Constituent Assembly & Making of the Indian Constitution

Introduction

The idea of a constituent assembly was first proposed by M.N. Roy, an Indian revolutionary and founder of the Indian Communist Party.
In 1935, the Indian National Congress (INC) officially called for a constituent assembly to frame a constitution for India.
In 1938, Jawahar Lal Nehru stated that the constitution of free India must be framed by a constituent assembly elected on the basis of adult franchise, without outside interference.
The British accepted the demand for a constituent assembly for the first time through the 'August Offer' of 1940.
Eventually, a constituent assembly was established under the provisions of the Cabinet Mission plan.
A constituent assembly is a body of representatives elected to create or change a country's constitution.

Composition of the Constituent Assembly

Constituted in 1946.
Total strength of the assembly: 389.
- 296 seats for British India.
- 93 seats for princely states.
Seats were allocated in proportion to the respective population.
Representatives of each community were elected by members of that community in the provincial legislative assembly using proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.
Representatives of princely states were nominated by the heads of these princely states.
Important observations regarding the composition:
- Partly elected and partly nominated.
- Indirect election by provincial assemblies who were elected on a limited franchise.
- Included representatives from all sections of society through an indirect mode of election.

Working of the Constituent Assembly

The first meeting was held on December 9, 1946.
The Muslim League did not participate in the first meeting.
Acting chairman of the first meeting: Dr. Sachchidanand Sinha.
After elections, Dr. Rajendra Prasad and H.C. Mukherjee were elected as the President and Vice-President of the Assembly, respectively.
B.N. Rau was the Constitutional Advisor of the Assembly.
After the Mountbatten plan was passed, even members of the Muslim League who were part of Indian territory participated in the proceedings.
Members of princely states who had initially stayed away also participated.
The Constituent Assembly held 11 sessions over two years, 11 months, and 18 days.
The last session of the Constituent Assembly was held on January 24, 1950.

Objective Resolution

Moved by Nehru in December 1946.
It laid down the fundamentals and philosophy of the constitutional structure.
The resolution highlighted the following objectives:
- Free India would be a republic.
- The ideal of social, political, and economic democracy would be guaranteed to all people.
- The republic would grant Fundamental Rights.
- The state would safeguard the rights of minorities and backward classes.
The Constituent Assembly acted as the temporary legislature until a new one was constituted.
- Functions performed at this stage:
  - Ratification of India’s membership of the Commonwealth.
  - Adoption of the national flag.
  - Adoption of the national anthem.
  - Adoption of a national song.
  - Electing Dr. Rajendra Prasad as the first President of India.

Drafting Committee

Formed on August 29, 1947, with 7 members.
Chairman: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
6 other members: K.M. Munshi, Syed Md. Saadullah, N. Madhav Rau, Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar, N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar, and T.T. Krishnamachari.
The Drafting Committee worked for 6 months and presented its first draft in February 1948.
The Indian people were given 8 months to debate the draft/document and offer revisions.
Based on modifications, suggestions, and criticism, the Drafting Committee presented its second draft in October 1948.
The final draft was presented by B.R. Ambedkar on November 4, 1948, which was debated and discussed for the next 32 days.
Originally, the Constitution of India consisted of 395 Articles, 12 Schedules, and 22 Parts.

Independence Act of 1947/Mountbatten Plan

Accepted the partition of India & formation of two dominions - India & Pakistan.
The Constituent Assembly was recognized as an independent & sovereign body.
Total seats of the constituent assembly reduced from 389 to 299 because some provinces of undivided India went to Pakistan.
The CA also became a legislative body, therefore, the CA is often known as India’s first Parliament.
When the CA gathered as a drafting body for the constitution, it was presided by Dr. Rajendra Prasad.
When the CA gathered as a legislative body it was presided by G. V. Mavlankar.
Both functions went on till November 1949.
To avoid any misconduct or mismanagement, the CA had several committees out of which 8 were the most important.
Out of these 8, the most important was the DRAFTING COMMITTEE which played a crucial role in drafting the Constitution of INDIA as it exists today.

Enactment & Enforcement of the Indian Constitution

The Constitution was adopted on November 26, 1949, after it was endorsed by 284 members and the President of the Constituent Assembly; celebrated as the Constitution Day.
India was declared a REPUBLIC on January 26, 1950.
This day was chosen because, on this date in 1929, the INC issued the declaration of POORNA SWARAJ (complete independence) after the Lahore session.
In the final meeting of the Constituent Assembly on January 24, 1950, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the first President of independent India.
The Constituent Assembly functioned as an interim parliament until the first general elections were declared in 1951.
Other accomplishments of the CA:
- Adopting the present national flag (July 22, 1947).
- Adopting the National Anthem and National Song (January 24, 1950).
- The original copy of the CONSTITUTION were both handwritten in Hindi & English by Prem Bihari Narayan Raizada which took him 6 months.
- Nandalal Bose (a famous painter from Shantiniketan) decorated the pages.

15 Women Members of the CA

Ammu Swaminathan
Dakshayani Velayudhan
Begum Aizaz Rasul
Durgabai Deshmukh
Hansa Jivraj Mehta
Kamla Chaudhary
Leela Roy
Malati Choudhury
Purnima Banerjee
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
Renuka Ray
Sarojini Naidu
Sucheta Kriplani
Vijalakshami Pandit
Annie Mascarene

Challenges Before the Constituent Assembly

The country had several different communities that spoke different languages, practiced different religions, and had distinct cultures.
The country was going through constitutional turmoil; partition was imminent, and some princely states remained undecided about their future.
The socio-economic condition of the vast population appeared dismal.
Poverty was a significant challenge, especially after the partition.
The final document reflects concerns about eradicating poverty by emphasizing people's right to choose their representatives.

Contributions Made by the CA to Frame the Constitution of India

The constituent assembly was formed to set up a democratic government in India.
The Assembly held its first meeting on 9 December 1946 and met periodically for the next three years to frame the Constitution.
Contributions made by the assembly are:
1. The decision to grant Universal Adult Franchise to all men and women above 18 was historic.
2. Including Fundamental Rights as an essential feature of the constitution.
  - Fundamental Rights grant certain rights to people, like equality to all and freedom of speech.
  - Any person whose rights are neglected can move to the Supreme Court.
3. Federalism.
  - Seeing the vastness of our country’s size and population, the assembly established a federal system of government i.e. division of powers between the centre and states.
4. Abolition of all forms of discrimination of caste and creed, the abolition of untouchability.
5. Equal rights under the law for Indian women and full social and economic freedom for them, too.

A CRITIQUE OF THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY

Critics have criticized the Constituent Assembly on various grounds.
- It was deemed not to be a representative body because the members were not directly elected by the people of India on the basis of a universal adult franchise.
- The Constituent Assembly was not a Sovereign Body because it was created on the proposal of the British government. Also, the session was held with the permission of the British Government
- The Constituent Assembly took a long time to make the Constitution in comparison to other nations like the American constitution took only four months to prepare its constitution.
- The Constituent Assembly saw a huge dominance by Congress. Granville Austin, a British Constitutional expert, remarked: ‘The Constituent Assembly was a one-party body in an essentially one-party country. The Assembly was the Congress and the Congress was India’.
- The Constituent Assembly was alleged to be a Hindu-dominated body. Winston Churchill commented that the Constituent Assembly represented ‘only one major community in India’.
- All the sections of the society were not sufficiently represented in the Constituent Assembly. It was majorly dominated by lawyers and politicians.

Preamble

A preamble is an introductory statement in a document that explains the document’s philosophy and objectives.
A Constitution presents the intention of its framers, the history behind its creation, and the core values and principles of the nation.
The preamble gives an idea of the following things/objects:
- Source of the Constitution.
- Nature of Indian State.
- Statement of its objectives.
- Date of its adoption.

History of the Preamble

The ideals behind the Preamble to India’s Constitution were laid down by Jawaharlal Nehru’s Objectives Resolution.
Although not enforceable in court, the Preamble states the objectives of the Constitution and acts as an aid during the interpretation of the Articles when language is found ambiguous.
Components of the Preamble
- It is indicated by the Preamble that the source of authority of the Constitution lies with the people of India.
- The Preamble declares India a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic, republic.
- The objectives stated by the Preamble are to secure justice, liberty, and equality for all citizens and promote fraternity to maintain the unity and integrity of the nation.
- The date mentioned in the preamble is when it was adopted, i.e. , November 26, 1949.
  - The concept of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity in our Preamble was adopted from the French Motto of the French Revolution.

Key Terms

We, the people of India:
- It indicates the ultimate sovereignty of the people of India.
- Sovereignty means the independent authority of the State, not being subject to the control of any other State or external power.
Sovereign:
- The term means that India has its own independent authority and it is not a dominion of any other external power.
- In the country, the legislature can make laws subject to certain limitations.
Socialist:
- The term means achieving socialist ends through democratic means.
- It holds faith in a mixed economy where both private and public sectors co-exist.
- It was added in the Preamble by the 42nd Amendment, 1976.
Secular:
- The term means that all the religions in India get equal respect, protection, and support from the state.
- It was incorporated in the Preamble by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment, 1976.
Democratic:
- The term implies that the Constitution of India has an established form of Constitution that gets its authority from the will of the people expressed in an election.
Republic:
- The term indicates that the head of the state is elected by the people.

42nd Amendment Act, 1976

After the judgment of the Kesavanand Bharati case, it was accepted that the preamble is part of the Constitution.
As a part of the Constitution, the preamble can be amended under ARTICLE 368 of the Constitution, but the basic structure of the preamble can not be amended.
The terms ‘Socialist’, ‘Secular’, and ‘Integrity’ were added to the preamble through the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976.
‘Socialist’ and ‘Secular’ were added between ‘Sovereign’ and ‘Democratic’.
‘Unity of the Nation’ was changed to ‘Unity and Integrity of the Nation’.