Indian Constitution
Module 1
SYLLABUS
• Necessity of the Constitution
• Societies before and after the
constitution adoption
• Introduction to the Indian
Constitution
• Making of the Constitution
• Role of the constituent Assembly
Indian Constitution
• The word Constitution originate from Latin word
called constituere, which means ‘to establish’
or ‘to construct’ or ‘to form’.
• The Constitution is the fundamental
law/supreme law of a nation that outlines the
powers and limitations of the government, and
the rights and duties of citizens.
• It is an essential document that sets the
framework for the governance of a country, and
serves as a safeguard against tyranny and abuse
of power
• It was adopted by the Constituent Assembly
of India on 26 November 1949 and became
effective on 26 January 1950
Necessity/Importance of the
Constitution
• To provide a set of basic rules that allow for minimal
coordination amongst members of society.
• To specify who has the power to make decisions in a
society. It decides how the government will be
constituted.
• To set some limits on what a government can
impose on its citizens. These limits are fundamental in
the sense that government may never trespass on
them.
• To enable the government to fulfil the aspirations of
a society and create conditions for a just society.
The Making of the Constitution
• Evolution of the Constitution
• Constituent Assembly
Constitutional Landmarks and
important Provisions
Constitutional Important Provisions
Landmarks
Regulating Act of 1773 Designated the Governor of Bengal as Governor General of
Bengal
First Governor General of Bengal – Lord Warren Hasting
Establishment of Supreme court in Calcutta (1774)
Pitt’s India Act of 1784 Distinguished the commercial and political function
Established Double Government – Board of Control (Political)
& Court of Directors (commercial)
Charter Act of 1833 Designated the Governor General of Bengal as Governor
General of India
First Governor General of India – Lord William Bentinck
End of East India Company
Charter Act of 1853 Created Central Legislative Council (CLC) which functions as
mini Parliament
Introduce open competition system to recruit civil servants
Government of India Changed the Governor General of India title to ‘Viceroy of
Act of 1858 India’
First Viceroy of India – Lord Canning
Indian Council Act of Gave ordinance making power to the Viceroy of India
1861
Constitutional Landmarks Important Provisions
Indian Council Act of 1892 Introduce indirect election
Enlarged function of Legislative Council
Indian Council Act of 1909 It associates Indians with Executive councils of the Viceroy of
(Morley - Minto Reforms ) India
Government of India Act of Introduced direct election – Provided voting rights based on
1919 (Montagu Chelmsford property, tax or education
Reforms) Formation of dual system of government – Dyarchy
Introduced Bicameralism at the centre
Established Central Public Service Commission in 1926
Government of India Act of Introduced three lists – Federal, state and concurrent subject
1935 list
Abolished Dyarchy in the provinces and introduced it at the
centre
Gave provincial Autonomy and established responsible
government at provinces
Establishment of Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
Indian Independence Act of Ended the British rule in India and declared India as
1947 Independent and sovereign state
Divided British India and created two independent dominions
Gave option for Indian princely states to join either India or
Pakistan or remain independently
Constituent Assembly
• Constituent Assembly means a group of persons
that draft a constitution for a country.
The historical development of the constituent
Assembly is as follows,
• 1934 – M N Roy was the first person to propose
a constituent assembly to frame constitution of
India
• 1935 – Indian National Congress (INC) officially
demanded for the creation of a constituent
Assembly to the British Government
• 1939 - C Rajagopalachari voiced the demand for a
constituent assembly
• 1940 – British Govt. accepted to form a Constituent
Assembly to frame the Constitution of India.
• 1946 - Under the provision of the Cabinet Mission
Plan -1946, the British Govt. created the Constituent
Assembly to frame the Constitution of India.
The strength of the Constituent Assembly was to be 389
- Partially Elected : 296 members (British India)
- Partially Nominated: 93 members (Princely State)
• Formally, the Constitution was made by the
Constituent Assembly which had been elected for
undivided India. It had its first sitting on 9 December
1946 and reassembled as Constituent Assembly for
divided India on 14th August 1947.
• 9th December 1946 – Dr. Sachchidanand Sinha
First President (Temporary) of Constituent
Assembly
• 11th December1946
- President: Dr. Rajendra Prasad
- Vice President: H C Mukherjee
- Constitutional Advisor: Sir. B N Rau
On 13th December 1946, the ‘Objective
Resolution’ was moved by Jawaharlal Nehru in
the Constituent Assembly and later accepted as the
Preamble to the Constitution in its modified form
• The Constituent Assembly also act as a legislative
organ till the first parliament was elected in 1951.
Important functions performed by Constituent
Assembly
- Confirm’s India’s membership in the
Commonwealth of Nations in May 1949
- It adopt the National flag on 22nd July 1947
- It adopted the National Anthem and National
Song on 24th January 1950
- It elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as the first
President of India on 24th January 1950
Constituent Assembly took ‘2 Year, 11 months and
18 days’ and 11 sessions to complete the process of
writing the constitution of India.
26th Nov. 1949 – The Constitution of India was
adopted.
It contains a Preamble, 22 Parts, 395 Articles and
8 Schedules on the day it was adopted.
It came into force on 26th January 1950
Republic Day – Commencement of the Constitution
of India
Drafting Committee
Members:
1. Dr. B R Ambedkar – Chairman
2. Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer
3. Dr. K M Munshi
4. T T Krishnamachari
5. N Madhava Rau
6. N Gopalaswamy Ayyangar
7. Sir Syed Muhammad Saadulla
Dr B R Ambedkar is recognised as the Father of the
Constitution of India or Chief Architect of the
Constitution
Thank You
