The Indian Constitution

Constitution of India
 The Constitution of India or the Constitution of the Republic of India came in effect on January 26,
1950 and is the longest written constitution of any independent nation in the world. It contained 22
parts 395 articles and 12 schedules. It had a total of 117, 369 words in its English language
version.

History of the Constituion of India:

 At the end of World War II in Europe on May 9, 1945, a new government cam e to power in the
United Kingdom. This government announced to convene a constituent drafting body in India. A
team of ministers, called the Cabinet Mission, were sent to India to find solution to the question of
India’s independence.

 The Cabinet Mission discussed the framework and the procedure to be followed the drafting body.
With India’s independence, the Constituent Assembly a fully sovereign body and they began the
working from 9 December 1947.

 The Assembly had members belonging to different communities, regions and even from different
political persuasions of India. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the elected president and B.R. Ambedkar,
the chairman of the Drafting Committee.

 Over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days, before submitting the final copy of the
Constituion, the Constituent Assembly met for 166 days and the sessions were always open to
the pressure and the public.

Borrowed Features of Indian Constitution from other Constitutions:

British Constitution

 Parliamentary form of government

 The idea of single citizenship

 The idea of the Rule of law

 Institution of Speaker and his role

 Lawmaking procedure

United States Constituion

 Charter of Fundamental Rights, which is similar to the United States Bill of Rights

 Federal structure of government

 Power of Judicial Review and independence of the Judiciary

Irish Constitution

 Constitutional enunciation of the directive principles of State policy

French Constituion

 Ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity

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Canadian constitution

 A quasi-federal form of government (a federal system with a strong central government)

 The idea of Residual Powers

Australian Constitution

 The idea of the Concurrent list

 Freedom of trade and commerce within the country and between the states

Soviet Constitution USSR (Russia)

 The Planning Commission and Five-Year Plans

 Fundamental Duties

Preamble:
The Preamble highlights few fundamental values and guiding principles on which the Constitution of India
is based. It serves as the guiding light for both, the Constitution as well as the judges who interpret the
Constituion in its light. The opening few words of the Preamble – “We, the people”- signified that the
power is vested in the hands of the people of India. The Preamble is as follows:

We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a sovereign socialist secular
democratic republic and to secure to all its citizens:
 Justice, social economic and political;
 Liberty of though, expression, belief, faith and worship;
 Equality of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all
 Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation

In our constituent assembly this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, to Hereby adopt, enact and give to
ourselves this constitution.

Initially the preamble was not the part of the constitution of India but the Supreme Court, in the case of
‘Keshavanand Bharat v. State of Kerala’ found it to be part of the Constitution and can be used in interpret
ambiguous areas of the Constituion. The words “SOCIALIST” and “SECULAR" were introduced in 42nd
amendment act 1976.

IMPORTANT PARTS AND Articles

Part I – consists of Articles 1 – 4 on the Union and its Territory

Part II – consists of Articles 5 – 11 on Citizenship.

Part – III – consists of Articles 12 – 35 on Fundamental Rights.

 Articles 14 – 18 on Right to Equality,

 Articles 19 – 22 on Right to Freedom,
 Articles 23 – 24 on Right against Exploitation,
 Articles 25 – 28 on Right to Freedom of Religion,
 Articles 29 – 31 on Cultural and Educational Rights,
 Articles 32 – 35 on Right to Constitutional Remedies.

Part IV –consists of Articles 36 – 51 on Directive Principles of State Policy.

Part IV (A) – consists of Article 51 A-Fundamental Duties of each citizen of India.

Part IX – consists of Articles on the Panchayat system

Part IXA – Consists of Articles on Municipalities.

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Chapter IV – Article 300 A on the Right to Property

Part XVII – consists of Articles on Official Language

Part XVII- consists of Articles on Emergency Provisions

 Articles 352 – 359 on Emergency Provisions
 Articles 359 A – Repealed – Replaced by the Constitution (Sixty-third Amendment) Act, 1989
 Article 360 – on Provision as to financial emergency.

IMPORTANT SCHEDULE
First Schedule: List of the States and Union Territories in list I & List II

Seventh Schedule: Gives allocation of powers and functions between Union & States. It contains 3 lists
Union List: 100 Subjects.
States List: 61 Subjects
Concurrent List: 52 subjects

Eighth Schedule: 22 languages recognized by the Constituion: 1. Assamese, 2. Bengali, 3. Gujarati, 4.

Hindi, 5. Kannada, 6. Kashmiri, 7. Malayalam, 8. Marathi, 9. Oriya, 10. Punjabi, 11. Sanskrit, 12. Sindhi,
13. Tamil, 14. Telugu, 15, Urdu, 16. Konkani, 17. Manipuri, 18. Nepali. 19. Bodo, 20. Dongri 21. Maithili 22.
Santhali

Tenth Schedule: It contains the Anti-defection Act.

Eleventh Schedule: 73rd amendment in 1992. Contains provisions of Panchayati Raj.

Twelfth Schedule: 74th amendment in 192. Contains provisions of Municipal Corporation.

IMPORTANT AMENDMENTS
42nd Amendment Act, 1976: It was enacted during the period of internal emergency. It was passed by
parliament on November 11, 1976 and received Presidential assent on December 18, 1976.

The Amendment established beyond doubt the supremacy of Parliament over the other wings of
Government; gave the Directive Principles precedence over the Fundamental Rights; enumerated for the
first time a set of ten Fundamental Duties. If further imposed limits on the power and jurisdiction of the
judiciary; raised to term of the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha from five to six years; authorized the use
of Central armed forces in any State to deal with law and order problems, made the President bound by
the advice of the Council of Ministers and envisaged the establishment of administrative tribunals for
service matters of Government employees and also other tribunals for economic offences. The Act also
clearly laid down that no Constitutional Amendment could be questioned in any court of law.

43rd Amendment Act, 1978: It received the Presidential assent on April 13, 1978. This Act repeals the
obnoxious provisions of the Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act passed during the Emergency. It restores
civil liberties by deleting Article 3ID which gave powers to Parliament to curtail even legitimate trade union
activity under the guise of legislation for the prevention of anti-national activities. The new law, which was
ratified by more than half of the States in accordance with the Constituion, also restores legislative powers
to the States to make appropriate provision for anti-national activities consistent with the Fundamental
Rights. Under the Act, the judiciary has also been restored to its rightful place. The Supreme Court will
now have power to invalidate State laws, a power taken away by the 42 nd Amendment Act. The High
Courts will also be able to go into the question of constitutional validity of Central laws thereby enabling
persons living in distant places to obtain speedy justice without having to come to the Supreme Court.

44th Amendment Act, 1978: The Act removes major distortions in the Constitution introduced during the
Emergency. The duration of the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies has been reduced from six
to five years––the normal term which was extended during the Emergency under the 42 nd Amendment to
achieve some political purposes. The Right to Property ceases to be a Fundamental Right and becomes
only a legal right. Any proclamation of emergency need henceforward be issued by the President only
after receiving the advice of the Cabinet as a whole in writing. The President will nto be called upon to act
on the basis of advice by the Prime Minister on his own without consulting his Cabinet. Other Safeguards
provide that the proclamation will have to be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the members of both
Houses of Parliament within a month. Safeguards against future subversion of the Constituion for

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establishing an authoritarian regime. It contains provisions which are designed to make it impossible to
impose the kind of emergency the country had experienced for 19 months.

52nd Amendment Act, 1985: The Act has made defection to another party, after elections illegal. Any
member defecting to another party after elections will be disqualified from being Member of Parliament or
State Legislature.

61st Amendment Act, 1989: It lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.

73rd Amendment Act, 1992: To ensure direct election to all seats in Panchayats; to reserve seats for SCs
and STs in proportion to their population; and for reservation of not less than one third of the seats in
Panchayats for women.

74th Amendment Act, 1992: was made to ensure direct election to all seats in Nagarpalikas and
Municipalities.

76th Amendment Act, 1994: It relates to the Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutes and of
appointments or posts in the services under a State, for Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes. The Supreme Court had ruled on November 16, 1992, that the total reservations under
Article 16(40) of the Constituion should not exceed 50 per cent.

86th Amendment Act, 2002: Provides Rights to Education until the age of 14 and early childhood care
until the age of 6.
101 st Amendment Act of 2017: Good and Service Tax.

IMPORTANT ARTICLES OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUION

Art. 1- Name and territory of the union.
Art. 2- Admission and Establishment of the new state.
Art.5- Citizenship at the commencement of the constitution.
Art. 14-equality before the law.
Art. 15-Prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex. Or place of Birth.
Art. 16-Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment.
Art. 17-Abolition of the untouchability.
Art. 19-Guarantees to all the citizen the six rights.
Art. 20-Protection in respect of conviction for offences.
Art. 21-Protection of life and personal liberty.
Art. 21-A Right to eliminatory education
Art. 24 -Prohibition of employment of children in factories and mines. Under age of 14.
Art. 25-Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.
Art. 26-Freedom to manage religious affairs.
Art. 27-Freedom as to pay taxes for promotion of any particular religion.
Art. 28-Freedom from attending religious instruction.
Art. 29-Protection of interest of minorities.
Art. 30-Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions.
Art. 31-Right to Property
Art.32–Remedies for enforcement of Fundamental Rights.
Art. 45-Provision for free and compulsory education for children
Art. 46-Promotion of educational and economic interest of scheduled castes. ST, and OBC.
Art.51A-It contains, originally 10 duties, now it contains 11 duties by 86 th amendment act 2002.
Art. 72-Pradoning power of President.
Art.-76 Attorney-General for India.
Art.110-“Money Bills”
Art. 137-Review of judgments or orders by the Supreme court. (Judicial Review)
Art. 148-Comptroller and Auditor-General of India
Art. 149-Duties and Powers of CAG.
Art.300-A-Right to property.
Art. 338-National Commission for the SC, & ST.
Art. 352-Proclamation of emergency (National Emergency).
Art. 356-State Emergency
Art. 360-Financial Emergency
Art.370-Special provision of J & K

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Facts About Constitution
1. Every documents presented and every word spoken in the constituents assembly has been
recorded and preserved. These are called ‘Constituent Assembly Debates’

2. Indian constituent Assembly had 299 members belonging to different regions in the country. Two
women members were also there –Sarojini Naidu and Vijay Laxmi Pandit

3. B. R Ambedkar is known as father of Indian Constituion.

4. Currently it has 448 articles, 12 schedules, 5 appendices and 101 amendments and 25 parts.
Initially it had 395 articles, 8 schedules, 22 parts.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which country has the lengthiest constitution in the world?

(A) United States (B) France
(C) India (D) Japan

2. Which of the three words were added later to the preamble?

(A) Justice, Liberty, Equality (B) Socialist, Republic, Justice
(C) Sovereign, Fraternity, Political (D) Secular, Socialist, integrity

3. Which famous case involved the term “ basic structure” of the constitutions?
(A) Keshavanand Bharati Vs State of Kerala (1973)
(B) Maneka Gandhi Vs Union of India (1978)
(C) Vishakha Vs State of Rajasthan (1977)
(D) Indra Sauterne Vas Union of India (1992)

4. Which articles in the constitution grants us the right to equality?

(A) Article 14 – 18 (B) Article 23 – 24
(C) Article 32 (D) Article 368

5. Which articles in the constitution grants us the Right to Freedom?

(A) Article 14 -18 (B) Article 19 – 22
(C) Article 32 (D) 368

6. Which articles in the constitution grants us the right against exploitation?

(A) Article 14 – 18 (B) Article 23 – 24
(C) Article 32 (D) Article 368

7. The feature of ‘Concurrent list’ in our constitution is borrowed from which country’s constitution?
(A) Japan (B) Ireland
(C) United States (D) Australia

8. Which Constitutional Amendment added the part of fundamental duties to the constitution?
(A) 42nd Constitutional Amendment (B) 62nd Constitutional Amendment
(C) 78th Constitutional Amendment (D) 34th Constitutional Amendment

9. The parliamentary form of Government is borrowed from:

(A) British form of Government (B) United States
(C) Japanese form of Government (D) Australian form of Government

10. The idea of Fundamental Rights and Judicial Review is borrowed from
(A) British form of Government (B) United States
(C) Japanese form of Government (D) Australian form of Government

11. The idea of ‘Directive Principles of state Policy’ is borrowed from

(A) Ireland (B) United States
(C) British (D) Canada

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12. The concept of suspension of fundamental rights during Emergency is taken from
(A) Wiemar constitution of Germany (B) United states
(C) Japan (D) Australia

13. The ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity are taken from
(A) United States (B) Spain
(C) Greece (D) France

14. Which schedule contains the provisions relating to the administration and control of scheduled
area and scheduled tribes?
(A) 4th schedule (B) 5th schedule
(C) 6th schedule (D) 7th schedule

15. Which schedule in the Indian Constitution specifies the powers, authority and responsibilities of
Panchayats?
(A) 4th schedule (B) 6th schedule
th
(C) 7 schedule (D) 11th schedule

16. By which constitutional amendment was the voting age brought down from 21 to 18?
(A) 37th constitutional amendment of 1985 (B) 61st constitutional amendment of 1988
th
(C) 56 amendment of 1993 (D) 46th constitutional amendment of 1985

17. What can be rightly said about the Indian constitution?

(A) It is fully rigid (B) It is fully flexible
(C) Partly rigid, partly flexible (D) Neither rigid, nor flexible

18. In which case was it declared that the Preamble is a part of the Constituion?
(A) Kesavananda Bhart Vs State of Kerala (1973)
(B) Meneka Gandhi Vs Union of India (1978)
(C) Vishakha Vs State of Rajasthan (1997)
(D) Indra Swahney Vs Union of India (1992)

19. What form of Government does India follows?

(A) Presidential system with President as most important authority
(B) Fully Federal structure
(C) Federal system of Government but showing a unitary bias.
(D) None of these

20. What does the word “Sovereign” mean?

(A) Absolutely Independent
(B) System of political economy that ensure equitable distribution of wealth and protects from
exploitation
(C) Having no official state religion and granting every citizen the right to freely follow any religion
(D) having a democratic form of Government

21. What does the word “socialist” mean?

(A) Absolutely Independent
(B) System of political economy that ensures equitable distribution of wealth and portects
(C) Having no official state religion
(D) Having a democratic form of Government

22. What does the word “ Republic” Mean?

(A) Absolutely independent
(B) Head of the state is elected by the citizens and is not hereditary
(C) Having no official state religion
(D) Having a democratic form of Government

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23. What does the world “secular” mean?
(A) Absolutely Independent
(B) System of political economy that ensures equitable distribution of wealth and protect from
exploitation
(C) Having no official religion for state and granting every citizen the right to freely follow any
religion of his or her choice
(D) Granting equal voting rights to every single citizen of the nation

24. What does the word ”Democratic” mean?

(A) Absolutely Independent
(B) System of political economy that ensures equitable distribution of wealth and protects from
exploitation
(C) Having no official state religion
(D) Granting equal voting rights to very single citizen of the nation

25. Which of the following schedules of the constitution of India has to be amended to provide for the
formation of a new state?
(A) 1st schedule (B) 2nd schedule
rd
(C) 3 schedule (D) 9th schedule

26. Who among the following was the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of Constituion?
(A) C. Rajagopalachari (B) B R Ambedkar
(C) Jawaharlal Nehru (D) Rajendra Prasad

27. Who proposed the Preamble before the Drafting Committee of the Constituion?
(A) Jawaharlal Nehru (B) B. R Ambedkar
(C) B N Rao (D) Mahatma Gandhi

28. Which part consists of articles on the Panchayat system?

(A) Part I (B) Part III
(C) Part IV (D) Part IX

29. How many subjects are there in the state list?

(A) 100 (B) 61
(C) 52 (D) 57

30. Which article in the constitution signifies the state emergency?

(A) Article 356 (B) Article 137
(C) Article 360 (D) Article 370

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Multiple Choice Questions
1. C 9. A 17. C 25. A
2. D 10. B 18. A 26. B
3. A 11. A 19. C 27. A
4. A 12. A 20. A 28. D
5. B 13. D 21. B 29. B
6. B 14. B 22. B 30. A
7. D 15. D 23. C
8. A 16. B 24. D

Hints & solutions

1. C
2. D
These words were added through the 42nd amendment Act in 1976
3. A
In this famous case the court gave us the famous doctrine of “structure” that dictated that the
constitution can’t be changed beyond a certain limit.
4. A
This includes: equality before law, social equality and equal access to public area, equality in
matters of public employment, abolition of untouchability, abolition of titles
5. B
This includes: freedom of speech and expression, freedom to assemble peacefully, freedom to
form associations or unions, freedom to more freely throughout the territory of India, freedom to
line and settle in any part of the territory of India, freedom to practice any profession or to carry on
any occupation, trade or business.
6. B
This includes: eradication of human trafficking and forced labour (beggar), abolition of
employment of children below the age of 14 years in dangerous jobs like factories and mines
etc.
7. D
8. A
The fundamental duties were added to the constitution by the 42 nd Amendment in 1976, upon the
recommendations of the Swaran Singh Committee
9. A
10. B
11. A
12. A
There have been 3 incidences when the emergency was declared in India. Indo-China war, Indo-
Pak war, and when Indira Gandhi declared threat to national security due to internal distrubances.
13. D
14. B
As per article 244 (1), “The provisions of schedule 5 th schedule shall apply to the administration
and the control of the scheduled areas and scheduled tribes in any state other than the states of
Assam, Meghalaya’s, Tripura and Mizoram.”
15. D
16. B
This is change was brought about by amending article 326 of the constitution and the bill for this
purpose was introduced by B. Shankaranand, the then minister of water resources.
17. C
To achieve the balance of challenging modernity without losing right of out most fundamental
ideals, out constitution contains rigidity and flexibility at the same time. For some provisions, there
needs to be a special priority for the Amendment to be passed whereas for other parts one can
introduce an Amendment with just a simple majority
18. A
This is probably the most landmark case in Indian judicial history, and the length of the
Judgement delivered is also record, it was around 800 pages long and had more than 4, 20, 000
words. The doctrine of ‘basic structure’ came into being after this case.
19. C

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This part is borrowed from the Canadian form of Government that also shows strong bias towards
the center. Other features of this form of Government include appointment of state governor by
the center, vesting residual powers with the center etc.
20. A
21. B
22. B
23. C
24. D
25. A
26. B
27. A
28. D
29. B
Earlier it had 66 subjects but recently there are 61 subjects in state list
30. A
Art 356 explains the state emergency

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