages
• Part XVIII - Emergency Provisions
• Part XIX - Miscellaneous
• Part XX - Amendment of the
Constitution
• Part XXI - Temporary, Transitional
and Special Provisions
• Part XXII - Short title, date of
commencement, Authoritative text inHindi
and Repeals

[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 Controller 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,Meghalaya,Tripura,,Mizoram.
• 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[19].
• 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 local government).
• Twelfth Schedule (Article 243-W) — Municipalities (urban local government).

[edit] System of government

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 three conditions:

“
1. It must be a stable executive, and
2. It must be a responsible executive.
3. It must be impartial to all religion, caste and community. 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.[20] ”
[edit] Federal Structure

The constitution provides for distribution of powers between the Union and the States.

It enumerates the powers of the Parliament and State Legislatures in three lists, namely
Union list, State list and Concurrent list. Subjects like national defense, foreign policy,
issuance of currency are reserved to the Union list. Public order, local governments,
certain taxes are examples of subjects of the State List, on which the Parliament has no
power to enact laws in those regards, barring exceptional conditions. Education,
transportation, criminal law are a few subjects of the Concurrent list, where both the State
Legislature as well as the Parliament have powers to enact laws. The residuary powers
are vested with the Union.

The upper house of the Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, which consists of representatives of
States, is also an example of the federal nature of the government.

[edit] Parliamentary Democracy

The President of India is elected by the Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies, and
not directly by the people. The President is the Head of the State, and all the business of
the Executive and Laws enacted by the Parliament are in his/her name. However, these
powers are only nominal, and the President must act only according to the advise of the
Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers.

The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers enjoy their offices only as long as they
enjoy a majority support in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament, which
consists of members directly elected by the people. The ministers are answerable to both
the houses of the Parliament. Also, the Ministers must themselves be elected members of
either house of the Parliament. Thus, the Parliament exercises control over the Executive.

A similar structure is present in States, where the directly elected Legislative Assembly
enjoys control over the Chief Minister and the State Council of Ministers.

[edit] Independent Judiciary

The Judiciary of India is free of control from either the executive or the Parliament. The
judiciary acts as an interpreter of the constitution, and an intermediary in case of disputes
between two States, or between a State and the Union. An act passed by the Parliament or
a Legislative Assembly is subject to judicial review, and can be declared unconstitutional
by the judiciary if it feels that the act violates some provision of the Constitution.

Constitutional remedy against any action of the government is available in a High Court
or the Supreme Court, if the action violates any of the fundamental rights of an individual
as enumerated in the Constitution.

[edit] Original Unamended Constitution of India

The original constitution of India without any amendments can be found here fk Original
Unamended version of the Constitution of India

[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 107 amendments (108th being the womens reservation bill passed by the rajya
sabha but yet to be approved by the lok sabha) to the constitution since it was enacted in
1950. The Supreme Court has ruled, controversially, that not every constitutional
amendment is permissible. 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)
[21]
was setup to look into updating the constitution of India.

[edit] Judicial review of laws

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 basis to the Judicial review in India.[citation needed]

[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

India portal

• History of democracy
• List of national constitutions
• Constitution of India at wiki source
• Magna Carta
• Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
• Uniform civil code of India
• Constitutional economics
• Constitutionalism
• Rule according to higher law

[edit] References
1. ^ "Introduction to Constitution of India". Ministry of Law and Justice of India. 29
July 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. 28 August 1976. http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/amend/amend42.htm.
Retrieved 2008-10-14.
3. ^ a b Das, Hari (2002). Political System of India. Anmol Publications. pp. 120.
ISBN 8174886907.
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/parliamentar
y_archives/indian_independence.cfm. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
8. ^ a b c "The Constituent Assembly Debates (Proceedings):(9th December,1946 to
24 January 1950)". The Parliament of India Archive.
http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/debates.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
9. ^ "CONSTITUTION OF INDIA". Ministry of Law and Justice, Govt. of India.
http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/contents.htm.
10. ^ "THE CONSTITUTION (AMENDMENT) ACTS". India Code Information
System. Ministry of Law, Government of India.
http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/coifiles/amendment.htm. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
11. ^ Part I
 12. ^ Part II
13. ^ Part IV
14. ^ Part V
15. ^ Part VI
16. ^ Part VII
17. ^ Part VIII
18. ^ Part IX
19. ^ http://in.rediff.com/news/2007/jan/11indira.htm
20. ^ Ahir, D.C. (1990). The legacy of Dr Ambedkar (10th ed.). South Asia Books.
pp. 75–76. ISBN 978-8170186038.
21. ^ 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 24
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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