The Indian Constitution



India, also known as Bharat, is a Union of several States. It is a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic and has a Parliamentary form of government. The Constituent Constitution of India was on 26th November 1949. It came into force or was enacted on 26th January 1950. The Constitution of India lays down the framework of the fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and also sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens. The Constitution of India is the longest-written constitution in the entire world. The Parliament does not have the power to disobey the constitution.

The Constitution of India came into the act on 26th January 1950. At the time of its adoption, the Constitution originally contained 395 Articles and 8 Schedules and was about 145,000 words long. Every Article in the Constitution was debated by the members of the Constituent Assembly and all of them had to sit for 11 sessions and 167 days to frame the Constitution originally for 2 years and 11 months. This section contains every Article in the amended Constitution of India with its corresponding Article in the 
Draft Constitution of India, 1948. Each Article contains a summary of the debates on that Article that took place in the Constituent Assembly. The Articles are grouped into 22 different parts, which reflects the way they were organized in the form of the text of the Constitution of India, 1950. The Schedules to the Constitution, which are now 12 in number, elaborate the government policy or rules about specific Articles of the Constitution. Each Schedule in this section is tagged with the corresponding Article to make it easy for understanding.

The Constitution was framed by the Constituent Assembly of India which was established by the members of the provincial assemblies elected by the people of India. Dr. Sachidanand Sinha became the first president of the Constituent Assembly of India. Later, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as its first president. Dr. BR Ambedkar was the chairman of the Drafting Committee and is considered to be the chief architect of the Indian Constitution which provides a comprehensive and dynamic framework to guide and govern the country and to keep in view the unique social, cultural, and religious diversity of the country. It establishes the main organs – executive, legislature, and judiciary, defines their powers, demarcates their responsibilities, and regulates the inter-relationship. It lays down the basic structure of governance and the relationship between the government and the people. The rights and duties of citizens are also spelled out under the Constitution. For Jammu and Kashmir, the Constitution has certain exceptions and modifications as mentioned in Article 370 and the Constitution Order, 1954. It is considered to be the mother of all other laws of the country. 

Every law that is enacted by the Government has to be in line with the Constitution.

The preamble to the Constitution declares that India is a welfare state that is committed to securing justice, liberty, and equality for the people and promoting the values of fraternity, dignity and unity, and integrity of the nation. The objectives specified in the preamble form the basic framework of the Indian Constitution and this cannot be amended. The opening and last sentences of the preamble are “We, the people… adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution” and this gives power to the hands of the citizens of India.

The Constitution provides a Parliamentary form of government. This is federal in structure and has certain unitary features. As per Article 79 of the Constitution of India, the Council of the Parliament of the Union consists of the President and the two Houses of Parliament known as the Council of States called the Rajya Sabha and the House of the People called the Lok Sabha. Article 74(1) of the Constitution accounts for a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head to provide aid and advice to the President. The President shall exercise his/her functions by the advice. The real executive power lies in the hands of the Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as the head.

An impartial judiciary and the independence of the legislature and the executive are one of the main features of the Constitution. The Supreme Court of India is the highest court of India and acts as the guardian of the Constitution and serves as the final court of appeal. Each state has a High Court which is its highest court. Under powers of judicial review, the Supreme Court and High Court can declare a law unconstitutional or null if it intervenes with any of the provisions of the Constitution. To ensure the impartiality of the judiciary, the judges are appointed by a process that is free of the influence of the executive. The judges can only be removed by a rigorous process of impeachment that is to be approved by both houses of the Parliament.

One of the strengths of the Constitution is that it is a dynamic instrument that can evolve with time either by its interpretation or by its amendment. An amendment to the Constitution is a difficult affair, and generally needs around two-thirds of the members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for it to get passed. However, the Constitution of India is one of the most frequently amended constitutions in the world so it does not stand in the way of the growth and development of the nation and the people. The success of the Indian Constitution, for the diversity and complexity of India, continues to impress and inspire experts all around the world.
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Dr. Kirti Sisodhia

Content Writer

CATEGORIES Business Agriculture Technology Environment Health Education

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