Basics of Indian Constitution
Introduction: The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining
fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government
institutions, and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens. It is the longest
written constitution of any sovereign country in the world, containing 448 articles in 25 parts, 12
schedules. Besides the English version, there is an official Hindi translation.
The Constitution of a country sets out the fundamental canons of governance to be followed in that country
and also delineates the division of power, privileges and responsibilities between different organs of
government. The Indian Constitution, prepared after hectic deliberations by the Constituent Assembly, is
possibly the lengthiest document of its kind in the world and has far more detailed provisions than any other
comparable document. The tradition of having a written constitution started with the USA, which had
adopted the first-ever written constitution in the world, after the end of the Civil War there in 1776. Much
water has flown down the Ganges since. Still, England does not have a written constitution till date. The
British judiciary and other parts of the polity work on the basis of conventions that have been evolved after
centuries of collective experience. The Indian Constitution is the outcome of the debate, deliberations and
research of a sovereign Constituent Assembly. Various Subject Committees like the Committee on
Fundamental Rights and Union Constitution Committee had submitted their respective proposals and after
a general discussion on all the proposals, a Drafting Committee chaired by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar was
appointed. The Drafting Committee had the full authority to add, modify or delete any of the proposals
submitted by the committees. The finalized draft of the Indian Constitution got the signature of the President
of the Constituent Assembly, Dr. Rajender Prasad on Nov 26, 1949, which is referred to as the Date of
Passing. Since the Constituent Assembly, which finalized the Constitution was duly elected by means of
indirect election by the people of India, The Constitution of India derives its authority from the people of
India. The Constitution was thus enacted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, and
came into effect on 26 January 1950. The date 26 January was chosen to commemorate the Purna Swaraj
declaration of independence of 1930. With its adoption, the Union of India officially became the modern
and contemporary Republic of India and it replaced the Government of India Act 1935 as the country’s
fundamental governing document. The Indian Constitution has borrowed heavily from other constitutions
of the world and can be called a “beautiful patchwork”. India could not have afforded to experiment with
something entirely new at a crucial juncture in its history. So the founding fathers of the Indian Constitution
preferred to rely on the time-tested value of experience elsewhere and adopted those provisions which had
proved to be successful and workable in other countries. Some of the prominent features which have been
borrowed are as under.
Feature Source / Inspiration
1. Fundamental Rights USA
2. The Parliamentary System of Government UK
3. Directive Principles of State Policy Ireland (Eire)
4. Emergency Provisions Germany (Third Reich)
5. Amendment Procedure South Africa
6. Permeable To The Constitution of India France
7. Federal Model of Governance Canada
Salient Features of Constitution:
1. It is the longest written constitution in the world.
2. It proclaims India a Sovereign Democratic Republic.
3. Fundamental Rights are guaranteed to all citizens of India.
4. Directive Principles of State Policy are incorporated.
5. It established the parliamentary system of government, e., the President of the Union is the constitutional
head, the Council of Ministers or the Union Cabinet is the real executive and is responsible to the Lok
Sabha.
6. It is federal in form (in normal times) but unitary in spirit (in emergencies).
7. It is neither too rigid (as some provisions can be amended by a simple majority) nor flexible (as some
provisions require special majority for amendment).
8. It declares India a secular state.
