Indian Polity

Making Of The Indian Constitution:

The idea of constitutional assembly for making the constituent was first mooted by M N Roy in 1934.

The Indian National Congress Officially demanded the formation of Constituent assembly in 1935.

1. First Meeting of Constituent Assembly was held on Dec 9, 1946.

2. Muslim League boycotted the constituent assembly.

Dr.Sachidanand Sinha, the Senior most member of the assembly was elected as the temporary president of assembly.

Provisions relating to citizenship, elections, provisional parliament and temporary provision became effective from 26 Nov, 1949.

Important committees:

1)Drafting Committee : Dr. B R Ambedkar

2) Flag Committee: J B Kirplani

3) Union Constitution: Jawahar Lal Nehru

4 )Provisional Committee:Sadar Vallabh Bhai Patel 

5)Union Power: Jawahar Lal Nehru

6)Fundamental Right and Minorities Committee:Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel

Salient Feature of Constitution:

1. It is the longest written constitution in the world. It has 395 Article and 12 Schedules.

2. It proclaims India a Sovereign Democratic Republic. 

3. Fundamental Rights are guaranteed to all citizens of India. 

4. Directive Principles of State Policy are incorporated.

5. It established the parliamentary system of government, i.e., the President of the Union is the               constitutional head, the Council of Ministers or the Union Cabinet is the real executive and is             responsible to the Lok Sabha. 

 6. It is federal in form (in normal times) but unitary in spirit (in emergencies).

 7. It is neither too rigid (as some provisions can be amended by a simple majority) nor flexible (as          some provisions require special majority for amendment). 

 8. It declares India a secular state. 

 9. It guarantees single citizenship to all citizens. 

10. It introduced adult franchise, i.e., every adult above 18 years has the right to vote and the system        of joint electorates. 

11. It established an independent judiciary; the Supreme Court acts as a guardian of the Constitution in place of the Privy Council. 

Important Note; A Number of Amendments (about 96) passed since its enforcement in 1950, have also become a part of the Constitution.

          

Sources of Indian Constitution:

• Government of India Act: Federal Scheme, Declarations Of Emergency Powers (Germany), Admistrations at the Centre and State Level (Canada)
• United Kingdom: Parliamentary System, single citizenship, writ Jurisdiction of Courts.
• USA: Fundamental Rights, Supreme Court
• USSR: fundamental Duties
• Ireland:Concept of the Directive Principle of state

Indian Constitution is both rigid and flexible. A written constitution implies rigidity.Parliamentary sovereignty implies flexibility

Preamble of the Constitution is not enforceable but serves two purposes:

1.Indicates the source of Constitutional assembly.

2.Statement of objects which the constitutions seeks to establish.

The word "socialist" and "secular" has been added to the preamble by the 42nd Amendment Act.

Structure Of Constitution: 

The Constitution, in its current form, consists of a preamble, 22 parts containing 448 articles, 12 schedules, 2 appendices and 97 amendments to date (latest being related to co-operative societies in 2012). 

The Preamble: The draft of the Preamble was prepared by Jawaharlal Nehru and is based on the American model. The 42nd Amendment added the words ``Secular and Socialist'' and now the preamble reads as follows. “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, November 26, 1949, do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this constitution”. 

The Preamble is, technically, not a part of the Constitution (and this has been confirmed by the SC also), but it contains the basic philosophy of the whole Constitution and the ideals of the constitution-makers. It can be used by the Courts to help them in interpretation of the Constitution in certain matters where the Constitution itself is silent. 

The individual Articles of the Constitution are grouped together into the following Parts: 

1. Part I – Union and its Territory 
2. Part II– Citizenship. 
3. Part III – Fundamental Rights. 
4. Part IV – Directive Principles of State Policy 
5. Part IVA – Fundamental Duties. 
6. Part V – The Union. 
7. Part VI – The States. 
8. Part VII – States in the B part of the First schedule(Repealed). 
9. Part VIII– The Union Territories 
10. Part IX – The Panchayats. 
11. Part IXA – The Municipalities. 
12. Part IXB – The Cooperative Societies 
13. Part X – The scheduled and Tribal Areas 
14. Part XI – Relations between the Union and the States. 
15. Part XII – Finance, Property, Contracts and Suits 
16. Part XIII – Trade and Commerce within the territory of India 
17. Part XIV – Services Under the Union, the States. 
18. Part XIVA – Tribunals. 
19. Part XV – Elections 
20. Part XVI – Special Provisions Relating to certain Classes. 
21. Part XVII – Languages 
22. Part XVIII – Emergency Provisions 
23. Part XIX – Miscellaneous 
24. Part XX – Amendment of the Constitution 
25. Part XXI – Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions 
26. Part XXII – Short title, date of commencement, Authoritative text in Hindi and Repeals

Articles Of the Constitution:

1. Part I Articles 1-4 Territory of India,, admission,, establishment or formation of new states 
2. Part II Articles 5-11 Citizenship 
3. Part III Articles 12-35 Fundamental Rights 
4. Part IV Articles 36-51 Directive Principles of State Policy 
5. Part IV A: Article 51-A Duties of a citizen of India. It was added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976 Part V Articles 52-151 Government at the Union level 
6. Part VI Articles 152-237 Government at the State level 
7. Part VII Article 238 Deals with states in Part B of the First Schedule. It was repealed by 7th Amendment in 1956 
8. Part VIII Articles 239-241 Administration of Union Territories 
9. Part IX Article 242-243 Territories in Part D of the First Schedule and other territories. It was repealed by 7th Amendment in 1956 
10. Part X Articles 244-244 A Scheduled and tribal areas 
11. Part XI Articles 245-263 Relations between the Union and States 
12. Part XII Articles 264-300 Finance,, property,, contracts and suits 
13. Part XIII Articles 301-307 Trade,, commerce and travel within the territory of India 
14. Part XIV Articles 308-323 Services under the Union and States 
15. Part XIV-A Articles 323A-323B Added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976 and deals with administrative tribunals to hear disputes and other complaints 
16. Part XV Articles 324-329 Election and Election Commission 
17. Part XVI Articles 330-342 Special provision to certain classes ST/SC and Anglo-Indians 
18. Part XVII Articles 343-351 Official languages 
19. Part XVIII Articles 352-360 Emergency provisions 
20. Part XIX Articles 361-367 Miscellaneous provision regarding exemption of the President and governors from criminal proceedings 
21. Part XX Article 368 Amendment of Constitution 
22. Part XXI Articles 369-392 Temporary,, transitional and special provisions 
23. Part XXII Articles 393-395 Short title, commencement and repeal of the Constitution 

Schedules: Schedules are lists in the Constitution that categorize and tabulate bureaucratic activity and policy of the Government. 

• First Schedule (Articles 1 and 4)- This lists the states and territories 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)- – 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 and Scheduled Tribes (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, and 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) – Originally Articles mentioned here were immune from judicial review on the ground that they violated fundamental rights. but in a landmark judgement in 2007, the Supreme Court of India held in I.R. Coelho v. State of Tamil Nadu and others that laws included in the 9th schedule can be subject to judicial review if they voilated the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 14, 15, 19, 21 or the basic structure of the Constitutuion 
• 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).