The Constitution of India

1. Making the Constitution and the Preamble

India's Constitution is the longest written constitution of any country. It was drafted by an elected Constituent Assembly between 1946 and 1949. This lesson covers who made it, when, and what the Preamble says.

The Constituent Assembly

• It was formed under the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946; members were indirectly elected by the provincial assemblies.
• First meeting: 9 December 1946, with Sachchidananda Sinha as temporary chairman. Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected President on 11 December 1946.
• Jawaharlal Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution on 13 December 1946; it later became the basis of the Preamble.
• The Drafting Committee was set up on 29 August 1947 with Dr B. R. Ambedkar as chairman. B. N. Rau was the constitutional adviser.
• The work took about 2 years, 11 months and 18 days.

Key dates and features

• The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 (now Constitution Day, Samvidhan Divas, since 2015).
• It came into force on 26 January 1950, Republic Day. The date was chosen because Purna Swaraj Day was observed on 26 January 1930.
• Originally it had 395 Articles, 22 Parts and 8 Schedules. Today it has 12 Schedules.
• Borrowed ideas: parliamentary system (UK), Fundamental Rights and judicial review (USA), Directive Principles (Ireland), Fundamental Duties (former USSR), Concurrent List (Australia).
• Article 1 calls India a 'Union of States'.

The Preamble

• It begins 'We, the people of India', showing that authority comes from the people.
• It declares India a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic.
• Its goals: Justice (social, economic, political), Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
• It has been amended only once: the 42nd Amendment (1976) added 'Socialist', 'Secular' and 'Integrity'.
• In the Berubari case (1960) the Supreme Court said the Preamble is not part of the Constitution; in Kesavananda Bharati (1973) it held that it is a part.

💡 Do not confuse the two dates: 26 November 1949 = adopted (Constitution Day); 26 January 1950 = came into force (Republic Day).

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2. Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles and Duties

Part III of the Constitution protects the Fundamental Rights of citizens; courts can enforce them. Part IV lists Directive Principles that guide governments but cannot be enforced in court. Part IVA lists the duties of citizens.

Fundamental Rights (Part III, Articles 12-35)

• Right to Equality (Articles 14-18): equality before law (14); abolition of untouchability (17); abolition of titles (18).
• Right to Freedom (19-22): Article 19 gives six freedoms, including speech and expression; Article 21 protects life and personal liberty.
• Article 21A (added by the 86th Amendment, 2002) gives free and compulsory education to children aged 6 to 14.
• Right against Exploitation (23-24), Freedom of Religion (25-28), Cultural and Educational Rights (29-30).
• Right to Constitutional Remedies (Article 32): Dr Ambedkar called it the 'heart and soul' of the Constitution. Courts issue writs such as habeas corpus and mandamus.
• The Right to Property was removed from Part III by the 44th Amendment (1978); it is now a legal right under Article 300A.

Directive Principles of State Policy (Part IV, Articles 36-51)

• They are guidelines for making laws and policies; they are not enforceable in courts (Article 37).
• Article 39A: equal justice and free legal aid. Article 40: organise village panchayats.
• Article 44: a uniform civil code for citizens. Article 45: early childhood care and education below the age of six.
• Article 48A: protect the environment, forests and wildlife. Article 50: separate the judiciary from the executive.
• Article 51: promote international peace and security.

Fundamental Duties (Part IVA, Article 51A)

• Added by the 42nd Amendment (1976) on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee; the idea came from the former USSR.
• There were 10 duties at first; the 86th Amendment (2002) added the 11th: parents and guardians must give children aged 6-14 the opportunity of education.
• Examples: respect the Constitution, the national flag and anthem; protect the environment; develop a scientific temper.
• Like Directive Principles, the duties are not directly enforceable in court.

💡 Remember 'Part III rights can be enforced, Part IV principles cannot'. Article 32 lets you go straight to the Supreme Court; Article 226 lets you go to a High Court.

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3. Articles, Schedules, Amendments and the Basic Structure

Exams regularly ask which Article deals with what, what each Schedule contains, and which amendment made which change. The basic structure doctrine sets a limit on how far Parliament can amend the Constitution.

Important Articles

• Article 52: President. Article 72: President's power to pardon. Article 110: Money Bill. Article 123: President's ordinances.
• Article 124: Supreme Court. Article 148: CAG. Article 280: Finance Commission. Article 324: Election Commission. Article 326: adult suffrage.
• Article 343: Hindi in Devanagari script is the official language of the Union.
• Emergencies: Article 352 (national), Article 356 (President's Rule in a state), Article 360 (financial emergency, never used so far).
• Article 368: power of Parliament to amend the Constitution.
• Article 370 gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir; it was made inoperative in August 2019, and the Supreme Court upheld this in December 2023.

The 12 Schedules (selected)

• First: names of states and union territories. Third: forms of oaths. Fourth: seats in the Rajya Sabha.
• Seventh: Union, State and Concurrent Lists of subjects.
• Eighth: 22 recognised languages (Konkani added in 1992; Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali in 2003).
• Ninth: laws placed beyond ordinary court challenge, added by the 1st Amendment (1951).
• Tenth: anti-defection law, added by the 52nd Amendment (1985).
• Eleventh: 29 subjects for panchayats (73rd Amendment). Twelfth: 18 subjects for municipalities (74th Amendment).

Landmark amendments

• 1st (1951): added the Ninth Schedule and new grounds for reasonable restrictions on free speech.
• 42nd (1976): Fundamental Duties, three words in the Preamble; often called a 'mini-Constitution'. 44th (1978): removed the Right to Property from Fundamental Rights and replaced 'internal disturbance' with 'armed rebellion' as a ground for national emergency.
• 61st (1988): voting age lowered from 21 to 18. 73rd and 74th (1992): constitutional status for panchayats and municipalities.
• 101st (2016): Goods and Services Tax; created the GST Council (Article 279A). 103rd (2019): 10% reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS), upheld by the Supreme Court in 2022.
• 106th (2023, Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam): one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and the Delhi assembly reserved for women, to take effect after the next census and delimitation.

The basic structure doctrine

• In Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (24 April 1973), a 13-judge bench ruled 7:6.
• It held that Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution but cannot destroy its 'basic structure'.
• Examples of basic structure: supremacy of the Constitution, secularism, federalism, judicial review, free and fair elections.
• Minerva Mills (1980) confirmed the doctrine. Other key cases: Maneka Gandhi (1978) widened Article 21; Indra Sawhney (1992) set a 50% ceiling on reservations; K. S. Puttaswamy (2017) declared privacy a Fundamental Right.

💡 Group Articles in threes: 352-356-360 for emergencies; 324 (elections) - 148 (CAG) - 280 (Finance Commission) for constitutional bodies.

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