As we know that the constitution is the supreme law of any country, therefore the Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework demarcating fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens. It is the longest written constitution of any country on earth. It imparts constitutional supremacy (not parliamentary supremacy, since it was created by a constituent assembly rather than Parliament) and was adopted by its people with a declaration in its preamble. Parliament cannot override the constitution.
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The Constituent Assembly
The Constituent Assembly for India was put forward by MN Roy in 1934. After this idea there were many conversations taken place and finally, a Cabinet Mission was sent to India and lastly, the Constituent Assembly was constituted in November 1946 under the scheme formulated by the Cabinet Mission Plan.
Setting up of the Constituent Assembly
The Constituent Assembly, which had been elected for undivided India and held its first sitting on 9th December 1946, reassembled on August 14, 1947, as the sovereign Constituent Assembly for the Dominion of India. It was elected by indirect election by the members of the Provincial Legislative Assembly (Lower House only), according to the scheme recommended by the Cabinet Delegation.
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The features of the scheme were:
1. The Provinces elected 292 members while the Indian States were allotted a maximum of 93 seats,
2. The seats in each province were distributed among the three main committees Muslim, Sikh, and General, in proportion to their respective population.
3. Members of each community in the Provincial Legislative Assembly elected their own representatives by the method of proportional representation with a single transferable vote.
4. The representatives of princely states were to be nominated by the heads of the princely states.
The Constituent Assembly formally began its task of framing the Constitution of India on the 13th of December, 1946 with Jawaharlal Nehru moving the Objectives Resolution. The purpose of the resolution was to “… proclaim India as the Independent Sovereign Republic and to draw up for her future governance a Constitution…” The resolution put forth broad principles that would inform the working of the Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assembly adopted the resolution on 22 January 1947.
The representatives of the princely states gradually joined it. On 28th April 1947, representatives of the six states were part of the Assembly. After the acceptance of the Mountbatten Plan of June 3, 1947 for a partition of the country, the representatives of the most of the other princely states took their seats in the Assembly.
Other Functions of the Constituent Assembly
In addition to the making of the Constitution and enacting of the ordinary laws, the Constituent Assembly also performed the following functions:
1. It rectified the membership enrolment in the commonwealth in May 1949.
2. It adopted the national flag on July 22, 1947.
3. It adopted the national anthem on January 24, 1950.
4. It adopted the national song on January 24, 1950.
5. It elected Dr Rajendra Prasad as the first President of India on January 24, 1950.
In all, the Constituent Assembly had 11 sessions over two years, 11 months and 18 days. The Constitution-makes had gone through the constitutions of about 60 countries, and the Draft Constitution was considered for 114 days. The total expenditure incurred on making the Constitution amounted to Rs 64 lakh. On January 24, 1950, the Constituent Assembly held its final session. It, however, did not end and continued as the provisional parliament of India from January 26, 1950, till the formation of new Parliament after the first general elections in 1951-52.
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Committees of the Constituent Assembly
The Constituent Assembly appointed a number of committees to deal with different tasks of constitution-making. Out of these, eight were major committees and the others were minor committees. The Constituent Assembly selected 22 committees to deal with diverse tasks of Constitution-making. Out of these, 10 were on procedural affairs and 12 on substantive affairs.
The names of these committees and their chairmen are given below:
| Major Committees | Chairmen
|
| Drafting Committee | Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
|
| Steering Committee, Ad hoc Committee on the National flag, Committee on the Rules of Procedure, Finance and Staff Committee | Rajendra Prasad |
| Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Committee on Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas, Provincial Constitution Committee | Vallabhbhai Patel |
| Committee on the Functions of the Constituent Assembly | G.V. Mavalankar |
| Special Committee to Examine the Draft Constitution | Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar
|
| Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas Sub-Committee | A.V. Thakkar
|
| Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee | J.B. Kripalani
|
| House Committee | B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya
|
| Minorities Sub-Committee | H.C. Mukherjee
|
| North-East Frontier Tribal Areas and Assam, Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas Sub-Committee | Gopinath Bardoloi
|
| Order of Business Committee | K.M. Munshi
|
| Union Constitution Committee, Union Powers Committee, States Committee | Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru |
Enactment of the Constitution of India
Dr. BR Ambedkar introduced the final draft of the Constitution in the Assembly on November 4, 1948. The motion on Draft Constitution as passed on November 26, 1949 and received the signatures of the members and the president. This date is mentioned in the Preamble as the date on which the people of India in the Constituent Assembly adopted, enacted and gave to themselves this Constitution. The Constitution as adopted on November 26, 1949, contained a Preamble, 395 Articles and 8 Schedules. The Preamble was enacted after the entire Constitution was already enacted. The remaining provisions of the Constitution came into enforce on January 26, 1950. This day is referred to in the Constitution as the date of its commencement and celebrated as Republic Day.
Sources of the Constitution at a Glance
| United Kingdom | Parliamentary government
Concept of single citizenship Rule of law The legislative speaker and their role Legislative procedure
|
| United States | Bill of Rights
The 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 the law
|
| Ireland | Directive Principles of State Policy
The nomination of a member to Rajya Sabha Method of election of President
|
| Australia | Freedom of trade between states
National legislative power to implement treaties, even on matters outside normal federal jurisdiction Concurrent List Preamble terminology
|
| France | Idea of liberty, equality, fraternity in the Preamble |
| 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 Soviet Union | Fundamental Duties under article 51-A
Mandated planning commission to oversee economic development
|
| Germany Weimar Republic | The emergency provision under article 356
|
| South Africa | Amending the Constitution
|
| Japan | Procedure established by Law |
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