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Oct 16, 2022 11:52 PM GMT+5:30 Oct 16, 2022 11:53 PM GMT+5:30
Summary
RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
OF LAW, PUNJAB
RGNUL, Punjab
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
1
“Constitution of India.” Constitutionofindia.net, 2017,
www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_making_process/constituent_assembly.
FORMATION OF THE ASSEMBLY
To design a rulebook for India, the Constituent Assembly of India was founded. Its members
were indirectly elected (including Pakistan and Bangladesh). It was the first parliament of
India following its independence in 1947, and it operated for around three years. Muslims and
Sikhs gained special representation as minorities in the Assembly since it was not chosen
through universal adult suffrage. After failing to stop the Assembly's formation, the Muslim
League boycotted it. Even though the Congress Party was a one-party system, a sizable
1
portion of the Constituent Assembly was selected from it. The Congress Party represented a
wide range of ideologies, from conservative businessmen to radical Marxists and everyone.
Jawaharlal Nehru said in the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly – “The first task of
this Assembly is to free India through a new constitution, to feed the starving people, and to
clothe the naked masses, and to give every Indian the fullest opportunity to develop himself
according to his capacity. This is certainly a great task. Look at India today. We, are sitting
here and there in despair in many places, and unrest in many cities. The atmosphere is
surcharged with these quarrels and feuds which are called communal disturbances, and
unfortunately we sometimes cannot avoid them. But at present the greatest and most
important question in India is how to solve the problem of the poor and the starving.
Wherever we turn, we are confronted with this problem. If we cannot solve this problem
soon, all our paper constitutions will become useless and purposeless. Keeping this aspect in
view, who could suggest to us to postpone and wait?”2
2
Krishan, Gopal, and Archna Verma. "Constituent Assembly of India: An Overview." Research Journal of Humanities and Social
Sciences 6.2 (2015): 123-126.
1
Assembly members who had not fled to Karachi then served as India's Parliament. Twenty-
eight Muslim League members entered the Indian Assembly, while 93 princely state
nominees were eventually elected, giving the Congress Party an 82 percent majority.
3
Mahawar, Sneha. “The Making of the Constitution of India: A Detailed Analysis – IPleaders.” IPleaders, 6 Oct. 2021,
www.blog.ipleaders.in/making-constitution-india-detailed-analysis/
committees, while the remaining were small committees. The major ones have been listed
below along with the heads of the committees:- 4
4
Bajpai, Rochana. "Minority Rights in the Indian Constituent Assembly Debates, 1946." (2002).
6. N Madhava Rau (He replaced B L Mitter who resigned due to ill-health)
7. T T Krishnamachari (He replaced D P Khaitan who died in 1948)”
The drafting committee was tasked with creating the new constitution. A committee was
established on August 29, 1947, with Dr. B R Ambedkar serving as its chairperson.
There were five phases of the assembly's work:
The committees gave their reports on the problems.
B.N. Rau created an early draught of the constitution in accordance with the results
and his study into other nations' constitutions.
The B. R. Ambedkar-led drafting committee created a complete draught constitution
that was made available for feedback.
There was discussion over the draught constitution, and changes were put forth and
adopted.
The Congress Party, headed a group of specialists that was instrumental in getting the
constitution passed.5
TIMELINE
1
On December 9, 1946, the Assembly was established (demanding a different country, the
Muslim League avoided the meeting.)
President Rajendra Prasad, vice-chairman Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, and constitutional
legal advisor B. N. Rau were appointed on December 11th, 1946. The total number of
1
members initially stood at 389 but fell to 299 following partition. Out of 389, 292 were from
princely states, 4 were chief commissioner provinces, and the remaining 93 were from
government provinces.
Jawaharlal Nehru submitted the "Objective Resolution" on December 13th, 1946, outlining
the fundamental foundations of the constitution, which subsequently became its Preamble.
22 January 1947: Unanimous approval of the objective resolution.
Adoption of the national flag on July 22, 1947
Independence was won on August 15, 1947. States of India and Pakistan were formed out of
India.
9
The Drafting Committee was established on August 29, 1947, with Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
1
serving as its head. K.M. Munshi, Muhammad Saadulah, Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, Gopala
Swami Ayyangar, N. Madhava Rao (who replaced B.L. Mitter who quit owing to illness),
and T. T. Krishnamachari were the other six members of the committee (He replaced D.P.
Khaitan who died in 1948).
5
Patil, Amruta. “Drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly – Indian Polity Notes.” Prepp, Prepp, 2022,
www.prepp.in/news/e-492-drafting-committee-of-the-constitution-assembly-indian-polity-notes
On July 16, 1948, V. T. Krishnamachari was chosen to serve as the second vice-president of
the Constituent Assembly alongside Harendra Coomar Mookerjee.
The "Constitution of India" was approved and ratified by the legislature on November 26,
1949.
The Constituent Assembly's final meeting was held on January 24, 1950. All participants
signed and endorsed the "Constitution of India" (which has 395 articles, 8 schedules, and 22
sections).
12
The "Constitution of India" entered into force on January 26, 1950, after taking 2 years, 11
months, and 18 days to complete.
After India became a republic, Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar was the first person to address
as a speaker in the Lok Sabha.6
IMPORTANT MEMBERS
6
< www.constitutionofindia.net >
FORMATION OF THE INDIAN
CONSTITUTION
In 1946, the parliament hired Sir Benegal Narsing Rau, a civil servant who later served as
president of the United Nations Security Council and the first Indian judge on the
International Court of Justice. Rau wrote the first draught of the constitution in February
1948 and was in charge of its overall framework. After discussions, arguments, and
1
modifications, the B.N. Rau draft's 243 items and 13 schedules were reduced to 395 articles
and 8 schedules.
1
Committees were suggested at the assembly meeting on August 14, 1947. The eight-person
drafting committee, which was established on August 29, 1947, with B. R. Ambedkar as
head, reviewed, discussed, and modified Rau's proposal. The committee created a new
6
draught constitution and presented it to the assembly on November 4th, 1947. In his final
address to the constituent assembly on November 25, 1949, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar noted that
Mr. Rau and not only myself should share some of the glory.
2
Out of a total of 7,635 amendments, the assembly advanced, debated, and rejected 2,473
during its deliberations on the updated draught constitution. The assembly met eleven times
over the course of 165 days before adopting the constitution. It ratified the constitution on
November 26, 1949, with the signatures of 284 members. National Law Day or Constitution
1
Day is observed on this day. The day was chosen to raise awareness of both the value of the
constitution and of Ambedkar's ideals.
The assembly's last meeting began on January 24, 1950. The constitution was signed by each
member twice, once in Hindi and once in English. The original constitution was drafted by
1
hand, and Shantiniketan painters like Beohar Rammanohar Sinha and Nandalal Bose
embellished each page. Prem Behari Narain Raizada was the work's calligrapher. On January
26, 1950, two days later, it was enacted into Indian law. The Constituent Assembly was
expected to cost 6.3 crore. Since it was adopted, the constitution has undergone more than
100 modifications.
The longest constitution for a sovereign state in the world is that of India. It contained 395
articles dissected into 22 sections and some schedules when it was enacted. It is one of the
longest active constitutions in the world, behind the Constitution of Alabama, with around
145,000 words.
The 470 articles that make up the constitution are divided into 25 sections and preceded by a
prologue. It includes 12 schedules and 5 appendices, has undergone 105 amendments, the
most recent of which took effect on August 10, 2021.7
The relevant and associated heads and sub-heads were used to separate the sections in the
appropriate manner. Similar to how Part I discusses the Union and its Territories and Part II
7
Shekhawat, Vineeta. "INDIAN CONSTITUTION: MODEL DESIGNING AND SUMMATION." The Indian Journal of Political
Science 51.1 (1990): 54-74.
follows with a discussion of Union Citizenship Then in Part III, the people' Fundamental
10
Rights are discussed (mentioned in Part II). The Directive Principles of State Policy are
mentioned in Part IV (DPSP). The 46th Amendment incorporated the concept of
Fundamental Duties in 1976. The Indian Constitution has a number of other Parts and
Schedules that cover a wide range of significant and small issues pertaining to the governance
of the nation.
Many references from other nations that were once British colonies were used when the
Assembly was drafting the Constitution. Many issues and headings were taken from other
countries since we were in a rush to create the greatest Constitution because we were set to
gain independence very soon. From other nations' constitutions, certain provisions were taken
that were deemed necessary even in a varied nation like India.
The following provisions were taken from various countries – 8
The United Kingdom – The influence of Bicameral Legislature, more power to Lok
Sabha, post of the Prime Minister, nominal head of the State as well as the Cabinet
system along with the parliamentary privileges was from the Constitution of the UK.
The USA – The references of Fundamental Rights, Preamble, federal structure,
impeachment process, electoral college, judicial review along with the doctrine of
equal protection under law has been grasped from the US Constitution.
Ireland – The major parts of the DPSP, the nomination in the Rajya Sabha and
process of the President’s election has been derived from the Irish Constitution
Australia – Implementing treaties, the requirement of Concurrent List and provision
for the Joint Session of the Parliament has been taken from the Australian
Constitution.
France – The ideas and notions of being a Republic as well as “liberte, egalite,
fraternite” which means “liberty, equality, fraternity” were replicated from the French
people’s Constitution.
Canada – The format of the quasi-federal government, power distribution among the
Centre and the states, the post of Governor and the Residual powers of the central
government were taken from the Constitution of Canada.
Soviet Union – Fundamental Duties in Part IV(A) and permanent Planning
Commission are the two major parts taken from the Soviet people.
Germany – The rule of Fundamental Rights being suspended during Emergency has
been taken from the Weimar Republic’s Constitution.
South Africa – Amendment ways and process of the elections of the members of the
Rajya Sabha has been extracted from the South African Constitution.
8
Lijphart, Arend. "Constitutional design for divided societies." Journal of democracy 15.2 (2004): 96-109.
CRITICISM AND CONCLUSION
Many authors, academicians, and historians have criticised the Constituent Assembly and
the Constitution-making process for having issues. The Constitution has certain defects
that have made it a little ambiguous, but the rest of it is practically flawless.9 Some points
of criticism are being mentioned below –
The Constituent Assembly required a lot of time and work – Comparing the
Indian Constitution's creators to the American Constitution's authors, the
detractors said that they took longer than necessary to complete their work.
The Constituent Assembly was not a sovereign or a representative entity –
The Assembly was criticised for not being a representative body since members
were chosen without the use of the universal adult franchise, and because the
British Government was responsible for the Assembly's creation.
Members of the Congress Party predominated in the Constituent Assembly –
2
Famous British constitutional experts had noted that the Indian Constituent
Assembly was a one-party legislature, requiring the Assembly to be run mostly by
Congress members.
The Assembly was predominately made up of Hindus – The main criticism of
the Constituent Assembly was that it solely represented Hindus in the country,
leaving out all other religions.
Overall, the Indian Constitution might be said to be neither wholly strict nor wholly flexible.
It has stringent elements, but its other elements are relatively simple to understand and adhere
to. The recommendations made in the DPSPs by the original drafters of the constitution have
been transformed into laws, and some have been left in place for potential future needs. In
certain states, the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) laws have already been put into effect.
Despite the numerous complaints made about the Constituent Assembly's procedures, it
cannot be disputed that the Constitution of India, which we refer to as the Constituent
Assembly's greatest gift to India, would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of
the distinguished individuals who joined forces to draught it. The rights and obligations
granted to both its residents and the states of the union, as well as the air of sovereignty,
democracy, and freedom, are all present in India today.
9
Choudhary, Vikas K. "The Idea of Religious Minorities and Social Cohesion in India’s Constitution: Reflections on the Indian
Experience." Religions 12.11 (2021): 910.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
TOP SOURCES
The sources with the highest number of matches within the submission. Overlapping sources will not be
displayed.
en.wikipedia.org
1 4%
Internet
blog.ipleaders.in
2 2%
Internet
documents.mx
4 <1%
Internet
edoc.pub
5 <1%
Internet
kractivist.org
6 <1%
Internet
archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de
7 <1%
Internet
mediawiki.feverous.co.uk
8 <1%
Internet
Sources overview
Similarity Report ID: oid:28078:25047120
rajkjha.blogspot.com
9 <1%
Internet
rpshewalkar.blogspot.com
10 <1%
Internet
utopiansndreamers.com
11 <1%
Internet
Sources overview
Similarity Report ID: oid:28078:25047120
Oct. 2021
City University on 2022-03-17
Prepp, Prepp
Asia Pacific University College of Technology and Innovation (UCTI) on 2021-11-30
Lijphart, Arend
lrd.yahooapis.com