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DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Indian Polity
Lecture - 02
Sources of constitution
Features of indian constitution
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Sources of constitution Features of Indian Constitution

Sources of the Indian Constitution:

❖ Sources of the Constitution of India are diverse and many, these sources are both indigenous and external
or foreign.
❖ The founding fathers made it very clear that they are not making a complete departure from the past but
building on the existing structure and experience of the institutions that are already established.
❖ The Constitution of India evolved through the interaction between various demands for representative
responsible governmental institutions and the small doses of Constitutional reforms granted by the British from
time to time.

Indigenous Sources of Constitution:

❖ The Organisation of Village Panchayats under the Directive Principles was influenced by ancient Indian
institutions of self-government.
❖ The demand for Fundamental Rights was put forward at the Madras Session of Congress in 1927.
❖ The Karachi Congress Resolution of 1931 included features of both Fundamental Rights and
Fundamental Duties.
❖ Nearly 75% of the Constitution can be said to be a reproduction of the Government of India Act, of 1935
with suitable modifications.
❖ The most notable of the provisions included under the Constitution are the following:

⮚ Provisions regulating Union and State relations

⮚ Declaration of emergency
⮚ Office of Governor
⮚ Public Service Commissions, etc.

Foreign Sources:

❖ Besides the indigenous sources, the Constituent Assembly borrowed several features from foreign
institutions which include:
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Country Provisions
Ireland Concept of Directive Principles of State Policy, Method of election of President.
USA Written Constitution, Independent Judiciary, Judicial Review, Preamble, Fundamental
Rights, President as the Supreme Commander of Armed Forces.
United Kingdom The President of India, like the Queen or King of England, is the nominal head of the state,
Post of Prime Minister, Parliamentary System with Ministerial Responsibility to the
legislature.
Canadian Provision relating to Union and State relations, Distribution of Power between the Union and
Constitution States, and Residuary Power to the Union Government.

Salient Features of the Indian Constitution:

❖ Size of the Constitution: It is the lengthiest Constitution of the world, it is a very comprehensive document,
originally it consisted of 395 Articles and 8 Schedules – subsequent amendments made changes to the
Indian Constitution.
❖ At present, it contains more than 470 Articles, 12 Schedules, and 25 Parts.

➢ The new Articles have been inserted in alphanumeric form. For Example: Article 21A which provides
the right to have free and compulsory education.

Reasons for the Length of the Indian Constitution:

❖ It includes many matters which could be the subject matter of ordinary legislation or administrative actions.
❖ It happens because around 75% of the provisions of the Government of India Act 1935 were reproduced in
the Constitution.
❖ The Constitution makers did not want to leave certain matters to doubt.
❖ The Constitution makers borrowed a large number of provisions from several foreign sources like the US
Constitution, Canadian Constitution, etc.
❖ There was also a need to have provisions keeping in view of complexities and diversities of the Indian
situation leading to several special and temporary provisions for certain regions of the country or classes of
people. For example, Special provisions for scheduled class and scheduled tribes and provisions for Jammu
and Kashmir as well as provisions for the Backward region.
❖ Detailed provisions have been provided for center-state relations.
❖ States don’t have their own separate Constitution like that of the USA that is why the Constitution of
India not only included the Constitution of the Union but also of the states.

The constitution of India provides a comprehensive set of Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles of State
Policies, etc.
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