Salient Features of the Constitution of 1nd ia

After the passage of the Indian Independence Act, I 94 7, the Central

Legislature ceased to exist on the 14th August, 1947. _Henceforth, t~e
constiruent Assembly was to function as the Central Legislature of India
as wel1 until the new Constitution was framed and thereafter until a new
Legislature was constituted under the new Constitution. Thus, the constituent
Assembly, after independence, discharged a dual function constituent as well
as legislative.
The constituent Assembly set up a Drafting Committee under the
Chairmanship of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Shri B.N. Rao was the Constitutional
Adviser of the Committee and the conunittee consisted of M. Gopalaswami
Ayyangar, Alladi I<.rishnaswam1 Iyer, K.M. Munshi, T. T. Krishnan1achari,
Mohammed Sadullah, N. Madhav Rao and D.P. Kaithan. The draft prepared
by the Co1nmittee was fully discussed both in the Country and in the
Constituent Assembly. The Constitution vvas finally adopted on November
26, 1947 and came into effect on January 26, 1950. The first Parliament
and the first Legislature constituted under the Constitution of India started
functioning in 1952.

(1) The Lengtbiest \Vritten and Enacted Constitution:- The

Constitut!on o_f India. 1950 is the lengthiest Constitu'tion among the existing
Constitutions m the world then. ft is five times bigger than the Constitution
 U SA an d legaJ Syste,n fn Ind" 327
of the •a
n tim
Originally it con . seveof er tha . .
sisted 39 es bigg . . n th e Const1tut1on of France.
(2) The p reanibJ 5 ArticJ es d1v1ded • 2
in to 2 parts and 9 Schedules.
e as a G .
embodies the id ea1 aspira . lJJdance:- Th eamble to the Const1tut1on
. 110
ns of th e pr
'' the people
of India, having sol e111n1y r oJvede tPeople of . India th us: "\"e
t es
socJ•aJ.1s , secular' De lllocrar constitute I ndia • in·
O
, to a sovc.re1gn ,
ic, Re pu bJ secu re to all ·1 .
• o ic an d to s c1 t1zcns:
Justice, Social ' Ec nomic a d . I, Liberty f th
i
.
• • n Po ht ica
Behef, Faith and W
orship 0 ought, Expression.
Equality of status and of opport .
•
di gn ity of th e :1 ~ ,. An d to promote among them
e
all Fratem'.ty assuring th d1v1duaJ and the unity and
integnty
of the natwn.
embly "th.15
In our Constituent Ass t\t nt y- si xt h da y of November, J949
and gi ve to
do hereby adopt, enact ity ' ou rs e ve s th is Constitution". The words''
integr
,,.-""ialist secular and were added_late r (w.e.f• -1-1977) by the
3
~ ' endment) Act, 1976
Constitution (42nd Am .
en t· Th C . ho .
rm of G ov er nm n of In dia
(3) Parliamen• tary Fo .- e onstttu Centre and
en ta ry fo rm of go ve rnment both at the
established a Pa~ham ak er s of th e Constitution have followe
d
t th e m
the States. In this respec go ve rn m en t is re sp on sib le to the Legislature
to. The
the British model in to ad ul ts. Th e President is the constitution
al
el ec te d by
consisting o f the members ut iv e po w er is vested in the Council of
ex ec
..head o f the State. The reale Prime Minister. The Council of Ministers is
is th
'"'"'"-,.... • ters whose head w er H ou se (L ok Sabha). The members
th e Lo
•-···veJy responsible to th e pe op le directly for a period
of five
el ec te d by
Lok Sabha are bh a) co ns istin g of memb~rs elected
aj ya Sa
is Upper House (R ced
stem w ith a fe ,v m od ifications has been introdu
i:: =l ar sy or appointed by
h state shall have a govern State and he
head of the
~ th e constitutional
ers in that State.
e of the Council of Minist
India has granted
- The Constitution of
Jaws, freedom ~f
as equal protection of d reside and sett e
edom to follow
to move free!~ ~n
d:: against double
sembly and associa~on
freedom of person,edreom e f worship and
and fre f them o e ava1.labl e
ar
'0-/aws, te but they
Jn Part-Ill- Some o t absolu
~ rights are no
 . s in the World
328 Legal Syst em --
. . . . d by the Constitution. The Cons1itutio
are subJect to the 11•m1·tat10n impose n
. • in certain conditions.
.st0 .
provides for their supervi n
. . f State Policy:- A novel feature of Indian
(5) Directive Princi~>les of Chapter in Directive Principles of Stat
• • • h • clus1on o a e
Constitution 1s t e ~ . Articles 36 to 51) adopted with son1e modifications
Policy. (Part-N containing d The observance of these pr1nc1ples by
·tut'10n of Ire1an •
from the Constt . gislation on the subject mentioned in the
t while enacting 1e •
the govemn1en . d ential for the welfare of the people. These
C onstl·tu+.;uon 1·tself 1s deeme .
ess
·al econoniic and political principles whlch
. • 1 1 dO wn certain soc1 ,
pnnc1p es ay . . t by the union and state governments n
hould be taken into accoun ·- 1
s . d making the law. These pr1nc1ples are not
formulating the policy an
enforceable by the Court.
(6) Fundarnenta I O uties._ •
Certain fundamental duties of citizens
.
. d
of India towar s S· a e t t society and nature have been introduced in the
• •
Constitution o
f Ind·1a by the Cons ti tuti on (42nd Amendment) Act, 197 6 (Part
. " .
•
IV-A, A rt1c 1es 51 - A of the Constitution (we can call them as Ten Nat1ona1
Commandments ".
(7) Independent Judiciary and Conf~r~~tion of Previou~ Law:_-
The Constitution established an independent J ud1c1ary. It has been given \V1de
power and jurisdiction to protect the rights of the citizens and also of the
States. The salary of the judges has been fixed by the Constitution and
cannot be reduced during the tenn of their service. Special procedure has
been 1aid down for their removal. The Indian judiciary is a watchdog of
constitutional liberties guaranteed to the people of India.
The Independence of India, acquired up on 15th day of August in
1947, did not undermine the ideas established during the period of British
rule, nor did it endanger the legislation already enacted. The Constitution
of I 950 formally provides for the maintenance of the former law as per
Article 372 for the Constitution.

(8) Adult Suffrage:- Under the Indian Constitution every man and
woman ab~ve 18 years of age has been given the right to elect representatives
for t_he legislature. The adoption of the universal adult suffrage without any
qual1_fication either of sex, property, taxation, race, religion or the like is
a un1que one.

9
. ( ) SingJe Citizenship:- Every Indian is the citizen of India and
enJoys the same rights of citizenship no matter in what State (province)
he rcs1dc~ Recently j 1 c--·1 ·7 .
(NR!,;;), • • 'ua - h cnsh1p is provided for non-resident Ind'ia ns
 Legal Systen1 In J1u.Jia 3 29
(lO ) v,d,.. he
e Gr os s-R oo t De n1 oc ra cy :- Th e Co nst itu tio n hro t· ~s t
gu ide lin s reg .ad " ele cti on s etc reg ard ing the
g the pO \\'C rs, f un cu on s an d
pa nc ha ya ts r _1~ m Par-
~:u nic 1p ali ty' s ad mi nis tra tio n in Ar tic les 243 to 243 ZG
IX an d rx rd Am en dm en t) Act, 1992
and the
by the Co nst itu tio n (73
Co ns tit uti on 7
4 th Am en dm en t) Ac t 1992 \V. e.f . 1-6-1993
. . on s:- TI1e C onst1tu .
(IId) M. iscclJan eo us p ro v1 s1 t1on of India also
·ne . adm1n1~trative
conta l minute proV1•s1o ns rel ati ng to Centre-State, financia.l,
. r. vices
re I3t ion s, lre ed om t 0 tra d e, comn1erce an d 1ntcrcoursc, tnb un als , ser
d th U . cial prov1~1ons
nion an d the Sta tes , elections, official language, spe
un e: e Anglo-
rtain _c1 ass es i.e . sch ed ule d cas tes , sch ed ule d tnbes,
re1~ting to c_e
procedure of an1endments to le tl
hn gu ist 1c mi no rit ies , an d the
Ind1an. an.d
Const1tut1on etc.
Bl en d of lli gid ity an d Fl ex ib ili ty :- The Constitution
(12 ) Un iq ue es of
er fle xib le no r rig id. Ce rta in provisions \vh1ch are basic featur
is neith
provisions of the Constitution tnJ
y
ma y no t be ch an ge d. Ce rtain
Constitution ment; some of its provision
sim ple ma jor ity in the Pa rlia
be amended by the for
to the sp ec ial ma y be am ended by the special majority and
in addition jority the consent of half of
of so urc e of its pro vis ion s ma
the amendment
uired.
the State Legislature is also req
n
th Fe de ra l an d U ni ta ry :- Certain features of the Constitutio
(13) Bo
fin ite S\v ing to\ va rds un ita ry system though the basic
of India has a de lares
rem ain s fed era l in ch ara cte r Article 1 of the Constitution dec
structure union of states". The Indian
t is Bh ara t, sha 11 be the
that ..India, tha l
n ha s est ab lis he d a fed era l type of government. In a federa
Q,nstifl,ltio
fed era tin g un its ag ree to transfer some of the po\vers_ to
wamtent, the ign ty to the extent. The choice
s cu rta il the ir sov ere
~ an d thu
both for po1~tic~1 and
with a strong centre \Vas made the const1tut1on as
ff><> h the move to describe
ugsa t te, d "though India \Vas to be a ..l,
federa
States to JOt n
result of an agreement by the
tion not being the res ult of an agreemente,
. • • n becaus
ra e fed eratio n is a un1 0
from it. Th

, d •ng the time of

'unitary chara cte r ur1
a .d t to declare emergency
reo f whether
--~ nw er s the ~rest en art the
urity of India or ~ny ~nent dang
er thereof.
beJJion or 1mm1 ctions to the state
re . d.
preside nt can iss ue ire
330 Legal Systems in the '\\'orld

govemn1ents and thus he can e1npower the parliament to leg 1slate for whole
or any part of India with respect to any 1natter included in the State list
In such cases of en1ergency the States can be depnved of their autonom
Similarly, the union government can supersede the State govem1nent 1n l:
case when the constitutional n1ach1ne.ry fa1ls in the State. 1n the word:
of K.C. Wheare, "The new constitution.... established indeed a systern
of Government "vhich 1s at n1ost quasi-federal, almost devolutionary
1
character; a unitary State with subsidiary federal features rather than n
Federal State with subsidiary unitary fea tu res". a