Constitution of India – History, Features and Commissions

Considered to be the longest constitution in the world, The Constitution of India is a document that contains the terms on which the republic shall be governed.

It was adopted by the constituent assembly on 26th November 1949 and was legally enforced on 26 January 1950, the day which is marked and celebrated as Republic Day in India. The chief architect of the Indian Constitution is B.R Ambedkar, who is also known as Babasaheb Ambedkar.

The Constitution of India was originally written in two languages, that is English and Hindi, and each member of the Constituent assembly signed both the copies. It shall be noted that there were as many as 2000 amendments made to the first draft of the Indian Constitution.

Historical Background

Back in the year 1928, when it was sensed that India was near to its Independence, the all parties conference, which was a group of Indian Political Parties, formed a committee in Lucknow which was meant to author the Constitution of India. The report prepared by them was termed as the Nehru Report.

1. THE DRAFTING COMMITTEE

After the independence of the country, on 29th August 1947, a drafting committee was set up by the constituent assembly which consisted of seven members.

The seven members were – Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, N. Gopalaswami, B.R. Ambedkar, K.M Munshi, Mohammad Saadulla, B.L. Mitter and D.P. Khaitan. Wherein, B.R Ambedkar was elected to be the Chairman of the Committee.

Late in October 1947, the drafting committee began to inspect the draft constitution which was prepared by B.N Rau, the Constitutional Advisor. Several changes were made by the drafting committee and the draft Constitution was submitted to the president of the Constituent Assembly on 21st February 1948.

It must be seen that the Indian Constitution was not made in a hurry but followed a deep and debated procedure. Almost all the debates in the Constituent Assembly revolved around the amendments made by the Draft Committee to the Constitution.

144 out of 165 sittings of the Constituent Assembly discussed the Draft Constitution.

2. AMALGAM OF VARIOUS ACTS

However, the making of the Indian Constitution was not as easy as it sounds. It consisted of a number of acts put together, before and after the independence. And some of the key facts are -:

a. The Government of India Act, 1919

After this act, legislative councils were brought into existence in all the provinces of the Government. The British chose to adopt a bicameral structure of Government which had two separate governments, which is central and provincial.

b. The Government Act of 1935

The enforcement of this law is considered to be one of the most significant events in the history of the Constitution of India. This act worked towards providing divided powers of governance into a Federal list, a provincial list, and a concurrent list.

The act also granted more power and autonomy of self-governance to the provinces. This act also helped to set up the federal court, which is today known as the Supreme Court of India.

c. The Indian Independence Act of 1947

The departure of the British from India was marked by this act. After this act, India officially became an independent and sovereign state. This act laid down the Foundation of the Constituent Assembly which further worked on the drafting of the Constitution of India.

Influence from other Constitutions Across the Globe

Though the Indian Constitution has derived several acts from various countries, that doesn’t make it any similar to them, in fact, makes it even more unique.

The Constitution of India is also termed as a ‘Bag of Borrowings’. The authors of our Constitution were wise enough to borrow all the goods from not just one but from the constitution of several Countries.

Some of the many contributions are as below:

Salient Features of The Constitution of India

1. Longest Written Constitution

The Indian Constitution is the Longest Constitution in the World. It originally consisted of a preamble, 395 Articles in 22 parts, 12 schedules, and 5 Appendices. Talking about other countries, Canada has a total of 14 articles, Australia, a total of 128, and the USA, just 7.

2. Fundamental Rights

The inclusion of the Fundamental Rights in the Indian Constitution stands it apart from the Government of India Act 1935, which was set up under the British Government. These rights are also referred to as the ‘Conscience’ of the constitution.

The Fundamental rights protect the citizens of the country from the arbitrary and absolute power of the state. But, the fundamental rights are not absolute, in fact, they are subject to some restrictions in accordance with some social interests.

3. Fundamental Duties

In the 42nd Amendment Act, The constitution introduced ten Fundamental Duties. This is a guide for the citizens to be aware of what the constitution expects from them, apart of it granting them some of the Fundamental Rights.

Back in the year 2002, one more duty was added to the list. It is one of the most unique features of the Indian Constitution.

4. Universal Adult Franchise

The Indian constitution grants every adult, that is, 18 years or above the right to vote and elect the representatives for the legislatures without any discrimination on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, education, etc. and this right is known as the Universal Adult Franchise.

This right has been further ensured by the creation of the Election Commission of India.

5. Parliamentary form of Government

Once the nation was independent, we had a choice to choose either Parliamentary or Presidential system, wherein India chose the Parliamentary system of Governance.

Parliamentary government is basically responsible for the executive to the legislature consisting of representatives of the people. The Constitution of India preferred to choose ‘Responsibility’ over the ‘Stability’ of the Government.

Union and Its Territory

The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. Part 1 of the Indian Constitution is titled to be ‘Union and its territory’. These are the parts that come under the articles 1-4.

Article 1

Article 1 talks about India being a Union of States, and that all the states and the territories shall be specified in the first schedule. It said that the territory of India comprises the territory of states, the union territories mentioned in the first schedule and that such other territories may be required.

Article 2

Article 2 deals with the establishment and admission of new states. It says that Parliament holds the right to admit into union or establish new states based on terms and conditions.

Article 3

Article 3 deals with the formation, alteration, boundaries, and names of existing states. Thus, the parliament holds the power to increase or diminish the boundaries or can alter the names of any state.

It also states that in the case of Union territories, it is not obligatory to seek the views of the legislature before passing any such bill.

Article 4

Article 4 says that there can be subsequent changes made to the Ist schedule that is, names of states in Union of India and the IVth Schedule that is, the number of seats allotted in Rajya Sabha for each state.

Federal nature of Indian Constitution

There has always been a debate on whether the Indian Constitution is federal or unitary. Well, the Indian Constitution is both federal and unitary in nature. Talking about the federal nature of the Constitution of India, it is vital to understand that our constitution has dual polity.

Dual Polity is basically union at the center and the states at the periphery. Where the Union Government is responsible for dealing with matters of national support, the state government looks after the matters of regional importance.

The Constitution of India has clearly divided control of power between the center and the state government, which is mentioned in the schedule VII. But, it shall be known that the amendment of the constitution under the federal principle is rigid.

The constitution cannot be changed by the state or the center all on their own but requires a joint effort of the center and the state.

State Reorganisation Act

It was set up by the Central Government of India on 29th December in the year 1953. Eventually, on 30th September 1955, after two years of study, the commission came up with a few recommendations. The report was brought forward in the Lok Sabha on 14th December 1955.

The commission consisted of Fazal Ali, H.N Kunzru, and K.M Panikkar. It shall be noted that not all but some of its recommendations were implemented during the State Reorganisation Act of 1956.

Keeping aside the advantages of the commission it shall not be ignored that it increases the feeling of regionalism or sub-nationalism. But, other than that, it also hinders economic co-operation by promoting an antagonistic attitude towards neighboring states

Different Commissions of Indian Constitution

Some of the commissions by the SRC were the following – :

1. Sarkaria Commission

The rising concern about state autonomy led to the formation of this Commission. The Sarkaria Commission was formed in the year 1983. This commission was appointed by the Union Government.

It worked on framing our various ways and means for a better center- state relations. After dealing with a lot of ongoing storms in the country, the Sarkaria Commission finally submitted its report in 1988.

2. Rajmannar Commission

This commission was formed by the Tamil Nadu Government in 1969. It was supposed to look into the matter of the center-state relations. Some of the major recommendations by the Rajmannar Commission include readjustment of the VII Schedule and also the residuary powers to the state.

Some of the other recommendations incorporate the deletion of Article 356, 357, 365, and of the All India Services.

3. Anandpur Sahib Resolution

This was one of the most controversial resolutions. This resolution was brought forward by Akali Dal in 1978. The resolution demanded residuary powers to the state.

Furthermore, it also asked for greater autonomy for the States seeking Centre’s authority to be confined to only Defence, Foreign relation, Communications, Currency, and Railways. These recommendations were not accepted by the central government.

4. Punchi Commission

Punchi commission was formed by the Central Government in the year 20007. This committee was headed by M.M Punchi, who is a former Chief Justice of India.

The committee submitted its report in 2009, which consisted of a few recommendations like the power of the Centre to deploy its forces in the case of communal conflagration without the state’s consent for a short period or a week.

It also proposed an amendment of the articles 355 and 356 and enabled the center to bring some troublesome areas under it for a short period of time.

Conclusion

The Indian Constitution has proved its versatility and resilience apart from being amended so many times. It is one of the most thought-off constitutions of the world and will continue to be one.

With a strong foundation and an even more strong upliftment, the Constitution of India believes to keep changing with the changing times to cater to the needs of its citizens in the most effective and appropriate manner.