Indian Constitution — Making & Features
भारतीय संविधान — निर्माण, स्रोत और संशोधन
How the Constituent Assembly worked
Its key committees
| Committee | Chairman |
|---|---|
| Drafting | B. R. Ambedkar |
| Union Powers; Union Constitution | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| Provincial Constitution; Fundamental Rights and Minorities (Advisory) | Vallabhbhai Patel |
| Rules of Procedure; Steering | Rajendra Prasad |
Method — decisions by consensus and long debate; every clause was discussed in the open, and the record of the debates is itself read as a guide to the Constitution's meaning.
The trap: the Objectives Resolution was Nehru's; the Drafting Committee was Ambedkar's — both are 'fathers' of the text in different senses.
भारतीय संविधान — निर्माण, स्रोत और संशोधन
Where the Constitution borrowed from
| Source | What India took |
|---|---|
| Government of India Act, 1935 | the federal scheme, the office of Governor, emergency provisions, public service commissions — the largest single source |
| United Kingdom | parliamentary government, cabinet system, rule of law, single citizenship, bicameralism |
| United States | fundamental rights, judicial review, independence of the judiciary, impeachment of the President, the Vice-President |
| Ireland | Directive Principles, nomination to the Rajya Sabha, method of electing the President |
| Canada | a federation with a strong centre; residuary powers with the Union; Governors appointed by the Centre |
| Australia | the Concurrent List; joint sessions of both Houses |
| USSR | Fundamental Duties; ideals of social, economic and political justice |
| France | republic; liberty, equality, fraternity |
| South Africa | the procedure for amendment; election of Rajya Sabha members |
| Weimar Germany | suspension of rights during an emergency |
| Japan | 'procedure established by law' |
Borrowing was not copying: every idea was debated and adapted to Indian conditions.
The trap: the Directive Principles came from Ireland; judicial review from the USA; the Concurrent List from Australia.
भारतीय संविधान — निर्माण, स्रोत और संशोधन
Amending the Constitution — and the limits on amendment
Three ways to change it
| Method | Needed | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| simple majority of Parliament (outside Article 368) | an ordinary law | creating new states or altering boundaries (Articles 2–4), citizenship details |
| special majority (Article 368) | in each House, over half its total membership and two-thirds of those present and voting | most amendments — fundamental rights, directive principles |
| special majority plus ratification by half the states | the above, and resolutions of at least half the state legislatures | federal provisions — election of the President, the Union–state division of powers, representation of states in Parliament |
How far can Parliament amend?
| Case | Year | Held |
|---|---|---|
| Golaknath | 1967 | Parliament cannot amend fundamental rights |
| Kesavananda Bharati | 1973 | Parliament may amend any part, but not the basic structure — decided by a 13-judge bench |
| Minerva Mills | 1980 | limited amending power and the balance between rights and directive principles are themselves part of the basic structure |
The basic structure includes the supremacy of the Constitution, secularism, federalism, judicial review, free and fair elections and parliamentary democracy.
The trap: the basic structure doctrine comes from Kesavananda Bharati (1973) — Golaknath (1967) had said something narrower, and was overruled.
भारतीय संविधान — निर्माण, स्रोत और संशोधन
The text itself — and a Bihar case that changed it
Size and shape — the original Constitution had 395 articles in 22 parts and 8 schedules; it is the longest written constitution in the world, and now has twelve schedules.
| Schedule | Contains |
|---|---|
| First | states and union territories |
| Seventh | the Union, State and Concurrent lists |
| Eighth | the 22 recognised languages |
| Ninth | laws, mainly land reform, shielded from challenge on the ground of fundamental rights |
| Tenth | anti-defection |
| Eleventh | 29 subjects for panchayats |
| Twelfth | 18 subjects for municipalities |
Bihar and the First Amendment — the Bihar Land Reforms Act, 1950, the first law to abolish zamindari, was challenged by the Maharaja of Darbhanga, Kameshwar Singh, and the Patna High Court struck it down in 1951 as a violation of the right to equality. Parliament answered with the First Amendment (1951), which created the Ninth Schedule and protected land-reform laws; the Supreme Court upheld the Bihar Act in State of Bihar v. Kameshwar Singh (1952).
The trap: the Ninth Schedule was created by the First Amendment (1951) — to save land reform, not by the 42nd Amendment of 1976.
भारतीय संविधान — निर्माण, स्रोत और संशोधन
Points to Remember