Constitution
12. Constitution
12.1 Indian Independence Act 1947
The Indian Independence Act granted us sovereignty over our land and relieved the British Parliament of any further rights or obligations towards India. Jawaharlal Nehru became Prime Minister of India and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel became Deputy Prime Minister. Nehru Ji invited Mountbatten to continue as Governor General of India. He was replaced in June 1948 by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari.
Even after Independence, India remained as a dominion of the British Crown under the Commonwealth of Nations because it had no constitution. The word Dominion (not used now) was used for former British Colonies which because a self-governing country until they had Constitution of their own. After India became republic, this word is no longer used. At this time, India had 565 princely states. They had to be unified to make a stronger India. It was a tough job. Sardar Patel took on the responsibility of unifying the 565 princely states.
12.2. Why we needed Constitution & what changed on January 26, 1950?
When we got independence in 1947, we did not have our own laws, government, rights and esponsibilities. We needed Constitution to constitute a country with its own laws and rules to govern its people. When the Constitution of India came into force on January 26, 1950, India ceased to be a dominion of the British Crown. India became a sovereign democratic republic. Our Constitution also created it created parliaments, state governments, rights of people and many more important things needed to govern a country.
12.3. What is a Constitution and what does the Constitution of India say?
a. Constitution of a country is:
i. The Supreme law of that Country. All laws must abide by the Constitution.
ii. It tells what that country is- democracy, secular or not, sovereign or not
iii. It establishes government of the country. It also tells how that country would be governed, who will make the law, who will interpret the law, who will execute the law.. and
iv. It gives rights and responsibilities to its citizens.
b. Constitution of India tells us that India is as a sovereign, democratic, republic Country.
c. Constitution of India also tells how the people of India want to be governed. It lays down the basic structure of government. It establishes the main branches of government - the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary; it defines their powers and demarcates their responsibilities. It regulates the relationship between the different branches of government and between the government and the people.
d.Constitution of India also gives its citizens fundamental rights and fundamental duties as the citizens of India.
12.4. Who Drafted our Constitution?
Constitutional Assembly
The Constituent Assembly of India framed the constitution of India. Constitution Assembly was formed by members of the provincial assemblies. It was formed in 1946 but became a fully sovereign body only after our Independence. The Assembly began work on 9 December 1947. Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee were some important figures in the Assembly. There were more than 30 members of the scheduled classes. Constitutional experts like Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, B. R. Ambedkar, B. N. 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 but later, Rajendra Prasad was elected president of the Constituent Assembly while B. R. Ambedkar was appointed the Chairman of the Drafting Committee. The Constituent Assembly met for 166 days, spread over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days. Its sessions were open to the press and the public.
12.5. When was the Constitution Passed and Adopted?
Our Constitution was passed by the Constituent Assembly of India on November 26, 1949 (also known as National Law Day). It was signed by all 308 members of the Assembly on January 24, 1950. But it came into effect on January 26, 1950. The date 26 January was chosen to commemorate the declaration of independence of 1930.
12.6. Interesting facts about Constitution of India:
Longest Written Constitution: It is the longest written constitution of any independent nation in the world, containing 395 articles and 12 schedules, as well as numerous amendments, for a total of 117,369 words in the English language version. Besides the English version, there is an official Hindi translation. It has adopted features from many sources including:
However, our Constitution is unique in many regards. For example, our Constitution gives powers to citizens for enforcing Fundamental Rights without any formal and complex procedure to follow (Called Writ Petition). These writs can be filed on a simple post card.
12.7. Main Philosophies of our Constitution and our Country
Preambles (Note- Preamble is the stem, root and source of constitution)
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
Explanation of some of the important words in the Preamble Sovereign
The word sovereign means supreme or independent. India is internally and externally sovereign - externally free from the control of any foreign power and internally, it has a free government which is directly elected by the people and makes laws that govern the people.
Socialist
The word socialist was added to the Preamble by the 42nd amendment act of 1976, during The Emergency (India).
It implies social and economic equality. Social equality in this context means the absence of discrimination on the grounds only of caste, color, creed, sex, religion, or language. Under social equality, everyone has equal status and opportunities.
Secular
The word secular was inserted into the Preamble by the 42nd amendment act of 1976, during The Emergency
(India). It implies equality of all religions and religious tolerance. Every person has the right to preach, practice and propagate any religion they choose. Democratic India is a democracy. The people of India elect their governments at all levels (Union, State and local) by a system of universal adult franchise; popularly known as 'One man one vote'. Every citizen of India, who is 18 years of age and above and not otherwise debarred by law, is entitled to vote. Every citizen enjoys this right without any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, color, sex, religion or education.
Republic
As opposed to a monarchy, in which the head of state is appointed on hereditary basis for a lifetime or until he abdicates from the throne, a democratic republic is an entity in which the head of state is elected, directly or indirectly, for a fixed tenure. The President of India is elected by an electoral college for a term of five years. The Post of the President of India is not hereditary. Every citizen of India is eligible to become the President of the country.
Structure of our Constitution
The Constitution, in its current form, consists of a preamble, 22 parts containing 444 articles, 12 schedules, 5 appendices and 94 amendments to date. Although it is federal in nature with strong unitary bias, in case of emergencies it takes unitary structure.
Parts
Parts are the individual chapters in the Constitution, focused in single broad field of laws, containing articles that address the issues in question.
1. Preamble
2. Part I - Union and its Territory
3. Part II - Citizenship.
4. Part III - Fundamental Rights
5. Part IV - Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties.
6. Part V - The Union.
7. Part VI - The States.
8. PartVII-States in the B part of the
9. First schedule (Repealed).
10. Part VIII - The Union Territories
11. Part IX - Panchayat system and Municipalities.
12. PartX-The scheduled and Tribal Areas
13. Part XI - Relations between the Union and the States
14. Part XII - Finance, Property, Contracts and Suits
15. PartXIII-Trade and Commerce within the territory of India
16. Part XIV - Services Under the Union, the States and Tribunals
17. Part XV - Elections
18. Part XVI - Special Provisions Relating to certain Classes.
19. Part XVII - Languages
20. Part XVIII - Emergency Provisions ]
21. Part XIX - Miscellaneous
22. Part XX - Amendment of the Constitution
23. Part XXI - Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions
24. Part XXII - Short title, date of commencement, Authoritative text in Hindi and Repeals
Fundamental Rights under Our Constitution
1. The right to equality
2. The right to freedom
3. The right to freedom from exploitation
4. The right to freedom of religion
5. Cultural and educational rights
6. The right to constitutional remedies
12.8. Branches of Government
Our Constitution establishes three Branches of Government- Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. Legislative (Parliaments- Union and State) - Which make laws. Federal Government also called Union (Parliament) and State Government (Assembly) are the legislative branches who have responsibility to make laws. But all laws must abide by the Constitution of India.
Constitution divided powers between Union and State. There are three lists:
i.Union list- Subjects like national defense, foreign policy, issuance of currency are reserved to the Union list;
ii. State 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, barring exceptional conditions;
iii. Concurrent list- Education, transportation, and criminal law are a few subjects of the Concurrent list, where both the State Legislature as well as the Parliament has powers to enact laws. The residuary powers are vested with the Union.
12.9. Executive (President)
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 advice of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers. President is the supreme commander of the armed forces. 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 (explained later) 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. Judiciary (Courts) - Who interprets those laws Independent Judiciary 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.
12.10. Important Principal- Checks and Balances
Our Constitution provides balancing of Powers between the three branches of Government and also provides a system to keep checks on exercise of those powers. Why To make sure one branch does not become so powerful that it can become tyrant. How it is achieved By dividing powers among three branches and providing checks and balances. For example
1) Judiciary is independent. Cannot be interfered by Parliament or President.
i. Supreme Court can declare a law passed by Parliament as unconstitutional.
ii. Parliament cannot discuss conduct of its judges.
2) Similarly the Members of Parliament have judicial immunity for their actions in the Parliament.
Similarly, President and the Governor enjoy immunity from civil and criminal liabilities.
However Our Constitution does not follow the separation of powers principal so strictly.
12.11. Our Parliamentary System
1) Philosophy - India has adopted more of a federal concept. Under this concept, Federal Government (Union) is stronger and has more powers. In USA States have more power; they have their own Constitution also.
2) Structure
a. Lower House (Lok Sabha) - House of People. Members directly elected by the citizens of India.
i. Consists of the 545 members of the House of People
ii. These members serve a five-year term until the next General Election is held.
iii. House seats are apportioned among the states by population in such a manner that the ratio between that number and the population of the State is, so far as practicable, the same for all States.
b. Upper House (Rajya Sabha) - Council of States. Members elected by the States.
i. The 250 Members of the Council of States. 12 of these members are nominated by the President.The 238 members are representatives of the States and are elected by the elected members of the Legislative Assembly of the State. Number of members from a State depends upon the population of the State.
ii. They serve a staggered six-year term. Every two years, approximately one-third of the Council is elected at a time.
3) How are laws made:
a. Part V of the Constitution gives all legislative power in the Parliament that consists of the President of India and both the Chambers.
b. The House (Lok Sabha) and the Council (Rajya Sabha) are equal partners in the legislative process (legislation cannot be enacted without the consent of both chambers); however, the Constitution grants the House of People some unique powers.
c. Any bill can become an act only after it is passed by both the houses of the Parliament and assented by the President. The Central Hall of the Parliament is used for combined sittings of the lower and upper houses and is of historical significance.
12.12. Judiciary System
Indian Judiciary is the continuation of the British Legal system established by the English in the mid-19th century. Highest Court of India is The Supreme Court of India. According to the Constitution of India, the role of the Supreme Court is that of a federal court, guardian of the Constitution and the highest court of appeal. Only takes limited cases:
a. Appeals against judgments of the High Courts of the states and territories.
b. Writ petitions in cases of serious human rights violations or any petition filed under Article 32 which is the right to constitutional remedies or if a case involves a serious issue that needs immediate resolution.
c. The Supreme Court of India had its inaugural sitting on 28 January 1950, and since then has delivered more than 24,000 reported judgments.
Highest Court of Each State is The High Court. Each State then has other layers of Courts- Criminal and Civil.
