Rajasthan Board RBSE Class 9 Social Science Notes Chapter 9 Constitution of India
- The Constitution may be of different types
- written
- unwritten
- evolved
- erected
- flexible, and
- rigid.
- The Constitution contains a chapter on the Fundamental Rights of the people and protects people from unjust laws by imposing limitations on the powers of the government.
- Till the beginning of the 20th century, the demand of the Constitution was associated with as a integral part of the demand of India’s Independence.
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi believed that the Indian Constitution should be framed according to the views of the Indians.
- In 1922, Gandhiji presented the demand of the Constitution. The Congress proposed for the Constituent Assembly in 1924. In July 1945, a new government of Labour party came to power in England which supported the possibility of Independent India and formation of the Constitution.
- In 1940, the demand of the Constitution was accepted first time by the British government in August Resolution.
- The Constitution Assembly was formed in July 1946 by the provision of the Cabinet Mission. It held its first meeting on 9 December 1946.
Formation of the Constitution Assembly
- The total strength of the Constitution Assembly was 389, out of these 296 were elected to represent British India and 93 seats to the Princely States. Out of 296 members, 292 members were to be elected by the provincial Legislatures while 4 members were to represent the four Chief Commissioner’s provinces of Delhi, Ajmer-Mewara, Coorg and British Baluchistan. 93 seats reserved for Princely States remained unfilled as they stayed away from the Constituent Assembly.
- The communal division of India was final on 3rd June 1947. Demand of Muslim League was accepted to make separate nation for Muslims. Hence, the Constituent Assembly was reorganized and seats were fixed 324. Finally 284 members signed the Indian Constitution. People from states joined the Assembly at different time. Hyderabad was the only state whose no representative joined the Assembly.
- A legal inauguration was held of Constituent assembly in Central Hall of the Parliament. In its first meeting, 211 members took part. Sachidanand Sinha was made the temporary President of the Constituent Assembly. On 11 December 1946 Dr. Rajendra Prasad was made the permanent President and B.N. Rao was made the legal advisor. On 13th December 1946 Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru presented the objective of the formation of Constituent Assembly. It was passed on 22nd January 1947. Many Samities were organized for the formation of the Constitution, among them Drafting Committee was the main.
Drafting Committee
- The Constituent Assembly appointed a Drafting Committee on 29th August, 1947.
- Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who was the Chairman of the Drafting Committee submitted first Draft of the Constitution of India to the President of the Assembly in February, 1948 and second draft in October 1948. Hence, he is known as the Father the of Indian Constitution.
- Drafting Committee with the chairmanship of Dr. Ambedkar took 2 years, 11 months and 18 days to prepare the Draft of the Constitution, 166 meetings of the Constituent Assembly were held.
- Drafting Committee published first Draft after a long discussion in February 1948, Indian people were given 8 months to think over it and to give suggestions. According to those suggestions and reforms, Draft was formed and presented in front of the Constituent Assembly.
Enactment of the Constitution
- Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the first Chairman of the Constituent Assembly. He gave approval to the Draft by the Constituent Assembly on 26th Nov. 1949.
- On this day it was adopted, enacted and handed over to ourselves. Its last meeting was held on 24th January 1950, that day it was signed by the members of the Constituent Assembly. It was enforced on 26th January 1950. The Constitution consists of a Preamble, 25 Parts, 465 Articles and 12 Schedules.
- The Constituent Assembly had done some important work other than formation of the Constitution like, in July 1947 the design of the National flag was adopted, in January 1950 National Song and National Anthem were adopted and Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the First President of Independent India. He took oath on 26th January 1950 with it. India originated in the form of the Republic Nation.
Preamble of the Constitution
The Preamble means an Introduction or a Preface of the Constitution. It is the soul and key to understand the Constitution. The Preamble of the Indian Constitution is based on the Objectives Resolution drafted and moved by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and adopted by the Constituent Assembly.
Characteristics of Indian Constitution
- Every Constitution is a mirror of ideals, dreams and values of its makers that an institution can achieve its objectives if the citizens are responsible and patriots.
- The Indian Constitution shows the fundamental nature of the society and the type of government in a country, e.g., India is a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular and Democratic Republic. These words are the ideals of the society.
- The Indian Constitution provides a chapter on the fundamental rights of the people and protects them from misuse of power by anybody.
- The key features of the Indian Constitution are in brief:
- World’s largest and detailed Constitution
- Federalism
- Parliamentary form of Government
- Separation of Powers
- Fundamental Rights
- Secularism
- Welfare State
Constitution Provisions
There are provisions in the Indian Constitution against discrimination and inequality. These are facilitated by Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties.
Fundamental Rights
- The Indian Constitution guarantees the following six Fundamental Rights to the citizens of India—
- Right to Equality
- Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression
- Right against Exploitation
- Right to Constitutional Remedies
- Right to Freedom of Religion
- Cultural and Education Rights
- The Right to Property was deleted from the list of Fundamental Rights by the 44th Amendment Act, 1978.
Directive Principles of State Policy
This section of the Constitution, dealing with the Directive Principles was designated by the members of the Constituent Assembly to describe the aims that the state must strive to achieve. It is regarded as the ‘Conscience of the Constitution’ covering Articles 36 to 51.
Fundamental Duties
Rights and duties are inter-related. For this purpose, the Fundamental Duties are included in the Indian Constitution by an Amendment in 1976. Though they cannot be enforced in the court of law, but they are taken into consideration by the judges. Hence, the Constitution of India has made it a secular and democratic country.
Timeline
- 1600 : Advent of the British East India Company in India for trading purpose
- 1922 : Gandhiji demanded the framing of the Constitution of India.
- 1925 : The proposal of framing the Indian Constitution was passed in the All Parties Conference
- 1935 : The British Parliament passed the Government of India Act.
- 1939 : The Second World War started
- 1940 : The demand of Constitution was accepted first time by the British.
- July 1945 : A new government of Labor Party came into power in England which supported the possibility of Independent India and formation of the Constitution.
- March 1946 : Cabinet Mission reached India
- 9 Dec. 1946 : The inauguration of the Indian Constituent Assembly in the central hall of the Parliament
- 11 Dec. 1946 : Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the permanent President of the Constituent Assembly.
- 13 Dec. 1946 : Pt. Nehru presented objective Motion in the Constituent Assembly.
- 3 June 1947 : Communal division of India was final by Mountbatten Plan.
- 22 July 1947 : The National Flag of India was adopted.
- 26 Dec. 1949 : The Constitution of India was completely framed.
- 26 Jan. 1950 : The Constitution came into force. Dr.Rajendra Prasad took the oath as the first President of Independent India.
Federalism: The word federal means the existence of more than one level of government. In India, we have the Union Government at the center and State Governments at the states through three lists i.e., Union list, States list and Concurrent list.
Sovereign: It refers to independent people in a democratic set up.
Constitution: A basic structure in form of set of documents on which the country is to be governed.
Constituent Assembly: The Assembly whose members are the representatives of the people and whose purpose is to draft a Constitution.
Habeas Corpus: A writ requiring that a prisoner be brought before a court.
Certiorari: Calling for records of a lower court or to remove a case from a lower court.
Constitutional Remedies: Protection provided by the Constitution against any exploitation