The Constitution of India was framed by the constituent Assembly , set up in 1946 under the provisions ” the Cabinet Mission Plan . Under the Plan the total length of the Constituent Assembly was to be 389 , out of hich 296 were to represent British India and 93 to present rincely States . Further out of 296 members , 292 were to be elected by the provincial legislatures and 4 members were to be drawn from Chief Commissioner’s provinces .
Contents List
Constituent Assembly meetings and management ( Constituent Assembly )
Constituent Assembly Constituent Assembly held its first meeting on ecember 9,1946 , where Dr. Sachidanand Sinha , the oldest lember of the Assembly , was elected as the temporary President till the permanent President is elected .
The first session was attended by 207 members , including 9 women .
On December 11,1946 , Dr. Rajendra Prasad and H.C Mukherjee were elected as the President and the Vice – President of the Constituent Assembly
Objectives Resolution of Constituent Assembly
On December 13,1946 , Jawaharlal Nehru moved the ‘ Objectives Resolution ‘ in the Assembly .
These were :
( 1 ) To make India to be a Sovereign Republic ( 2 ) To establish India as Democratic Union with an equal level of self – government for all the States .
( 3 ) All the powers and authorities of Central Government and State Governments to be derived from the people.
( 4 ) To guarantee and secure to all the Citizens , Justice Social , Economic and Political , equality of ” Status , equality of opportunity and equality – before feder law , freedom of thought , expression , belief , faith , 1 worship , vocation , association and action
( 5 ) To maintain integrity of territory of the Republic be aw and sovereign rights on land , sea and air accordingly as Justice and law of civilised nations .
( 6 ) Adequate safeguards for minorities , backward it cam classes and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Tribal areas .
( 7 ) To contribute to the promotion of international peace and security .
( 8 ) To have for India a rightful , honoured , and dignified place in world platform .
Adoption and Drafting Committee of Constituent Assembly
Constituent Assembly adopted these resolutions on January 22 , 1947 . mm cont cons 147
The Drafting Committee prepared the first draft of the Constitution after taking into account the proposals of the various committees. It was published on 21-2-1948. The draft Constitution contained 315 articles and 8 Schedules.
Constituent Assembly adopted the National Tag on 22 July, 1947, National Anthem and National Song on January 24, 1950.
Constituent Assembly continued as Provisional Parliament of India from January 26,1950 till 16 April, 1952. It ceased to exist as provisional Parliament on April 17,1952. Finally on 26 November, 1949 the Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly. 284 members signed the document on that day.
Constitution adopted on November 26,1949 consisted of 395 Articles, divided into 22 parts and 8 Schedules. This day is also known as the ‘Law Day.
Overall Constituent Assembly held 11 Sessions, and sat for 2 years, 11 months and 18 days to complete its task of drafting the Constitution.
Nature of Indian Constitution ( Constituent Assembly )
According to K.C where, Indian Constitution is “quasi- federal”; For Prof. Alexandrowicz, India is a case of ‘sui generis’ ie, unique in character, for Ivor Jennings, it is a federation with strong centralizing tendency and for Granville Austin, it is an example of co-operative federalism.
Features of the Indian Constitution ( Constituent Assembly )
There are many features of indian constitution
1. Written Constitution ( Constituent Assembly )
In a federation, there should be a written Constitution. The written Constitution is very essential for a federal so that whenever there is any dispute between the federal govermment and the federating units, it can be used as an evidence.
2. Largest Constitution ( Constituent Assembly )
In sheer physical terms, our Constitution is definitely the largest, bulkiest and most detailed constitution in the World. As originally passed, it contained 395 Articles and 8 schedules. Whereas, the constitution of USAoriginally contained 7 Articles, Canada 147 Articles and Australia 128 Articles.
3. Sovereign, Democratic and Republic ( Constituent Assembly )
A The Constitution sovereign nation is initially supreme and independent of any outside control. The word socialist aims at the the Co establishment of an egalitarian society in India. The term the he “secular’means a state which has no official religion.
The ten du best definition of Democracy was given by Abraham Lincon is that, “It is a government by the people, of the Direc people and for the people.” The word republic signifies borrow that the head of our State is elected and not hereditary.
4. Parliamentary Type of Government ( Constituent Assembly )
In a these parliamentary type of government, the head of the State is the so nominal, whereas the Prime Minister who is the leader of the majority in the Parliament is the real executive. The provi Indian Constitution establishes in India a parliamentary type made of government on the British Model.
5. Partly Unitary and Partly Federal ( Constituent Assembly )
India’s are la Constitution has been variously described as quasi-federal, judge federal with a strong unitary or pro-centre bias, federal in structure but unitary in spirit, federal in normal times but this w with possibilities of being converted into a purely unitary our- one during emergency.
6. Partly Rigid and Partly Flexible ( Constituent Assembly )
There are certain provisions which can be amended by a simple gran majority in the Parliament. While there are certain provisions some whose amendment requires, not only a special majority in and Parliament but also ratification by at least one-half of the State Legislature.
Under Indian Constitution all th as originally enacted, the citizen of India had been granted Und the seven fundamental rights. A full chapter has been age devoted to the description of these fundamental rights running into 24 Articles. These rights are mentioned in Part III of the Constitution and are justiciable.
8. Fundamental Duties ( Constituent Assembly )
The 42 Amendment to the Constitution added a new part to the Constitution under fhe heading Fundamental Duties. It lays down a code of ten duties for all the citizens of India.
9. Directive Principles of State Policy ( Constituent Assembly )
The the Directive Principle of State Policy concept has been borrowed from the Constitution of Ireland. These principles are contained in Part IV of our Constitution. The aim of these principles is to establish a welfare state in India on State is the socialistic pattern of society.
10.Independent Judiciary ( Constituent Assembly )
The India if Constitution The provides for an independent judiciary. The Constitution type made the Supreme Court as the custodian and protector of the constitution. The judgements of the Supreme Court are legally binding and there is no appeal against the judgement of the Supreme Court.
11. A Secular State ( Constituent Assembly )
Under the 42th Amendment this word ‘secular’ has been included in the preamble of our constitution. Thus,india has been now officially becomes a secular state
12. Single Citizenship ( Constituent Assembly )
The Constitution of India are simple grants one citizenship to all. citizens, In a federation, provisions sometimes a citizen gets double citizenship, one of the Union in and the other of State in which a person lives.
13. Universal Adult Franchise ( Constituent Assembly )
The Indian Constitution originally granted universal adult franchise to t all those men and women, who attained the age of 21 years. Under the 61″ Amendment of the Indian Constitution, the age of voting has been reduced from 21 to 18 years.
14. Official Language of India ( Constituent Assembly )
A provisi on was made in our constitution to declare Hindi in the Devanagiri script as the official language of India (Article 343). Till that time English was to continue as the official language.