The

Constitution of
India

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 Backgrounder
• Constituent Assembly – Dr Rajendra Prasad (INC);
1946
• First Sitting – Dec. 9, 1946
• Drafting Committee – Dr B. R. Ambedkar (SCF)
• Adopted on Nov. 26, 1949; enforced on Jan. 26,
1950
– Poorna Swaraj Diwas
– First President took oath of office
 Backgrounder
• Originally had 395 Articles in 22 Parts & 12
Schedules

• Currently, there are 448 Articles in 25 Parts, 12

Schedules, over 100 Amendments
 Salient Features
• Supreme law of India
• Imparts constitutional supremacy (parliament
cannot override Constitution)
• Lays down framework for political structure,
procedures, powers & duties of government &
constitutional entities
• Lays down fundamental rights and duties as
well as directive principles of citizens
• describes India as a ‘Union of States’. No state
can secede from the Union. Though the states are
constituent units, the Union is not a result of any
agreement among the states
 Salient features
• Longest written constitution in the world

• Parliament cannot override the constitution

• Establishes a parliamentary system of government

both at the Centre and in the states

• guarantees universal adult franchise

• empowers the citizens of India with Fundamental

Rights

• lays down the Directive Principles of State Policy

 Salient features
• provides for a bicameral legislature called the
Parliament

• provision for Fundamental Duties

• provides for an independent judiciary

• provides for single citizenship, special provisions

for the Scheduled Tribes and the Scheduled
Castes, Emergency provisions
 Salient features

• declares India to be a secular state, which means

that India has no state religion

• partly rigid and partly flexible. The Constitution is

rigid insofar as the basic structure is concerned as
it cannot be amended. Also certain amendments
require 2/3 majority and states’ ratification.
 Preamble
• The Preamble to the Constitution of India summarises
the aims and objectives that embody the philosophy of
this noble document.

• The Preamble was amended for the first and last time in
1976 – added words – socialist & secular – to the
preamble

• The Preamble declares in unequivocal terms that the

source of all authority under the Constitution is the
people of India and there is no subordination to any
external authority.

• The Preamble is not enforceable in a court of law.

 Schedules
• Schedule One deals with the territories of the 29 states and
7 Union Territories of the Indian Union.

• Schedule Two prescribes the salary payable to the

President, state Governor, Chief Justice of India, Judges of
the Supreme Court and High Courts, the Comptroller and
Auditor-General, and other constitutional functionaries.

• Schedule Three lays down the oaths and affirmations to be

administered to MPs, MLAs, Union Ministers, Judges of the
Supreme Court and High Courts, etc.
 Schedules
• Schedule Four allocates seats for each state of the Union in
Rajya Sabha.

• Schedule Five contains the provisions as to the

administration and control of Scheduled Areas and
Scheduled Tribes.

• Schedule Six deals with the provisions regarding

administration of tribal areas in the states of Assam,
Meghalaya, and Mizoram.

• Schedule Seven lays down the subjects for legislation into

three lists - Union List, State List, and Concurrent List.
 Schedules
• Schedule Eight lists down the 22 official languages of India as recognised
by the Constitution.

• Schedule Nine lay down land reform laws; open to judicial challenge since
1999.

• Schedule Ten lays down stringent Anti-Defection norms, added in 1985 by

52nd Amendment. It details the reasons for disqualification on grounds of
defection between political parties.

• Schedule Eleven lists out the functions and powers of the Panchayati Raj
institutions. It was added by the73rd Amendment to the Constitution.

• Schedule Twelve enumerates the issues and subjects that are the
responsibility of the municipalities (nagarpalikas). It was added by the
74th Amendment to the Constitution.
 Fundamental Rights
• Right to Equality – Articles 14-18
• Right to Freedom – Articles 19-22
• Right Against Exploitation – Articles 23-24
• Right to Freedom of Religion – Articles 25-28
• Cultural and Educational Rights – Articles 29-30
• Right to Constitutional Remedies – Articles 32

FRs are justiciable!

• Right to equality: equality of opportunity in matters of employment,

• Right to freedom: Which includes freedom of speech and expression,

assembly, and right to practice any profession or occupation, right to
life and liberty, protection in respect to conviction in offences and
protection against arrest and detention in certain cases.
• Right to Privacy: Which is an intrinsic part of Article 21 that protects
life and liberty of the citizens
•

• Right to freedom of religion: Which includes freedom of conscience

and free profession, practice, and propagation of religion, freedom to
manage religious affairs, freedom from certain taxes and freedom
from religious instructions in certain educational institutes.
•
Cultural and Educational rights: Preserve the right of any section of
citizens to conserve their culture, language or script, and right of
minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their
choice.
 Directive Principles of State
Policy
“Ideals that the State should keep in mind while
formulating policies and enacting laws”
Examples:
- Provide free legal aid to poor
- Secure the right to work
- Organize village panchayats
- Prohibit consumption of intoxicating drinks
- Uniform civil code
- Protect and improve environment
- To promote monuments, places of historic importance
DPSPs are NOT justiciable!
 Fundamental Duties
• Added to the Constitution in 1976
• Inspired by USSR
• Mostly found in ‘socialistic’ nations

Few Examples:
- Respect national flag and national anthem
- Uphold and protect the integrity of India
- Safeguard public property
- Promote harmony and brotherhood

“RIGHTS NEED TO BE BALANCED WITH DUTIES”

 Emergency Provisions
• Emergency due to war, external aggression, or armed
rebellion (Article 352)

• Failure of Constitutional machinery in the state (Article

356), and

• Financial Emergency (Article 360). This is declared when

there is a threat to the financial stability or credit of the
country.
 Amendment Procedure
• First, certain provisions of the Constitution can be amended
by Parliament by simple majority, in both Houses of
Parliament.

• For instance, Parliament may, by ordinary law, form a new

state out of an existing state(s), increase or decrease the
area of any state, alter the name of any state, etc.

• Other examples are creation / abolition of Legislative

Council in the states, qualifications and requisites for
citizenship, etc.
 Amendment Procedure
• Second, certain specific provisions of the Constitution can
be amended by a special procedure. These provisions relate
to the election of the President, representation of states in
Parliament, the lists of subjects in the Seventh Schedule,
the relationship between the Centre and the states,
Supreme Court and High Courts, and the process of
Constitutional amendment.

• Such provisions can be amended only if they are (a) passed

by a majority of each House of Parliament and by a majority
of not less than two-thirds of the members present and
voting in each House, and (b) ratified by the Legislatures in
half of the States. Only after the Bill is ratified by the states,
the Bill is presented to the President for his assent.
 Amendment Procedure
• Third, the rest of the Constitution can be
amended by a special majority, i.e., the Bill
would have to be passed by the two Houses
of Parliament by a majority of total
membership and a two-thirds majority of
members present and voting in each House.
The Bill is then presented to the President
for his assent.