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It is very well known that atoms are the basic structure of any material that exists on earth. With an eagle eye, it can be said that the whole earth is made of atoms. Keeping the law in mind and writing about the governance of a nation. One can compare an atom with a constitution. YES, Constitution is the atom of a nation. It forms the basic structure of any government. It lays down all legal, cultural, and all aspects under which its people are governed.
So this blog is all about the Constitution of our nation and its salient features
The constitution of India was framed by a constituent Assembly. This Assembly was an indirectly elected body. It had laid down certain ideals to be included in the constitution. These ideals included a commitment to democracy, guarantee to all the people of India-Justice, equality, and freedom. It had also proclaimed that India will be sovereign Democratic Republic.
The constitution of India begins with a Preamble. The Preamble contains the ideals, objectives, and basic principles of the constitution. The salient features of the constitution have evolved directly and indirectly from these objectives which flow from the preamble.
Constitution
A constitution means a document having a special legal sanctity which sets out the framework and principal functions of the government. The constitution of a country gives an idea about the basic structure of the political system under which its people are to be governed. It defines the powers of the main organs of the state, democrats their responsibility and regulates their relationship which each other and with the people. It can also be termed as the "Fundamental Law" of a country which reflects people's faith and aspirations.
Framing of the constitution
- The constitution of India was framed by a constituent Assembly set up under the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946.
- The Assembly consisted of 389 members representing provinces (292), states (93) the chief commissioner Provinces (3), and Baluchistan(1).
- The Assembly held its first meeting on December 9, 1946, and elect Dr. Sachhidanand Sinha, The oldest member of the Assembly as the Provisional President.
- On December 11, 1946, the Assembly elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as its permanent Chairman.
- The constitution assembly set up 13 committees for framing the constitution. On the basis of the reports of these committees, a draft of the constitution was prepared by a seven-member. Thus the Drafting committee was formed under the chairmanship of B.R.Ambekar.
- The draft constitution was published in January,1948 and people were given eight months to discuss the draft and propose amendments. After the draft was discussed by the people, the press, the provincial assemblies, and the constituent assembly kept the draft in light of suggestion, the same was finally adopted on November 26,1949, and was signed by the President of the Assembly.
- The constitution which exercised a profound influence on the Indian constitution were that of UK, USE, Ireland, Canada etc.
- The parliamentary system of the government, rule of law, law making procedure and single citizen were borrowed from the British Consitution.
- Independence of Judiciary, Judicial review, Fundamental rights, and guidelines for the removal of judges of the supreme court and High courts were adopted from the U.S Consitution.
- The federal system, with a strong central authority, was adopted from Canada.
- Directive Principles of State Policy were burrowed from the constitution of the Republic of Ireland.
- The idea of a concurrent list was borrowed from the Austrian constitution.
- The provisions relating to emerging were influenced by the Weimar constitution.
- Above all the government of India Act, 1935 exercised great influence on the Indian Constitution. The federal scheme, office of governors, powers of federal judiciary etc. were drawn from this act.
- In short, the Indian constitution incorporated the best features of several existing constitutions.
OBJECTIVES OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
- Resolve to proclaim India as an Independent Sovereign republic.
- To establish a democratic Union with an equal level of self-government for all the constituent parts.
- All power and authority of the union government and governments of the constituent parts are derived from the people.
- To guarantee and secure to all people of India. Justice, social, economic, and political.
- equality of status, of opportunity before law
- freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship, vacation association, and action.
- Adequate safeguards for minorities, backward and tribal areas, and depressed and other backward classes.
- To maintain the integrity of the territory of the Republic and its sovereign rights on land, sea, and air according to justice and law of civilized nations.
- To secure for India its rightful and honored place in the world.
- To contribute to the promotion of world peace and the welfare of mankind. These objectives incorporated in the Preamble of the constitution.
SALIENT FEATURES OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION
- The Bulkiest Constitution of the world.
- The constitution, originally consisting of 395 articles, now consisted of 470 articles divided into 5 parts and 12 schedules.
- Incorporation of good provisions of the constitution of other countries to avoid future loopholes.
- absence of separate constitutions for the state and provision of both central and structure in the constitution.
- incorporation of Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties, and Directives principles of state policy.
- Inclusive of emergency provisions in the constitution for the protection of the interests of the country and the people.
- codification of details regarding the center, state relation to eliminating future conflicts.
- Combination of Rigidity and Flexibility
- The Indian Constitution is a combination of rigidity and flexibility, while some provisions of the constitution can be amended by the parliament by a simple majority, other require a two-thirds majority of the members of the parliament as well as a majority in the state legislatures. Further flexibility is introduced in the constitution by the provisions which permit the parliament to supplement the provisions of the constitution by legislation.
- The parliamentary system of Government
- The constitution provides for a parliamentary system of government under which the real executive power rests.
- Executive power sets with the council of ministers and the President is only a nominal ruler. The council of ministers stays in office as longs as they enjoy the confidence of the parliament.
- Firstly, the system was already in existence in India, and people were well acquainted with its working.
- Secondly, the vast size of the country and the diversity of its culture necessitated to the adoption of a parliamentary form of government.
- The desire to avoid conflicts between the executive and the legislatures, which was a common feature in America also induced the members of the constituent assembly to opt for a parliamentary system.
- The federal system with a Unitary Bias
The Indian constitution provides for a federation with a strong centre. It is worthy to note that the constitution has not used the word 'federation', anywhen, and has described India as a 'Union of state',which implies that the Indian federation is not the result of any agreement among the units and the unites cannot secede from it.
- Fundamental Rights
The Constitution contains an elaborate list of fundamental rights. The state cannot make laws that take away or abridge any of the fundamental rights of the citizens.
If it does so, the courts can declare such laws as unconstitutional.
It may be noted that the fundamental rights granted by the constitution are not absolute and are subject to certain restrictions. In other words, the constitution seeks to strike a balance between individual liberty and social interest.
- Fundamental Duties
The constitution also contains a list of 10 fundamental duties of the citizens.
These duties were added to the constitution by the 42nd amendment in 1976. These duties serve as constant reminders to the citizen that they have to observe certain basic norms of democratic conduct.
- Directive Principles of state policy
The constitution outlines certain Directive Principles of state policy which the government has to keep in mind while formulating any policy. These principles seek to provide a social and economic basis for democracy and the establishment of a welfare state.
Unlike the fundamental Rights, the Directive Principles of state policy are non-Justice able, which implies that no action can be brought against the state before a court of law for its failure to implement the Directive Principles.
- Secular State
The constitution makes India a secular state. This means that there is no state religion and the state is completely detached from religious dogmas.
- Independent Judiciary
The constitution provides an independent judiciary which ensures that the government is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.
It acts as the guardian of the liberties and fundamental rights of the citizens. It determines the limits of the powers of the center and the state.
- People as the source of Authority
The Constitution draws its authority from the people and has been promulgated in the name of the people. This is evident from the preamble with states.
- Universal Adult Franchise
The constitution introduces a universal adult franchise and accords the right to vote to all citizens above 18 years of age without discrimination. However, it makes reservation of seats for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes to provide them adequate representation.
- Emergency Power
The constitution vests extraordinary powers in the President during emergencies arising out of armed rebellion or external aggression, an emergency due to breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state, and financial emergency where the credit of the country is threatened.
- Single Citizenship
It provides single citizenship. all persons residing in different parts of the country are treated as Indian Citizens and are entitled to the same sights of citizenship. There is no separate citizenship of different states.
- Bicameral Legislature
It provides a bicameral legislature at the center consisting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The former contains representatives of the people, while the latter contains representatives of the state.
- Special Provisions for minorities.
The constitution makes special provisions for minorities, scheduled castes, and Scheduled Tribes, etc. It not only reserves a seat for them in the parliament and state legislatures but also grants them certain special rights and privileges.
- Panchayati Raj
The constitution provides a constitutional basis to Panchayati Raj institutions as well as Urban local bodies. This was achieved through the seventy-third and seventy-fourth amendment to the constitution carried out in December 1992.
Landmark Judgments On Judicial Review
- In the case of MARBURY V. MADISON, the US supreme court in the year 1803 declared that the legislative actions can also be questioned by the judiciary even though there is no separate provision in the constitution of the USA providing the power of judicial review.
- In the case of KESAVANANDA BHARTI V. THE STATE OF KERALA, even though the court after agreeing that the parliament is not restricted to amend the constitution, also put a caveat of the doctrine of the basic structure. The court observed that the constitutional amendments have to be made only after considering the basic structure of the constitution.
The Indian Consitution has a lot of salient features which makes it special. The lawmakers have taken all the factors into consideration and have tried to accommodate all the differences in our country. The constitution rules and various rights provided in the constitution acts as a guardian to our citizens.
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