Indian Constitution Module 1 PDF

BMS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT YELAHANKA – BANGALORE – 64 DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES ______________________________________________________________________________ Indian Constitution 24ICO17 I/II sem,...

BMS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT YELAHANKA – BANGALORE – 64 DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES ______________________________________________________________________________ Indian Constitution 24ICO17 I/II sem, Common for all branches Faculty-in-charge: Tejaswini.B.J, BAL.LLB, LLM,PGDIPR(Ph.D) Assistant Professor, Dept. of HSS Table of contents Sl.No. Module 1 Mod 1: Constitution- Definition, Making of the Constitution, Salient Features. 2 Mod 2: Preamble, Fundamental Rights with its reasonable restrictions, 3. Mod 3: Directive Principles of State Policy and its relevance, Fundamental Duties Mod 1: Constitution- Definition, Making of the Constitution, Salient Features, Preamble Meaning & Definition of Constitution Constitution is a set of basic laws or principles for a country that describe the rights and duties of its citizens and the way in which it is governed. It is fundamentally a body of rules and regulations. A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is. When these principles are written down into a single document or set of legal documents, those documents may be said to embody a written constitution; if they are written down in a single comprehensive document, it is said to embody a codified constitution. Constitutions concern different levels of organizations, from sovereign states to companies and unincorporated associations. A treaty which establishes an international organization is also its constitution, in that it would define how that organization is constituted. Within states, a constitution defines the principles upon which the state is based, the procedure in which laws are made and by whom. Some constitutions, especially codified constitutions, also act as limiters of state power, by establishing lines which a state's rulers cannot cross, such as fundamental rights. An example is the constitution of the United States of America. The Constitution of India is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world, containing 465 articles in 25 parts, 12 schedules and 118 amendments, with 117,369 Indian constitution words in its English-language translation, while the United States Constitution is the shortest written constitution, containing seven articles and 27 amendments, and a total of 4,400 words. Indian constitution is a diriment having a special legal sanctity which sets out the frame-word and the principal function of the organs of the governing and declares the principles governing the operation of those organs. All constitutions are the heirs of the past as well as testators of the future. The very fact that the Indian constitution is not a product of political revolution but of the research and deliberations of a body of eminent representative of the people who sought to improve the exciting administration systems makes the study of constitutional development indispensable for proper understanding of our constitution. Brief Historical evolution of Indian constitution The freedom struggle which initially stressed on getting legislative measures to address the grievances of Indian, later foresees on having a own Constitutional: Hence the evolution of the Indian constitutional can be traced back to the British rule. The various important legislations were introduced by the British government. The sequence of events which led to the framing of for constitution is given below The Regulating Act of 1773 Pitts Indian Act of 1784 Charter act of 1833 Charter Act of 1853 Indian council Act of 1861, 1892 and 1909 Government of Indian Act 1919, 1935 1922: All Indian parties Conference: - Motilal Nehru submitted a report on priority of constitution of India. In this report, he stress on “fundamental rights” to the people assuring in the country. The Government of India Act 1935 is the basis of our constitution 1940: August Offer: The British government accepted to frame the constitution of India. 1942: Gipps Proposal: Indian Constitution to be framed by a body of Indian elected representations i.e. Constituent Assembly. Constitution would provide a domination state for India. However, this proposal was opposed by the Muslim league and hence this proposal was not successful. 1946: Cabinet Mission Plan: Under this plan the constition assembly was framed to draft the constitution. First elections were held throughout the country and there was a union of British India and other Princely states. Members to this body were partially and partly nominated.  The strength of the constituent assembly was to be 389 out of which, 296 representatives were from British India and 93 representatives were from Princely states. After the partition of the country, the members were reduced to 299. Making of the constitution It was in 1934 that the idea of a Constituent Assembly for India was put forward for the first time by M. N. Roy, a pioneer of communist movement in India and an advocate of radical democratism. In 1935, the Indian National Congress (INC), for the first time, officially demanded a Constituent Assembly to frame the Constitution of India. In 1938, Jawaharlal Nehru, on behalf the INC declared that ‘the Constitution of free India must be framed, without outside interference, by a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of adult franchise’. The demand was finally accepted in principle by the British Government in what is known as the ‘August Offer’ of 1940. In 1942, Sir Stafford Cripps, a member of the cabinet, came to India with a draft proposal of the British Government on the framing of an independent Constitution to be adopted after the World War II. The Cripps Proposals were rejected by the Muslim League which wanted India to be divided into two autonomous states with two separate Constituent Assemblies. Finally, a Cabi-net Mission was sent to India. While it rejected the idea of two Constituent Assemblies, it put forth a scheme for the Constituent Assembly which more or less satisfied the Muslim League. Do you know? The Constituent Assembly also performed the following functions: ➔ It adopted the Indian National Flag on July 22, 1947. ➔ It adopted the National Anthem on January 24, 1950. ➔ It adopted the National song on January 24, 1950. ➔ It elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as the first president of India on January 24, 1950. ➔ It ratified the India’s membership of the common wealth in May 1949. On the 9th December 1946: The constitution assembly held its first meeting. The Muslim league boycotted the meeting and insisted on a separate state Pakistan. The meeting was attended by 211 members. Where in Dr. Sachidanand Sinha was elected as temporary president of constituent Assembly following the French practice. Working of the constituent assembly On the 11th December 1946, Dr, Rajendra Prasad was elected as the chairman, H.C. Mukherjee as the vice- president. Sir B.N. Rau charred the Advisory committee. On 13th Dec, “Objective Resolution was moved by Jawaharlal Nehru which outlined the nature of Indian constitution & declared India to be sovereign, Democratic, Republic. The objective Resolution was later modified and co-opted as the preamble o the constitution. The constituent Assembly split into various committees like steering committee, Finance & staff committee, House committee auditory committee, Fundamental Rights committee and very signifier one was the drafting committee and headed by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar the Drafting committee adopted varicose provisions from the constitutions of other countries with suitable modifications and the draft copy as prepared. This draft was distressed, debacle and several amendments were made and finally the document was adopted on 26th November 1949. It was a full fledge democratic exercise The constituent Assembly took 2 year 11 months and 18 days to frame the constitution. The total expenditure incurred on making the constitution amounted to Rs. 64 lakh. The Drafting committee had seven members 1. Dr. B R. Ambedkar- (chairman) 2. Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar 3. Dr. K.M.Munshi 4. T.T. Krishnamachari 5. N. Madhava Roa 6. N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar and 7. Sir. Syed Mohammad Saadulla. The constitution came into force on 26th January 1950. The final form of the constitution had 395 Articles 22 parts 8 schedules and a Preamble. Facts to Know: At present the Constitution of India is the longest written constitution in the world, containing 465 articles in 25 parts, 12 schedules, a Preamble and 118 amendments, with 117,369 words in its English-language translation,  a. Features of the Indian constitution The constitution of India though prepared after “ransacking all the known constitutions of the world” is remarkable for its distinguishing features. The credit goes to the framers for gathering the best features from escorting constitutions, modifying them in working and adapting to the escorting constitution, of the country. So even though our constitution is a patchwork is indeed a beautiful patchwork. Adding to this, many of the features of our original constitution is substantially modified by several amendments. The salient features of our constitution are 1. Lengthiest written Constitution:– Constitutions are classified into written or unwritten. The Indian constitution has the distinction of being the most lengthy and detailed of the all the written constitutions in the world. while the American constitution originally consistence of only seven articles, Australian constitution consists 128 Articles, Canadian constitution consists 147 Articles, the Indian constitution originally contained 395 Article divided into 22 parts and 8 schedules to which additions were made by subsequent amendments and inspire repealing of several provisions. At present the constitution conations 465 Articles divided into 25 part 12 schedules and a Preamble. The bulkiness of the constitution is due to the following reasons. a. Incorporates the accumulated experience of working of different constitutions. b. Vastness of the country and peculiar problems like language, backward classes, emergency provisions etc. c. Detailed administrative provisions. d. Lays down the structure of union and the states with same fullness and precision. e. Federal relations (is relationship between the center and the state and the states under-5 are elaborately dealt with. f. Both justifiable (fundamental rights) an non-justifiable rights (directive principles of state policy and fundamental duties) are included. 2. Unique blend of rigidity and flexibility: - Constitutions are also classified into rigid and flexible. A rigid Constitution is one that requires a special procedure for its amendment, as for example, the American Constitution. A flexible constitution, on the other hand, is one that can be amended in the same manner as the ordinary laws are made, as for example, the British Constitution. The Constitution of India is neither rigid nor flexible but a synthesis of both. Article 368 provides for two types of amendments: (a) Some provisions can be amended by a special majority of the Parliament, i.e., a two-third majority of the members of each House present and voting, and a majority (that is, more than 50 per cent), of the total membership of each House. (b) Some other provisions can be amended by a special majority of the Parliament and with the ratification by half of the total states. At the same time, some provisions of the Constitution can be amended by a simple majority of the Parliament in the manner of ordinary legislative process. Notably, these amendments do not come 3. Parliamentary form of government (Under Article 368):– The constitution of Indian establishes a parliamentary form of government both at the center and at the states which very similar to the British model as against the American presidential form of govt. The absence of this form of government is its responsibility to legislature, The president is the constitutional head of the state and the real executive powers are vested in the hands of ministers headed by the prime minister who are collectively responsible to the lower houses (Lok Sabha). The parliamentary system is also known as the “Westminster” model of government, responsible government and cabinet government. 4. Federal System with Unitary Bias:- The Constitution of India establishes a federal system of government. It contains all the usual features of a federation, viz., two government, division of powers, written Constitution, super-macy of Constitution, rigidity of Constitution, independent judiciary and bicameralism. However, the Indian Constitution also contains a large number of unitary or non-federal features, viz., a strong Centre, single Constitution, single citizenship, flexibility of Constitution, integrated judiciary, appointment of state governor by the Centre, all-India services, emergency provisions, and so on.. Thus Indian constitution is mainly federal with unitary features to safeguarding and enforcing national unity and growth. 5. Sovereign, socialist, secular democratic republic state-The preamble of the constitution declares India to be a sovereign, socialist secular, democratic and Republic state, Sovereign- emphasizes that India is no more dependent on any outside authority-Both internally and externally it is supreme. Socialist-means a way of organizing a society in which major industries are owned and controlled by the government rather than by individual people and companies. Secular-means a state which treats all religions equally. Democratic-indicates form of which the state gets its authority from the will of the people. India has adopted both direct and indirect democracy.  Republic – signifies that the elected head of the state will be the chief executive head. The president of Indian unlike the British… is not a hereditary monarch but an elected person chosen for a limited period. 6. Fundamental rights: The Fundamental Rights are meant for promoting the idea of political democracy. They operate as limitations on the tyranny of the executive and arbitrary laws of the legislature. They are justifiable in nature, that is, they are enforceable by the courts for their violation. The aggrieved person can directly go to the Supreme Court which can issue the writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo warranto for the restoration of his rights. However, the Fundamental Rights are not absolute and subject to reasonable restrictions. Further, they are not sacrosanct and can be curtailed or repealed by the Parliament through a constitutional amendment act. They can also be suspended during the operation of a National Emergency except the rights guaranteed by Articles 20 and 21. Part III of the Indian Constitution guarantees six fundamental rights to all the citizens: (a) Right to Equality (Articles 14–18), (b) Right to Freedom (Articles 19–22), (c) Right against Exploitation (Articles 23–24), (d) Right to Freedom of Religion (Articles 25–28), (e) Cultural and Educational Rights (Articles 29–30), and (f) Right to Constitutional Remedies (Article 32). 7. Directive principles of state policy: They are borrowed from the constitution of Ireland. They are the “novel feature” of the Indian Constitution. They are mentioned in Part IV of the constitution. They can be classified into three broad categories viz… Socialist, Gandhian and Liberal-intellectual. The Directive principles are meant for promoting the ideal of social and economic democracy. They seek to establish a welfare state in India. Unlike Fundamental rights the directive principles are non-justifiable in nature. 8. Fundamental duties: The original constitution did not provide for the fundamental duties of the citizens. These were added during 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act 1976 based on Swaran Singh Committee recommendation. The fundamental dittoes are mentioned in Part IV – A of the constitution containing only one article is 51A enlisting 10 Fundamental Duties The 11th Fundamental Duty was added through the 86th amendment (2002). The Fundamental Duties were added to remind the citizens that while the constitution has conference certain  rights on the people, it expects the citizens to follow certain basic norms of democratic conduct and behaviors. 9. Single citizenship: Though the constitution provides for dual government is center and the states, it provides only for a single citizenship for the whole of India. USA provides dual citizenship to its people. Each person is not only a citizen of USA but also a citizen of the particular state to which he belongs. 10. Adult suffrage: The old system of communal elaborate system has been established and the universal Adult suffrage system is adopted which gives every citizen above 18 years the right to choose the representatives (right to vote) irrespective of caste creed, religion, sex, etc. The voting age was reduced to 18years from 21years in 1989 by the 61st Constitutional Amendment Act. 11. Independent and Integrated judiciary: The Indian Constitution establishes a judicial system that is integrated as well as independent. The Supreme Court stands at the top of the integrated judicial system in the country. Below it, there are high courts at the state level. Under a high court, there is a hierarchy of subordinate courts, that is, district courts and other lower courts. This single system of courts enforces both the central laws as well as the state laws. 12. Emergency Provision:- The Constitution envisages three types of emergencies, namely: (a) National emergency on the ground of war or external aggression or armed rebellion16 (Article352); (b) State emergency (President’s Rule) on the ground of failure of Constitutional machinery in the states (Article 356) or failure to comply with the directions of the Centre (Article 365); and (c) Financial emergency on the ground of threat to the financial stability or credit of India (Article 360). During an emergency, the Central Government becomes all-powerful and the states go into the total control of the centre. It converts the federal structure into a unitary one without a formal amendment of the Constitution. This kind of transformation of the political system from federal (during normal times) to unitary (during emergency) is a unique feature of the Indian Constitution.