Indian Constitution: History and sources

 

Indian Constitution: History and sources:

The constitution of a country sets the basic structure of the political system under which its people are to be governed. Precisely discussing India, the ancient, rich cultured and the nation symbolized for love, peace, and compassion and in the eventful history of this country, the two-century-old British rule of India ended on 15th of August 1947, and political authority was transferred to the people of India.

The Indian Constitution is the longest handwritten constitution in the world and originally had 22-parts, 8 schedules, and 395 Articles, and took 2 years 11 months, and 18 days to complete, It was adopted on 26 November 1949, although it was completely adopted and, came into force from 26 January 1950, one of the reasons for this was the declaration of Purna Swaraj on 26 January 1930.

Although the concept of democracy, representative institutions, and rule of law, etc. was not alien to India as the Rigveda and Atharvaveda mention Sabha (Mahasabha) and committee house of elders. However, it can be traced the history of the development of the contemporary Indian Constitution from 1601, when the East Indian Company, which came to India as merchants, received its first charter of 1601 by the Queen of England. As per Charter 1601, the Company was given the power to make, organize and make such and so many appropriate laws, constitutions, orders, and ordinances for the good governance of the Company. The legislative powers of the Company were very limited in their scope and character. Later, similar legislative powers were designed and ratified by the Charters of 1609, 1661, and later by Charter 1693, which enabled the company to regulate its business and maintain discipline among its employees. The Charter of 1726 was of great importance as the courts of mayors were established for the first time in India in three presidencies – Bombay Madras and Calcutta to introduce English laws in India. But even then, the British were not the ruling power in India, and it was only in the late 17th century, when the Company was awarded the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa and the British administration of civil justice developed. This led to the mis-administration of Indian affairs by the Company's officials, who amassed huge wealth and fled to England, leaving the East India Company on the verge of bankruptcy. In 1772 a secret committee was appointed by the British Parliament which uncovered many defects and shortcomings in the administration of the Company. Thereafter, to regulate the affairs of the East India Company the Parliament passed the Regulation Act of 1773.

In order to frame the Indian Constitution, the Constituent Assembly was formed under the Cabinet Mission Plan 1946, even before the complete transfer of power affected by the Indian Independence Act 1947. As per the Recommendation of the Cabinet mission plan, Constituent assembly formed of the members who were indirectly elected by the members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies.

The arrangements were in the form of 389 seats (93 princely and 292 provincial legislative assemblies and 4 chief commissioners elected through the provinces). However, after the split by virtue of the Indian Independence act 1947 partition, the number of members in the Legislative Assembly came down to 299. The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly was held on 9 December 1946, and Shri Sachidananda Sinha was elected as the first Chairman. The second meeting was held on December 11, 1946, in which Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected the president.

Initially, the Assembly was not a sovereign body but was subject to the ultimate authority of the British Parliament.  To assume power on behalf of the Government of India as it was converted into a sovereign body by virtue of the Indian Independence Act 1947 that heralded a complete change in its character, the constituent assembly was reassembled on 14 August 1947.

The Constitution should not be interpreted as a mere law, but as the mechanism by which laws are made. The Constitution of India consists of 1) preamble 2) parts-XXII, Article 1- 395 and; 3) Schedules 1-12 and Appendix.

Source of inspiration	Feature that inspired
Government of India Act 1935	Federal System, Office of Governor, Public service Commission, emergency (however this was adopted by Germany), Judiciary and executives
British Constitution	Parliamentary system, Single citizenship , Rule of law, Bi-cameral system , cabinet and writs from Britain (although many of inspiration were also from Indian Government act 1919)
Ireland’s constitution	DPSP (Directive Principal to State Policy), Nomination of the Rajya sabha members and election of president.
Russian Constitution	fundamental duties and Social, Political and Economic Justice as enumerated in preamble.
U.S. Constitution	Preamble, Fundamental rights (From Bill of Rights), Free judiciary , Impeachment, vice president ex-officio chairman of Council of state(Rajya sabha), President as Executive head and the Supreme commander of Armed Forces, and removal of Supreme court and High Court Judges.
South Africa constitution	to amend the constitution, and election of the members of Rajya sabha
Australian Constitution	Joint assembly, free trade and concurrent list
Canada Constitution	Federal government with strong center, appointment of Governor, Residuary power lies with center, Advisory jurisdiction of Supreme court.
Germany constitution	Suspension of Fundamental rights during emergency.
Japanese Constitution	Procedure Established by law
French Constitution	Enumerated in preamble , Republic and the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity.