[Music] 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 26th 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 17th century the mugal 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 so when they became serious with the resolve to govern the country in 1858 after the Mutiny of 1857 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 ncent 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 favor of the East India Company having laid their foundations initially at Surat in the year 16008 the East India Company expanded their operations territorially and in course of time held subst fincial settlements in the subcontinent it is noteworthy that in each of these British positions 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 missionary 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 Sayed Ahmed Khan went into the cuses of the 1857 ailion in the course of the Indian revolt and suly concluded that it was a lack of participation of the Indians in the governing missionary that is a 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 medras were wested 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 intelligentia 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 affected 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 enlarg 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 ages of mle MTO reforms 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 monu chsw 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 diaki in the provinces the idea of responsible government was not introduced at the center however the governor general had overriding powers as prior sanction was required for bills to be introduced and he was also wested 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 center 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 a revolutionary as it contained several features that have been carried into the present constitution of India 1950 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 sign signed the instrument of accession the Ary 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 significant ly established the Federal Court it was wested 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 ment was in the Annie bessent Bill the next major attempt can be seen in the Commonwealth of India Bill 1925 drafted under the chairmanship of Annie bessent 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 medras Congress and the neheru report within 2 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 medras 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 Neu which eventually resulted in Neu committee report on the draft Constitution conable emphasis was placed on the need for written fundamental rights particularly in the context of simmering communal differences in India it is not worthy that several of the causes in the Constitution today are echo of the provisions proposed in the Naru report the next important committee recommendation came from T bahadur SAU the SAU 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 subu committee report brought forth a distinction between justiciable rights and non-justiciable rights which was later on reflected in the demarcation on 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 saraj 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 CPS mission in 194 2 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 labor 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 for this the cabinet Mission 1946 came to India with a resolve to set up a missionary 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 constient assembly and self-determination Jina 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 constituent assembly did think to be it to be of a sovereign character to put it Beyond The Pale of contention later the constituent assembly made rules which made the matter quite clear the rules clearly articulated that the assembly shall not be dissolved except by a resolution ascented to by 2/3 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 of 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 assemblies 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 constient 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 experiened tals were called in for instance B Andra 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 V edar a constitutional luminary and an economist was made the chairman of the drafting committee it is noteworthy that the consent assembly had notable women representation as well 15 women members including Hansa mea in the fundamental rights subcommittee and beam Asis rasul were prominent vocal members the process of constitution making was deliberated upon by the wus working committees and lasted from December 1946 to August 1947 these were further reviewed by Dr BR 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 am amendments were then moved debated dropped or adopted the constituent assembly took decisions through a majority vote on 26th 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 con 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 eight schedules can you guess the number of Articles and amendments carried out to this constitutional document till today the Constitution contains in part three a long list of fundamental rights and in part four there to 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 the 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 center and the states they have followed the British model the government PO 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 court courts have been endured 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 United States of America however the same in our con 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 dir of 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 dtive principles are non-justiciable however though not accountable in a court of law the directive principles of State policy are important yard sticks 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 directive principles of State policy another highlight of this Federation which is India is the strong centralizing tendency in the Federation power is distribut Ed 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 endured 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 4 a article 51a of the Indian constitution thank [Music] you