Indian Constitution Day 26th November, and Facts about Indian Constitutions

 71st Constitution Day on Nov 26^th 2020

1.     Constitution Day also known as 'Samvidhan Divas', is celebrated in our country on 26th November every year to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India. The day is also known as National Law Day.

2.     The Day is also celebrated as a mark of tribute to India's first Law Minister Dr. B R Ambedkar, who played a pivotal role in drafting the Constitution.

3.     On 26th November 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution of India,

4.     which came into effect from 26th January 1950.

5.     The constitution replaced the Government of India Act 1935 as the country's fundamental governing document, and the Dominion of India became the Republic of India.

6.     To ensure constitutional autochthony, its framers repealed prior acts of the British parliament in Article 395.

7.     India celebrates its constitution on 26 January as Republic Day.

8.     The constitution declares India a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic, assuring its citizens justice, equality and liberty, and endeavours to promote fraternity.

9.     The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on 19th November 2015 notified the decision of Government of India to celebrate the 26th day of November every year as 'Constitution Day' to promote Constitution values among citizens.

10.The Constitution of India (भारतीय संविधान) is the supreme law of India.

11.It is the longest written constitution of any country.

12.The original 1950 constitution is preserved in a helium-filled case at the Parliament House in New Delhi.

13. The Preamble

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;
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this 26th day of
November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE
TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION

14.The words "secular" and "socialist" were added to the preamble in 1976 during the Emergency.

15.In 1928, the All Parties Conference convened a committee in Lucknow to prepare the Constitution of India, which was known as the Nehru Report.

16.Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 60, 324, 366, 367, 379, 380, 388, 391, 392, 393, and 394 of the constitution came into force on 26 November 1949, and the remaining articles became effective on 26 January 1950.

17.B. R. Ambedkar was a wise constitutional expert, he had studied the constitutions of about 60 countries. Ambedkar is recognised as the "Father of the Constitution of India".

18.Timeline of formation of the Constitution of India

Ø 6 December 1946: Formation of the Constitution Assembly.

Ø 9 December 1946: The first meeting was held in the constitution hall (now the Central Hall of Parliament House). The 1st person to address was J. B. Kripalani, Sachchidananda Sinha became temporary president. (Demanding a separate state, the Muslim League boycotted the meeting.)

Ø 11 December 1946: The Assembly appointed Rajendra Prasad as its president, H. C. Mukherjee as its vice-chairman and B. N. Rau as constitutional legal adviser. (There were initially 389 members in total, which declined to 299 after partition. Out of the 389 members, 292 were from government provinces, 4 from chief commissioner provinces and 93 from princely states.)

Ø 13 December 1946: An 'Objective Resolution' was presented by Jawaharlal Nehru, laying down the underlying principles of the constitution. This later became the Preamble of the Constitution.

Ø 22 January 1947: Objective resolution unanimously adopted.

Ø 22 July 1947: National flag adopted.

Ø 15 August 1947: Achieved independence. India split into the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan.

Ø 29 August 1947: Drafting Committee appointed with B. R. Ambedkar as its Chairman. The other 6 members of committee were Munshi, Muhammed Sadulla, Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, Khaitan and Mitter.

Ø 16 July 1948: Along with Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, V. T. Krishnamachari was also elected as second vice-president of Constituent Assembly.

Ø 26 November 1949: The Constitution of India was passed and adopted by the assembly.

Ø 24 January 1950: Last meeting of Constituent Assembly. The Constitution was signed and accepted. (with 395 Articles, 8 Schedules, 22 Parts)

Ø 26 January 1950: The Constitution came into force. (The process took 2 years, 11 months and 18 days - at a total expenditure of ₹6.4 million to finish.)

19.G. V. Mavlankar was the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha (the lower house of Parliament) after India turned into a republic.

20.Membership: - B. R. Ambedkar, Sanjay Phakey, Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajagopalachari, Rajendra Prasad, Vallabhbhai Patel, Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi, Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar, Sandipkumar Patel, Abul Kalam Azad, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Nalini Ranjan Ghosh, and Balwantrai Mehta were key figures in the assembly, which had over 30 representatives of the scheduled classes.

Frank Anthony represented the Anglo-Indian community, and the Parsis were represented by H. P. Modi.

Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, a Christian assembly vice-president, chaired the minorities committee and represented non-Anglo-Indian Christians.

Ari Bahadur Gurung represented the Gorkha community.

Judges, such as Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, Benegal Narsing Rau, K. M. Munshi and Ganesh Mavlankar were members of the assembly.

Female members included Sarojini Naidu, Hansa Mehta, Durgabai Deshmukh, Amrit Kaur and Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit.

21.The first, two-day president of the assembly was Sachchidananda Sinha; Rajendra Prasad was later elected president. It met for the first time on 9 December 1946.

22.Influence of other constitutions

Government	Influence
United Kingdom	·         Parliamentary government ·         Concept of single citizenship ·         Rule of law ·         The legislative speaker and their role ·         Legislative procedure
United States	·         Bill of Rights ·         Federal structure of government ·         Electoral College ·         Independent judiciary and separation of powers ·         Judicial review ·         President as commander-in-chief of the armed forces ·         Equal protection under law
Ireland	Directive principles of state policy
Australia	·         Freedom of trade between states ·         National legislative power to implement treaties, even on matters outside normal federal jurisdiction ·         Concurrent List ·         Preamble terminology
France	Notions of liberté, égalité, fraternité
Canada	·         Quasi-federal government—a federal system with a strong central government ·         Distribution of powers between the central and state governments ·         Residual powers, retained by the central government
Soviet Union	·         Fundamental Duties under article 51-A ·         Mandated planning commission to oversee economic development
Weimar Republic	The emergency provision under article 356
South Africa	Amending the constitution
Japan	Due process

 

23. The Indian constitution is the world's longest for a sovereign nation. At its enactment, it had 395 articles in 22 parts and 8 schedules. At about 1,45,000 words, it is the second-longest active constitution—after the Constitution of Alabama—in the world.

24. The constitution has a preamble and 470 articles, which are grouped into 25 parts. With 12 schedules and five appendices, it has been amended 104 times; the latest amendment became effective on 14 January 2019.

25. The constitution's articles are grouped into the following parts:

Preamble, with the words "socialist", "secular" and 'integrity' added in 1976 by the 42nd amendment

Part I– States and union territories

Part II – Citizenship

Part III – Fundamental Rights

Part IV – Directive Principles of State Policy

Part IVA – Fundamental Duties

Part V– The union

Part VI– The states

Part VII – States in the B part of the first schedule (repealed)

Part VIII – Union territories

Part IX – Panchayats

Part IXA – Municipalities

Part IXB – Co-operative societies

Part X – Scheduled and tribal areas

Part XI – Relations between the union and the states

Part XII – Finance, property, contracts and suits

Part XIII – Trade and commerce within India

Part XIV – Services under the union and states

Part XIVA – Tribunals

Part XV – Elections

Part XVI – Special provisions relating to certain classes

Part XVII – Languages

Part XVIII – Emergency provisions

Part XIX – Miscellaneous

Part XX – Amending the constitution

Part XXI – Temporary, transitional and special provisions

Part XXII – Short title, date of commencement, authoritative text in Hindi and repeals

26.Schedules

Schedules are lists in the constitution which categorise and tabulate bureaucratic activity and government policy.

Schedule	Article(s)	Description
First	1 and 4	Lists India's states and territories, changes in their borders and the laws used to make that change.
Second	59(3), 65(3), 75(6), 97, 125, 148(3), 158(3), 164(5), 186 and 221	Lists the salaries of public officials, judges, and the comptroller and auditor general.
Third	75(4), 99, 124(6), 148(2), 164(3), 188 and 219	Forms of oaths – Lists the oaths of office for elected officials and judges
Fourth	4(1) and 80(2)	Details the allocation of seats in the Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament) by state or union territory.
Fifth	244(1)	Provides for the administration and control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes (areas and tribes requiring special protection).
Sixth	244(2) and 275(1)	Provisions made for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram.
Seventh	246	Central government, state, and concurrent lists of responsibilities
Eighth	344(1) and 351	Official languages
Ninth	31-B	Validation of certain acts and regulations.
Tenth	102(2) and 191(2)	Anti-defection provisions for members of Parliament and state legislatures.
Eleventh	243-G	Panchayat Raj (rural local government)
Twelfth	243-W	Municipalities (urban local government)

 

27. The executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government receive their power from the constitution and are bound by it.

28. Under Articles 52 and 53: the president of India is head of the executive branch

29.Under Article 60: the duty of preserving, protecting, and defending the constitution and the law.

30.Under Article 74: the prime minister is the head of the Council of Ministers, which aids and advises the president in the performance of their constitutional duties.

31.Under Article 75(3): The Council of Ministers is answerable to the lower house.

32.The constitution is considered federal in nature, and unitary in spirit. It has features of a federation, including a codified, supreme constitution; a three-tier governmental structure (central, state and local); division of powers; bicameralism; and an independent judiciary. It also possesses unitary features such as a single constitution, single citizenship, an integrated judiciary, a flexible constitution, a strong central government, appointment of state governors by the central government, All India Services (the IAS, IFS and IPS), and emergency provisions. This unique combination makes it quasi-federal in form.

33.Each state and union territory has its own government. Analogous to the president and prime minister, each has a governor or (in union territories) a lieutenant governor and a chief minister. Article 356 permits the president to dismiss a state government and assume direct authority if a situation arises in which state government cannot be conducted in accordance with constitution. This power, known as president's rule, was abused as state governments came to be dismissed on flimsy grounds for political reasons. After the S. R. Bommai v. Union of India decision, such a course of action is more difficult since the courts have asserted their right of review.

34.The 73rd and 74th Amendment Acts introduced the system of panchayati raj in rural areas and Nagar Palikas in urban areas.

35.Article 368 dictates the procedure for constitutional amendments. Amendments are additions, variations or repeal of any part of the constitution by Parliament. An amendment bill must be passed by each house of Parliament by a two-thirds majority of its total membership when at least two-thirds are present and vote. Certain amendments pertaining to the constitution's federal nature must also be ratified by a majority of state legislatures.

36.Unlike ordinary bills in accordance with Article 245 (except for money bills), there is no provision for a joint session of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to pass a constitutional amendment. During a parliamentary recess, the president cannot promulgate ordinances under his legislative powers under Article 123, Chapter III. Deemed amendments to the constitution which can be passed under the legislative powers of parliament were invalidated by Article 368(1) in the 24th Amendment.

37.By July 2018, 124 amendment bills had been presented in Parliament; of these, 103 became Amendment Acts. Despite the supermajority requirement for amendments to pass, the Indian constitution is the world's most frequently-amended national governing document. The constitution is so specific in spelling out government powers that many amendments address issues dealt with by statute in other democracies.

38.In 2000, the Justice Manepalli Narayana Rao Venkatachaliah Commission was formed to examine a constitutional update. The government of India establishes term-based law commissions to recommend legal reforms, facilitating the rule of law.

39.Limitations

In Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, the Supreme Court ruled that an amendment cannot destroy what it seeks to modify; it cannot tinker with the constitution's basic structure or framework, which are immutable. Such an amendment will be declared invalid, although no part of the constitution is protected from amendment; the basic structure doctrine does not protect any one provision of the constitution. According to the doctrine, the constitution's basic features (when "read as a whole") cannot be abridged or abolished. These "basic features" have not been fully defined, and whether a particular provision of the constitution is a "basic feature" is decided by the courts.

The Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala decision laid down the constitution's basic structure:

1.     Supremacy of the constitution

2.     Republican, democratic form of government

3.     Its secular nature

4.     Separation of powers

Its federal character

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