The Preamble of the Indian Constitution

Introduction:

A preamble of a bill is an introductory part of the document which explains the purpose,
rules, regulations, and philosophy of the document. A preamble gives a brief introduction of
documents by highlighting the principles and fundamental values of the document. It shows
the source of the authority of the document.

The preamble of the Constitution of India is an introduction of the Constitution which

includes the sets of rules and regulations to guide the people of the country. The inspiration
and the motto of the citizens are explained in it. The preamble can be considered as the
beginning of the Constitution which highlights the base of the Constitution.

Preamble:

“WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN
SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens

JUSTICE, social, economic and political;

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith, and worship;

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this 26th day of November 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT
AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION”.

The preamble is also known as the spirit and backbone of the Indian Constitution. Not reading
the preamble makes no sense in reading the Constitution. It is the preamble which gives a
brief idea about why the constitution has been prepared. The preamble can be classified into
three parts:

According to the first part, the people of India solemnly resolved India into a “Sovereign,
Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic”. Each and every word of the preamble is wisely
chosen and arranged in such a way that by reading, the preamble makes a clear picture of
India’s stand towards its citizen.

The second part says to secure the liberty, equality, justice and to promote unity and integrity
among all.

The last part is declaratory, where the people of India in their constituent assembly adopt,
enacted and gave themselves this constitution on 26 November 1949.

Meaning and Concept of Preamble:

The preamble is the introduction to the statutes i.e. introduction to the constitution. A
preamble means a declaration made by the legislature with the objective for the passing of
the statute and is helpful in the interpretation of any of the statute.

The proper function of the preamble is to explain the meaning of some words and recite
certain facts which are necessary to be explained. A preamble may be used for other reasons,
such as, to limit the scope of certain expression or to explain facts or introduce definitions.

Scope of Preamble:

The preamble plays a very important role in shaping the destiny of the country. The preamble
gives a brief idea to the makers of the constitution so that the constituent assembly makes
plans and formulates the constitution. The main purpose of the preamble is to clarify the idea
behind the constitution, i.e. what is the source, what are the ultimate goals and objectives
behind it. In Re Berubari Union case (AIR 1960 SC), the Supreme Court has said that the
Preamble to the Constitution is a key to open the mind of the makers, and shows the general
purpose for which they made the several provisions in the Constitution.

The preamble does not grant any power to anyone but it gives the structure on which the
Indian Constitution stands like:

1. The country should be “Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic”.

2. The government should be elected by the people, for the people, and of the people.
3. The real sovereign power should be vested on the people of India.
4. The people should get Justice, Liberty and Equality.
History of Preamble:

It is the American Constitution which introduced first time to the world about written
Constitution and placed preamble in the introductory part. The concept of written
Constitution, Preamble and first lines of the Preamble i.e. “we the people” are borrowed from
the American Constitution. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru gave the idea about the placing of Preamble
in the Indian Constitution like American Constitution. The main preamble was drafted by Shri
B.N. Rau and later proposed in the constituent assembly. The basic structure of the preamble
includes ‘Sovereign, Democratic, Republic’ but later the words ‘Secular and Socialist’ and
‘integrity’ were included by 42nd Amendment Act, 1976. The preamble was restricted only to
defining the essential features of the constitution and country, due to this, the questions
were raised on the preamble as to whether the preamble is a part of the constitution or not.

Content of Preamble:

The words included in the preamble are wisely selected and the arrangement of the terms
and their order clearly define their significance and participation in the making of the
constitution. The main terms in the Preamble:

“We, the people of India”, the term we the people clearly states the participation of the
citizen of the country; It defines that the sovereign authorities are the citizen of India. It clears
the fact that all power vested in the government is given by the people themselves. It is the
citizen who chooses the government. The term ‘We the people of India’ says that the authors
of the constitution are the people.

Actually, the question of whether and how every citizen voted for the constitution? The
people/ citizen do not directly vote because it is impossible for the millions of the people to
take a direct part in the procedure of making the constitution. The constitution was made by
the representatives of the people, in the name of the people.

Sovereignty: The term sovereignty means the supreme and absolute power. The power can
be real or nominal. The concept of sovereignty is taken from Article 5 of the Constitution of
Ireland. Sovereignty means India is the supreme power and no other nation can rule or imply
their dominance in the country. The people of India are the sovereign power of India they
transfer their power to their elected representative.
India became a Sovereign country on 26th January 1950, having equal status with the other
members of the international community, and has decided to remain in the Commonwealth
of Nations and UNO and it does not affect its sovereignty.

Socialist: The term socialist was included in the constitution by the 42nd Amendment.
Generally socialist means a political-economic system. The main reason why the term was
inserted in the preamble was to provide the equality in opportunity and a better life for the
people and give the brief to the makers so that they can make the constitution by keeping the
concept of socialist in mind. In general, however, the word means some form of ownership of
the means of production and distribution by the state. The degree of state control will
determine whether it is democratic state or socialist state. India, has however selected its
own brand of socialism i.e. mixed economy.

In D.S. Nakara v. Union of India, AIR 1983 SC, The court observed that the basic reason to
include the term Socialist was to brief the makers so that they can make provision of the
constitution which provide a decent life to the citizen and especially security from cradle to
the grave. This is a blend of Marxism and Gandhism leaning heavily towards Gandhian
Socialism. This is the type of socialism which we wish to establish in our country.

Secular: The word secular means a State which does not recognise any religion as a state
religion. Secular word was inserted through the 42nd Amendment in 1976 the word secular
means that India does not has any religion and treats all the religions equally, and with equal
respect. The individual is free to choose his religion. It does not mean that India is an
aesthetic state or anti-religion it is just because in India millions of people of different religion
reside, and India as a secular state respects their religion but does not follows any religion nor
interferes in their practice.

In St. Xavier’s College v. the State of Gujarat, , AIR 1974 SC, The Supreme Court, in this case,
explains that the concept of secularism. It does not mean anti-religion but it means that the
state will respect every religion and should not interfere in their practices but does not follow
any religion.

In S. R. Bommai v. Union of India, (1994) SCC 1, it was held that “Secularism is the basic
feature of the Constitution”.
Democratic: The term democracy is derived from the Greek word ‘Demo’ which means the
people and ‘Kratos’ which means authority. According to Abraham Lincon - Democracy means
government by the people, of the people, for the people. It is the form of the government in
which people elect their representative and indirectly participate in government activities.
Thus, the real power is in the hands of the people of India both in the union and the States.

Democracy can be direct or indirect. In a direct democracy, every people have the voting
power not only in selecting the government but also in changing the constitution. In an
indirect democracy, people have a right to vote and select their representative and those
representatives represent the citizens in the administration.

In Union of India v. Association for Democratic Reforms , AIR 1974 SC The court observed that
democracy is the important essential of a welfare state; the people should get a chance to
elect their leader who can act for the people. Democracy is the political concept in which the
people directly or through their representative give their involvement in the administration.

Republic: The concept of Republic means that there shall be an elected head of the state that
will be the chief executed head. Republic means the people of the state having the supreme
power and they transfer their power to their representative by appointing him as the head of
the state. It is completely different from the concept of monarchy, in monarchy the king, the
queen then their child becomes the head of the state i.e. hereditary is being followed, but in
the concept of a republic, the state is headed by the head of the state elected by the citizen.
In India the head of the state is known as the President and who is elected for the term of five
years.

Objectives enshrined in the Preamble: the following are the objectives which the Preamble
secures to every citizen of India:-

Justice – social, economic and political;

Liberty – of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

Equality – of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all;

Fraternity – assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation.
Justice:

The concept of justice was inserted in the preamble to secure its citizens political, social and
economic justice. Generally, the term justice means to secure the people from all sorts of
inequalities like wealth, opportunity, race, religion etc, and their economic interest like equal
work, payment for their works, maternity relief, banning of forced labour etc.

In Air India Statutory Corporation v. United Labour Union , AIR 1997 SC, The court observed
that the aim of justice is to secure the political, social, economic interest of the citizen and
provide the opportunity and standard of life and allow them to live with dignity.

Liberty: Liberty means Freedom. The term Liberty was included as to secure the freedom of
the people of their belief, thought, faith, worship etc. it is essential to provide liberty to the
citizen for their personal growth, and restrict the state from unlawful interference in the
freedom of the citizen and it therefore promises to secure the same to its citizens in the
Preamble. In Meyer v. Nebraska In this case, the court observed that the term liberty does
not mean absolute freedom, but the freedom with some lawful social control in order to
protect the interest of other people.

Equality: The concept of equality means each and every citizen of the country is equal and
the state will work on the concept of equality before the law. Every person should have equal
opportunity for work, equality in their status i.e. no discrimination on basis of religion, race,
caste, sex (Art. 15); equality of opportunity in public employment (Art. 16); by abolition of
untouchability (Art. 17); by abolishing titles of honour (Art. 18) etc. It is important for a
country to treat its citizen equally for the development of the person and bring the best out
of him.

Fraternity: Generally, fraternity means the spirit of brotherhood. The concept of the
fraternity was introduced so that people feel that all people of the same soil, the same
motherland are their brothers and sisters and are equal in status. India is the country having
diversities based on religion, race, and caste so it is important to promote the spirit of
brotherhood among them all.

Gandhi ji described as “The India of my Dream”, namely – “an India, in which the poorest shall
feel that it is their country in whose making they have an effective voice; an India in which all
communities live in perfect harmony”.
Whether preamble is a part of the Constitution and can be amended under Article 368?

It has been the matter of argument and discussion that whether the preamble is a part of the
constitution or not. There are two cases that provide the idea about the status of the
Preamble:

Re-Beruberi Case, 1960 SC:

Under this case, the eight Judges’ bench observed that even though the preamble serves as
an introduction to the constitution and no doubt it is a concept which opens the mind of the
makers and helps them in making a constitution that does not mean that the preamble is the
part of the constitution and therefore it could never be regarded as a source of any
substantive powers. Such powers are expressly granted in the body of Constitution.

Kesavananda Bharati case: This case creates a new history of the constitution the thirteen
Judges’ bench held that Preamble is a part of the Constitution as:

1. The preamble is an introduction of the constitution.

2. The preamble is not a source of power but played an important role in the
interpretation of the statutes.

Amendment in the Preamble:

In Kesavananda Bharti v. State of Kerala, AIR 1973 the Supreme Court declared the Preamble
to be a part of the Constitution and therefore on this point the Berubari case was wrong. It is
clear that it can be amended under Article 368 of the Indian Constitution but subject to this
condition that the “basic features” in the in the Preamble cannot be amended. If any of these
elements are removed the structure will not survive and it will not be the same Constitution
and cannot maintain its identity.

The Preamble declares that the people of India resolved to constitute their country into a
Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic and Republic. No one can suggest that these words
and expressions are ambiguous in any manner. An amending power cannot be interpreted so
as to confer power on the Parliament to take away any of these fundamental and basic
characteristics of policy. The amending power cannot change the Constitution in such a way
that it cease to be a ‘Sovereign Democratic Republic’. It can only be done by wrecking
Constitution.
42nd Amendment Act, 1976:

The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 was the first act ever to amend the preamble of the
Constitution. The words, ‘Socialist’, ‘Secular’, and ‘Integrity’ were added to the preamble to
protect economic justice and eliminate discrimination whatsoever. Through this amendment,
‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ were added between ‘sovereign’ and ‘democratic’, and ‘Unity of the
Nation’ was changed to ‘Unity and Integrity of the Nation’.

So, in the end, the preamble of the Constitution is considered a beautiful preface to the
document as it contains all the basic information like the objective and philosophy of the
Constitution.

Conclusion:

The preamble is the introduction to the statutes i.e. introduction to the constitution. A
preamble means a declaration made by the legislature with the objective for the passing of
the statute and is helpful in the interpretation of any of the statute. The preamble plays a
very important role in shaping the destiny of the country.

The only question raised about the scope of the preamble is whether it is the part of the
constitution or not? But in Kesavananda Bharti Case, the thirteen Judges’ constitutional
bench gave its judgment and declared the preamble is a part of the constitution. The
preamble does not grant any power to anyone but it gives the structure on which the
constitution stands like, the country should be “Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic,
Republic”, the government should be elected by the people, for the people, and of the
people, the real sovereign power should be vested in the people of India, the people should
get Justice, Liberty and Equality.