Constitution of India, the ‘supreme power’ of country

The Constitution of India enforced on 26th January 1950, was prepared by a committee consisting of seven members headed by Dr B R Ambedkar. It guides the citizens of India, the country’s Government bodies and other authorities to act in the right manner, which played a significant role in maintaining peace and prosperity in the country.

It is rightly said to be the supreme power of the country. The laws, codes, rights and duties mentioned in the Indian Constitution need to be followed strictly by the citizens of the country. The decisions made in the parliament and Supreme Court of India are all based on the laws and codes defined in the Constitution of India. Even Parliament of India does not have the power to override the constitution.

 

 Making of Constitution of India

 

At the end of the 19th century, under the British Rule, the Indians demanded to be involved in government, and put an end to torture and oppression. Finally Supreme legislative body of United Kingdom, the British Parliament introduced the Government of India Act, 1919. The act lead to diarchy – a dual form of governance in some large provinces.

A few areas of governance like health, education, agriculture and supervision of local government were handed over to a set of Indian ministers who reported to the provincial council.

It was promised that the act would be reviewed after 10 years by a special commission and thus infamous Simon Commission arrived in India in 1928. The Simon Commission looked at the constitutional reforms and reviewed the Government of India Act, 1919 and the Simon Commission Report was published in 1930, on which, three sessions of a Round Table Conference were held in 1930, 1931 and 1932 respectively with representatives of several Indian communities.

The British made their own reporting drafts on ‘white papers’, based on the outputs of these round table sessions. A committee that had 20 representatives from British India and seven Indians worked on the white papers from April 1933 to December 1934 and submitted its report to the British Parliament by the end of that year. A bill was passed in February 1935, which received royal approval on July 24, 1935. It officially came into enforcement on April 1, 1935, and was named Government of India Act, 1935.

After independence, Dr B.R. Ambedkar was appointed the head of the drafting committee of the Constitution of India on August 28, 1947. He contributed immensely in the formation of the Constitution by giving several valuable inputs and thus came to be known as the chief architect of the Constitution of India.

There were six other members in the drafting committee which was formed by the Constituent Assembly of India. These members worked under the guidance of Dr Ambedkar. The drafting committee of the Indian Constitution also referred to the Government of India Act 1858, the Government of India Act 1919 and 1935 and the Indian Independence Act 1947 to get an idea about the acts and features to be included in the Constitution. These previous acts helped the committee understand the condition and requirement of the citizens of the country. After the drafting committee presented the final draft, more than 2000 amendments were made before it was finally approved. These amendments were made after a lot of discussion.

 The constitution of India drew inspiration from the constitutions of various other countries. Many of the concepts and acts included in our constitution are borrowed from the constitutions of countries such as France, Germany, Japan, Australia, USA, Britain, Ireland, Russia and South Africa.

The First sitting of the Constituent Assembly was held on the 9th December, 1946. The Constitution of India was adopted on 26th November 1949. It was signed by 284 members of the Constituent Assembly on 24th January 1950 and came into effect on 26th January 1950, which is celebrated as the Republic Day.

 

Salient features of Constitution of India

 

Our Constitution is the longest written Constitution in the world and it was carefully calligraphed. It was written in both English and Hindi languages. It consisted of as many as 395 articles, 22 parts and 8 schedules at the time of its enactment. At present there are  448 articles, 25 parts and 12 schedules.  Our Constitution is a mix of rigidity and flexibility. While it is the supreme power that needs to be followed diligently to maintain law and order in the country, the citizens can appeal to amend the provisions they deem outdated or stern.

While certain provisions can be amended with some difficulty others are easy to amend. As many as 103 amendments have been done in the Constitution of our country since its enforcement. The Preamble of the Indian Constitution gives a detailed account of the philosophy of the constitution. It states that India is a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic. It is a Welfare State which puts its people first.

It believes in equality, freedom and justice for its people. While democratic socialism was followed right from the beginning, the term Socialism was added only in 1976. The Constitution has declared India a secular state. India does not give special status to any religion. It provides its citizens complete freedom to choose their religion.

The Constitution declares India to be a Republic. It has an elected head called the President, who is elected indirectly by the people of the country. The Constitution describes India as a federal structure with many unitary features. India has divided power among the centre and States as a dual administration system.

Our Constitution includes an independent judiciary embedded with the power to decide centre-state disputes. At the same time it has unitary features such as a strong common constitution, common election commission and emergency provisions.

The constitution of India provides Fundamental Rights to Indian Citizen to safeguard the individuals liberty and dignity, and the Directive Principles to ensure social, economic and political justice to every member of the community. Therefore Indian Constitution provides all the people of India; social, economic and political justice. The Courts (Supreme Court and High Court) have the power to declare the laws as void which contravenes the fundamental rights.

 

26th November, the Constitution Day

 

In the year 2015, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, gave the suggestion to dedicate an exclusive day to our constitution. Since the Indian Constitution was adopted on 26th November 1949, this date was chosen to honour the constitution. 26th November is being celebrated as the National Constitution Day since 2015.

 Many small and big events are organised in schools, colleges and Government institutions across India on this day.

 The importance of the Indian Constitution is emphasised during these events.The Constitution of India has been prepared with precision considering the interest of the common man as well as the overall interest of the country.

It is a gift for the citizens of our country. 26th November, the National Constitution Day is a day of pride for every Indian. After all, it is a day of national importance.

 

(The writer is a senior lawyer at Jharkhand High Court.)

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