Dear students, the story of the Constitution of India begins much earlier to the actual meeting of the Constituent Assembly in 1946 and its adoption by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949 and its eventual handing over of the sacred document to the Indian state on the 26th of January 1950. The rudimentary beginnings of the current framework can be traced firstly to the colonial British settlements and the political and administrative habits that came up in india since the first ship landed on the shores of india in the early seventeenth century the mughal era that preceded the british period was a monarchic period and did not reflect the value systems nor the governance structure that the british sought to sow when they became serious with the resolve to govern the country in eighteen fifty eight after the mutiny of eighteen fifty seven The English who came to India for trade through the East India Company, a trading entity that operated under a charter granted by the sovereign, began to build a legal and administrative system for the territories held by them. This could be the earliest attempt to initiate, in a nascent manner, systems and constitutional values into the Indian territory that were indispensably woven into the political and legal system of England. These were executed through the Charter Acts promulgated by the Crown from time to time in favour of the East India Company.
Having laid their foundations initially at Surat in the year 1608, the East India Company expanded their operations territorially and in course of time held substantial settlements in the subcontinent. It is noteworthy that in each of these British possessions there was an identity and harmony with respect to their legal, administrative and judicial systems. It was in the aftermath of the First War of Independence in the year 1857 that political sovereignty of Britain came out of the shadows of the East India Company to rule over British India.
The administrative dispensation in India came to be increasingly scrutinized by the governing missionary in England. Through the several periodic enactments, The British sought to administer their territories in India, beginning from the Indian Council's Act in 1861. They were greatly affected and impelled by the sense of alienation and intrigued by the causes for the mutiny in 1857. However, the participation of Indians in the administrative machinery was still negligible and there was enormous discontent and a brewing sense of alienation among the Indian people. In fact, a senior and influential figure, Syed Ahmed Khan, went into the causes of the 1857 rebellion in the course of the Indian revolt and succinctly concluded that it was the lack of participation of the Indians in the governing missionary, that is the legislative councils, for them having a reason to take up arms against the British government. The old aristocratic and autocratic form of the state had to change.
The 1861 Act introduced the cabinet system of administration with distributed portfolios among the legislative council members. However, the Indians were still not there in the higher echelons of administration. Indians were, for the first time, associated with the work of legislation as non-official members of the council. The provinces, Bombay and Madras, were vested with legislative powers, marking the beginning of legislative devolution.
There was, since the late 19th century, a growing national movement under the banner of Indian National Congress. This was greatly heralded by the Western-educated intelligentsia who wanted the secondary treatment of Indian citizens to end and greater participation of the Indians in the agencies of government. It is in this context that one has to see the nature of the acts passed by the British. The next important change came with the passage of the Indian Council Act 1892 by the British Parliament. It effected changes to the composition and functioning of the councils.
Representation was given to those who were not in civil and military service. It is noteworthy that it was in the context of increasing nationalist sentiments and a nationalist movement that was brewing across the country that this Act was passed. It has often been said that the foundation of representative governments was laid down by this act.
It increased the number of members in the legislative councils and also enlarged the functions of the council. Most significantly, it partially introduced a system of elections. This legislation would soon be overruled by the Indian Council Act of 1909 that was promulgated under the aegis of Morley-Minto reform. A semblance of democratic representative norms could be seen in the administration of the country with the introduction of indirect elections. The size of legislative councils were increased, both at the center and the states.
Importantly, the limitations were removed and the councils were allowed to discuss any matter, ask questions and supplementary questions. On financial matters, the councils could move resolutions, but no voting powers were granted. The next critical reform happens through the Government of India Act 1919 based on Montagu-Chemsworth reforms.
The motto was for increasing the association of Indians in the administration and gradual development of self-governing institutions. This was for the realization of responsible government as an integral part of British Empire. It introduced the concept of diarchy in the provinces. The idea of responsible government was not introduced at the centre. However, the Governor-General had overriding powers as prior sanction was required for bills to be introduced and he was also vested with the power of veto.
He was bestowed with the power of legislation even if the legislature was opposed to it. The structure of governance was unitary with the centre having overarching powers working through the Governor-General in council. The next important critical reform took place in 1935 through the Government of India Act 1935. This act was revolutionary as it contained several features that have been carried into the present Constitution of India.
The act provided for an All India Federation, comprising British India and such Indian states as want to come into the Federation. However, this never came to be realized as none of the rulers of Indian states signed the instrument of accession. Diarchy was abolished in the states but was introduced in the center. It saw the beginning of provincial autonomy.
Power was divided between the center and provincial legislatures based on federal list and a provincial list. The federal legislature was composed of two houses, the Council of States and the Legislative Assembly, announcing the arrival of the idea of federalism, the act very significantly established the federal court. It was vested with original jurisdiction of hearing disputes between the states or between the center and the states.
It also had an appellate and advisory jurisdiction. Now let us go into understanding some of the early attempts at constitution making. The first bill was the Unknown Author Bill.
We do not know the name of the author of this bill and it was the first attempt at drafting a constitution in India and it can be traced to the Constitution of India Bill 1895. The document contained 110 articles. Though we do not know the identity of the author of the bill, nevertheless, it has been attributed to Bal Gangadhar Tilak who was synonymous with the call for Swaraj. The bill was also called the Swaraj Bill. However, the bill wanted to be within the confines of the idea of self-government while being part of the British Empire. The bill went on to influence other constitutional prototypes as well.
It is noteworthy that some of the constitutional propositions in the bill have found acceptance even today. For instance, Article 16 of the bill laid down a variety of rights including free speech, imprisonment by competent authority and significantly promised free education as well. The next important stage in constitutional development was in the Annie Besant Bill. The next major attempt can be seen in the Commonwealth of India Bill 1925, drafted under the chairmanship of Annie Besant that contained 127 articles. The draft found the inscription of seven fundamental rights that included expression of opinion, free assembly, and equality before law.
There was to be no disqualification or disability. On the ground of sex, free and elementary education was guaranteed and all persons were to have equal rights to the use of roads, courts of justice and all other places of business or resort dedicated to the public. These provisions find an echo in the Constitution of India, 1950, as well either as a fundamental right or a director principle of state policy. The next important stage came with the Madras Congress.
and the Nehru Report. Within two years of the Commonwealth of India Bill 1925 that failed to be passed by the British Parliament, the British Government constituted the Simon Commission to work on constitutional reforms in India. In response to this decision, the Madras Congress in 1927 decided to set up a drafting committee to draft a Swaraj Constitution on the basis of Declaration of Rights. One of the important agenda was to have a written declaration of rights, particularly as India was a land of minorities. In 1928, the Congress set up a committee under the chairmanship of Motilal Nehru, which eventually resulted in a Nehru Committee Report on the draft Constitution.
Considerable emphasis was placed on the need for written fundamental rights, particularly in the context of simmering communal differences in India. It is noteworthy that several of the causes in the constitution today are echoes of the provisions proposed in the Nehru report. The next important committee recommendation came from Tej Bahadur Sapru. The Sapru committee report, published in the year 1945, contained provisions for constitutional reform with particular impetus on the incorporation of fundamental rights, mollifying the fears of minority communities.
was high on the agenda. The SUPRO committee report brought forth a distinction between justiciable rights and non-justiciable rights, which was later on reflected in the demarcation into fundamental rights and direct principles of state policy. Equality between communities and assurance of civil and political rights, liberty and security in the enjoyment of freedom of religion, pursuit of worship and other ordinary applications of life, were the highlights of this report.
Now let us go over to how the Constituent Assembly was organized and its inception. It was in 1934 that the Indian National Congress put forth the demand for a Constituent Assembly while denying the acceptability of the White Paper of 1933 put forward by the British dispensation as it did not express the will of the people of India. In fact, The strength of this demand can be traced back to Gandhi in 1922 when he said that Swaraj cannot become the gift of British but that it should spring from the wishes of the people of India.
This was reiterated in several sessions that it would be a constitution drawn from the people and framed without any interference from any foreign authority. This buoyant mood further hardened with the onset of the Second World War. Sensing the mood in India, the British government sent the Crips mission in 1942, named after Sir Stafford Crips, who led the mission.
It proposed the setting up of an elected body for framing a new constitution for India. The Indian states would also be a participant in this process. The composition of this body shall be of persons elected by provincial legislatures and others nominated by the Indian princely states. The proposals were, however, rejected by the Indians. By the time of the functioning of the Constituent Assembly, there was a general sense of national character among the people of the country rather than a political entity identified either as British India or as Indian states.
It is important to note that the Labour government, which came to power in Britain in September 1945, ordered that national elections be held so that the newly created provincial legislatures could act as electoral bodies for a constituent assembly to pave the way for this the cabinet mission nineteen forty six came to india with a resolve to set up a machinery through which indians could set a constitution of their own however there was a widening split between the indian national congress and the muslim league while the former called for a constituent assembly and self-determination, Jinnah led Muslim League preferred British presence in India and by 1945 called for the creation of two constituent assemblies, one for Hindustan and the other for Pakistan. As the idea of Constitution Assembly was the creation of a foreign government and accountable to it, Gandhi was not accepting its sovereign status, though other members of the Constitution Assembly did think it to be of a sovereign character. To put it beyond the pale of contention, later the Constitution Assembly made rules which made the matter quite clear.
The rules clearly articulated that the Assembly shall not be dissolved. except by a resolution assented to by two-thirds of the whole number of members of the Assembly. With the passage of the Indian Independence Act 1947, and with the creation of two states, the sovereign status of the Constituent Assembly was beyond doubt.
The Constituent Assembly worked both as a national legislature of the newly independent India, as well as the body drafting the country's new constitution. It is noteworthy that the members of the Constituent Assembly were not elected on the basis of universal franchise. Provincial elections were held in India in 1945-1946. It was the provincial legislatures that chose the representatives to the Constituent Assembly.
It is interesting to note that the elections to the Constituent Assembly was through an indirect electoral process among the elected members of the Provincial Assembly's already in place. Though experts point out that it was not truly representative of the Indian population, it catered to represent the sentiments of both minorities as well as the majorities. The cabinet mission plan rejected the idea of direct elections to the constituent assembly by adult suffrage as that would be too cumbersome and slow.
Now let us go over to the composition and functioning of the constituent assembly. The Constituent Assembly was composed of 299 members. 229 members elected from the 12 Indian provinces and 70 members nominated from 29 princely states. In order to facilitate the functioning of the Constituent Assembly, the services of experienced Talwads were called in. For instance, B.
N. Rao, who was from the judicial segment of the civil services, was given the responsibility of charting the working of the Assembly. His expertise in comparative constitutional systems was put to good use. From the voting process to the nature of the sessions, he used his prior exposure in comparative law to good effect.
The assembly was constituted into committees in order to accomplish the goals of the constitutional assembly. These eight committees were composed of 36 members. A leader of the downtrodden, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, a constitutional luminary, and an economist was made the chairman of the drafting committee. It is noteworthy that the Constituent Assembly had notable women representation as well.
Fifteen women members, including Hansa Mehta in the Fundamental Rights Subcommittee and Begum Aizes Rasool, were prominent vocal members. The process of constitution-making was deliberated upon by the various working committees and lasted from December 1946. to August 1947. These were further reviewed by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and the final version was presented to the Assembly in November 1949. A significant part of deliberations was on the draft constitutions prepared by the drafting committee. Members of the Constituent Assembly proposed amendments which have to be submitted in advance to the Chairman and these were debated at length at the end of a debate around an article of the draft constitution, the constituent assembly either adopted or rejected the amendments.
The drafting took place through the committees and plenary meetings. The committees were smaller groups of assembly members responsible to prepare draft articles, reports, and notes on specific aspects of the constitution. The assembly at the plenary level was convened in full strength and discussed the reports of various committees. Amendments were then moved, debated, dropped or adopted.
The Constituent Assembly took decisions through a majority vote. On 26 November 1949, after 166 days of deliberations, the final constitutional document was adopted by the Constituent Assembly. The day is observed as Constitution Day in India.
Now let us move over to some of the salient features of the Constitution of India, the lengthiest constitution in the world. The Indian Constitution is the lengthiest and the most detailed constitution in the world. It originally contained 395 articles divided into 22 parts and 8 schedules. Can you guess the number of articles and amendments carried out to this constitutional document till today?
The constitution contains in part 3 a long list of fundamental rights and in part 4, direct principles of state policy. The constitution establishes A sovereign socialist secular democratic republic. The term socialist was inserted in the preamble by the 42nd Amendment Act 1976. However, the idea is already in essence there in the Constitution. The term secularism means the state does not have any official religion and it treats all religions equally.
Once again, the spirit of secularism is resonant in the Constitution which has been later inserted through this 42nd amendment in the year 1976. The term democratic means that the constitution establishes a form of government which gets its authority from the people. The term republic means that there shall be an elected head of the state. As regards the words parliamentary form of government, a parliamentary form of government is envisaged by the centre and the states.
They have followed the British model. The government in power is responsible to the legislature. It is therefore called a responsible government. A significant highlight of the constitution of India is that there is in part three of the constitution the fundamental rights which have been incorporated. These rights act as prohibitions against the state.
The state cannot make laws violating the fundamental rights. If it does so, the courts can strike it down. Both the supreme courts and the high courts have been endowed with the power to strike down legislation as well as executive action that violates fundamental rights. The fundamental rights, however, are not absolute rights. These are exceptions and situations where the state can act in restraining the exercise of fundamental rights of the citizens.
The idea of fundamental rights in a written form has been borrowed from the Constitution of the United States of America. the same in our constitution has been balanced with the needs of security of the state. The next important highlight of the constitution is the incorporation of what's called as the directive principles of state policy. This was incorporated into part four of the constitution of India. It sets down the aims and objectives to guide the governance of the country.
Unlike fundamental rights, the directive principles are non-justiciable. However, though not accountable in a court of law, the direct principles of state policy are important yardsticks to judge the performance of the government and they can be measured during the elections. The next important highlight is the idea of welfare state which is ingrained in the direct principles of state policy.
Another highlight of this federation which is India is the strong centralizing tendency in the federation. Power is distributed between the center and the states. There is a detailed distribution of powers between the center and the states through the seventh schedule of the constitution.
However, despite this grant of lawmaking and administrative powers to states, one can discern a very strong centralizing tendency in the constitution. There is a distribution of financial powers between the center and the states as well. However, this state of affairs acquires a unitary character with the declaration of emergency. This is a unique highlight of the federal system in India. Another significant highlight is universal adult suffrage.
A uniform adult suffrage system has been introduced in India. Every man or woman above the age of 18 years has been endowed with the right to elect representatives for the legislatures. This right is unqualified without reference to sex, property, taxation or the like.
A significant highlight of the Indian Federation is that there is an independent judiciary. An independent and impartial judiciary has been established in India to resolve disputes. It is a custodian of the rights of the people. It also acts as an arbiter of disputes between the constituent units of India in the context of India being federal in character. Another significant highlight is a single citizenship.
Even though we are a federal state and the power is divided between the center and the states, the Constitution provides only for a single citizenship. There is no concept of dual or state citizenship. Another significant highlight of the Indian constitution is the incorporation of fundamental duties. We are among a few countries in the world to incorporate the idea of fundamental duties into the constitution.
It prescribes the duties that are expected of the citizens, the violation of which can entail legal consequences. The fundamental duties are enshrined in part 4a. Article 51A of the Indian Constitution. Thank you.