Introduction:
The Constitution of India was enacted on 26th of January, 1950. The Constituent Assembly of India drafted the nation's Constitution. Being drafted on 26th of November, 1949, the Indian Constitution laid the foundations for establishment of the Democratic Republic of India.
The Constitution of India has clearly articulated the social and economic goals and has specified agents for achieving the promised social revelation. Matters concerning formation and working of the executive agencies (both political and civil) are spelt out.
The Constitution of India was drafted over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 17 days. The members of Constituent Assembly of India met for the first time in the year 1946 on December 9. The next meeting of the Assembly took place on August 14th, 1947 for the dominion of India in which the proposal of forming various committees was presented. Such committees include Committee on Fundamental Rights, the Union Powers Committee and Union Constitution Committee. One of the unique factors of this meeting was that the Assembly gathered as the Sovereign Constituent Assembly of India.
On 29th August, 1947 a Drafting Committee, with Dr. Ambedkar as the Chairman, was formed on the basis of the various reports submitted by the previous committees. It was in the year 1948 that a Draft Constitution including a range of proposals was formed by the concerned committee. The Constituent Assembly of India held two meetings in February 1948 and October 1949 to go through the clauses of the Draft. Finally, from 14th to 26th of November, 1949 the Constituent Assembly analyzed each and every provision of the Draft. The then President of the Constituent Assembly of India signed the Draft on November 26th, 1949.
Today, there are 12 Schedules and 395 Articles in the Constitution of India. Amendments have been made to the Constitution time and again as per the need of the hour. Till 2006, there have been 94 Amendments made to the constitution.
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Salient Features of the Constitution:[/b]
[/b]
The constitution of India is a comparative document. Some important features of the Constitution are as follows:
1. [/b]Written constitution: [/b]Indian Constitution framed by the constituent assembly, is a written constitution as opposed to is a written constitution as compared to the British constitution which is unwritten.[/b]
2. [/b]Lengthiest Constitution:[/b] Indian Constitution is a very comprehensive and detailed document. It contains 395 Articles, 22 Chapters and 12 Schedules.[/b]
3. [/b]Fundamental Rights:[/b] There is a separate chapter in the constitution granting fundamental rights to all citizens. Part III of the Indian Constitution deals with fundamental rights. These rights are judiciable and judiciary is their guardian. These rights are embossed in Article 14 to 35 of the Constitution.[/b]
4. [/b] Parliamentary Form of Government: [/b]Constitution of India establishes parliamentary form government. Article 79 states that there shall be a parliamentary form of the President and two houses, to be known respectively as the ‘Council of State’ and the ‘House of People’.[/b]
5. [/b]Federal Form of Government: [/b]Constitution of India provides for federal form of government with a fairly strong centre which plays a dominant role. There is a division of power between the union and the state governments. It establishes dual policy, with clearly defined spheres of authority between the union and the states.[/b]
6. [/b]Fundamental Duties: [/b]Part IVA- Article 51(A) of the Constitution deals with the fundamental duties. The article was embossed in the constitution by its 42nd amendment.[/b]
7. [/b]Directive Principles of the State Policy: [/b]Part IV- Article 36 to 51 of the Constitution deals with directive principles of the state policy. These are not enforced by the court but principles therein laid down are fundamentals in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the state to apply these principles in making laws. Its main object is to establish a welfare state in India[/b]
8. [/b]Independent judiciary: [/b]Concept of “independence of judiciary” means freedom from bias or influence, freedom in action or opinion, to act without fear or favour. However, the conception of independence of judiciary does not mean that the independence should be absolute entitling a judge to act in an entirely arbitrary manner. Simply it means courts freedom from fear, favour, bias and prejudice in the decision making process.[/b]
9. [/b]Emergencies: [/b]The constitution is empowered to declare 3 types of emergencies via National, State, Financial.[/b]
10. [/b]Judicial Review: [/b]Judicial Review is the review by a competent court of the validity of a law passed by the legislature on the ground of its transgression of the limitations imposed by the written constitution and the power of such court to declare such law to be unconstitutional and invalid.[/b]
11. [/b] Sovereign Democratic and Republic: [/b]The preamble of Indian Constitution declares India to be sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic.[/b]
12. [/b]Partly Rigid and Partly Flexible: [/b]Indian constitution is less flexible than that of England and less rigid than that of U.S.A. There are certain provision, which can be amended by a simple majority in the parliament, while there are certain provisions which can be amended only by special majority and ratification by states.[/b]
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The Constituent Assembly.[/b]
The Constituent Assembly of India was formed by the elected members of the provincial assemblies of the country. Presided over by Dr. Sachidanand Sinha for the first time, the Indian Constituent Assembly played the most important role in creating the Constitution of India. After Dr. Sinha, Dr. Rajendra Prasad became the President of the Assembly. Comprising over 30 schedule class members, the Constituent Assembly also included sections of Christians, Anglo-Indians and Minority Community. Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, being the Minority Community Chairman, also successfully worked for the Christians. While H P Modi was the representative of the Parsi community, Frank Anthony headed the Anglo-Indian section of the country in the Constituent Assembly.
Some of the prominent female personalities of the Constituent Assembly were Vijaylakshmi Pandit and Sarojini Naidu. From Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, B N Rau and Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad to K M Munshi, Sardar Patel and Alladi Krishnaswami Aiyer, each one had a major contribution towards the present form of the Constituent Assembly.
The Constitution of India was enacted on 26th of January, 1950. The Constituent Assembly of India drafted the nation's Constitution. Being drafted on 26th of November, 1949, the Indian Constitution laid the foundations for establishment of the Democratic Republic of India.
The Constitution of India has clearly articulated the social and economic goals and has specified agents for achieving the promised social revelation. Matters concerning formation and working of the executive agencies (both political and civil) are spelt out.
The Constitution of India was drafted over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 17 days. The members of Constituent Assembly of India met for the first time in the year 1946 on December 9. The next meeting of the Assembly took place on August 14th, 1947 for the dominion of India in which the proposal of forming various committees was presented. Such committees include Committee on Fundamental Rights, the Union Powers Committee and Union Constitution Committee. One of the unique factors of this meeting was that the Assembly gathered as the Sovereign Constituent Assembly of India.
On 29th August, 1947 a Drafting Committee, with Dr. Ambedkar as the Chairman, was formed on the basis of the various reports submitted by the previous committees. It was in the year 1948 that a Draft Constitution including a range of proposals was formed by the concerned committee. The Constituent Assembly of India held two meetings in February 1948 and October 1949 to go through the clauses of the Draft. Finally, from 14th to 26th of November, 1949 the Constituent Assembly analyzed each and every provision of the Draft. The then President of the Constituent Assembly of India signed the Draft on November 26th, 1949.
Today, there are 12 Schedules and 395 Articles in the Constitution of India. Amendments have been made to the Constitution time and again as per the need of the hour. Till 2006, there have been 94 Amendments made to the constitution.
[/b]
Salient Features of the Constitution:[/b]
[/b]
The constitution of India is a comparative document. Some important features of the Constitution are as follows:
1. [/b]Written constitution: [/b]Indian Constitution framed by the constituent assembly, is a written constitution as opposed to is a written constitution as compared to the British constitution which is unwritten.[/b]
2. [/b]Lengthiest Constitution:[/b] Indian Constitution is a very comprehensive and detailed document. It contains 395 Articles, 22 Chapters and 12 Schedules.[/b]
3. [/b]Fundamental Rights:[/b] There is a separate chapter in the constitution granting fundamental rights to all citizens. Part III of the Indian Constitution deals with fundamental rights. These rights are judiciable and judiciary is their guardian. These rights are embossed in Article 14 to 35 of the Constitution.[/b]
4. [/b] Parliamentary Form of Government: [/b]Constitution of India establishes parliamentary form government. Article 79 states that there shall be a parliamentary form of the President and two houses, to be known respectively as the ‘Council of State’ and the ‘House of People’.[/b]
5. [/b]Federal Form of Government: [/b]Constitution of India provides for federal form of government with a fairly strong centre which plays a dominant role. There is a division of power between the union and the state governments. It establishes dual policy, with clearly defined spheres of authority between the union and the states.[/b]
6. [/b]Fundamental Duties: [/b]Part IVA- Article 51(A) of the Constitution deals with the fundamental duties. The article was embossed in the constitution by its 42nd amendment.[/b]
7. [/b]Directive Principles of the State Policy: [/b]Part IV- Article 36 to 51 of the Constitution deals with directive principles of the state policy. These are not enforced by the court but principles therein laid down are fundamentals in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the state to apply these principles in making laws. Its main object is to establish a welfare state in India[/b]
8. [/b]Independent judiciary: [/b]Concept of “independence of judiciary” means freedom from bias or influence, freedom in action or opinion, to act without fear or favour. However, the conception of independence of judiciary does not mean that the independence should be absolute entitling a judge to act in an entirely arbitrary manner. Simply it means courts freedom from fear, favour, bias and prejudice in the decision making process.[/b]
9. [/b]Emergencies: [/b]The constitution is empowered to declare 3 types of emergencies via National, State, Financial.[/b]
10. [/b]Judicial Review: [/b]Judicial Review is the review by a competent court of the validity of a law passed by the legislature on the ground of its transgression of the limitations imposed by the written constitution and the power of such court to declare such law to be unconstitutional and invalid.[/b]
11. [/b] Sovereign Democratic and Republic: [/b]The preamble of Indian Constitution declares India to be sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic.[/b]
12. [/b]Partly Rigid and Partly Flexible: [/b]Indian constitution is less flexible than that of England and less rigid than that of U.S.A. There are certain provision, which can be amended by a simple majority in the parliament, while there are certain provisions which can be amended only by special majority and ratification by states.[/b]
[/b]
[/b]
[/b]
[/b]
[/b]
[/b]
[/b]
[/b]
[/b]
[/b]
[/b]
The Constituent Assembly.[/b]
The Constituent Assembly of India was formed by the elected members of the provincial assemblies of the country. Presided over by Dr. Sachidanand Sinha for the first time, the Indian Constituent Assembly played the most important role in creating the Constitution of India. After Dr. Sinha, Dr. Rajendra Prasad became the President of the Assembly. Comprising over 30 schedule class members, the Constituent Assembly also included sections of Christians, Anglo-Indians and Minority Community. Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, being the Minority Community Chairman, also successfully worked for the Christians. While H P Modi was the representative of the Parsi community, Frank Anthony headed the Anglo-Indian section of the country in the Constituent Assembly.
Some of the prominent female personalities of the Constituent Assembly were Vijaylakshmi Pandit and Sarojini Naidu. From Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, B N Rau and Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad to K M Munshi, Sardar Patel and Alladi Krishnaswami Aiyer, each one had a major contribution towards the present form of the Constituent Assembly.