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History of Develeopment of Indian Constitution

History of Development

  • A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or the organs of a state are governed. It contains not only the fundamental principles of governance but also detailed administrative provisions.
  • Though Indian constitution is borrowed from almost every constitution of the world but it has a unique quality.
  • The present constitution of India was framed by the constituent Assembly of India set up under Cabinet Mission Plan of May 16, 1946.
  • Indian constitution is the largest written constitution all over the world.
  • After the battle of Plassey in 1757 and the battle of Buxar in 1764, the rule of British East India Company began in Bengal.

Regulating Act, 1773

  • By this act the British Government first controlled and regulated the affairs of East India Company.
  • By this act the Governor of Bengal became the Governor General of all the three Presidencies of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras.
  • By this act a Supreme Court was established in Calcutta in 1774.

Pits India Act, 1784

  • To rectify the Act of 1773 British parliament passed the Pits India Act of 1784.
  • It gave power to Board of Control to supervise all operation of the civil and military or avenues of the British rule in India.

Charter Act, 1833

  • The Governor General of Bengal became the Governor General of India by this act.
  • By this act the Governor General of India got the exclusive legislative powers over the entire British India.

Morle-Minto reforms and the Indian Council Act, 1909

  • By this act total no. of members in Indian Legislative Council increased from 16 to 60.
  • It accepted the concept of ‘Separate Electorate’ and provided community based electorate for Muslims. By this system Muslim members were to be elected only by Muslim voters. Which means the seed of separation was sowed here.
  • Thus the act is legalized and Lord Minto known as the Father of Communal Electorate.

Montague-Chelmsford Report and the Government of India Act, 1919

  • The ‘Bicameralism’ and direct election system were introduced in our country through this act.
  • The upper house was named the Council of State. In total there were 60 members out of which 34 were elected and rest were nominated by the British.
  • The lower house was named the Legislative Assembly.  In total there were 144 out of which 104 were elected and the rest were nominated by the British.

Government of India Act, 1935

  • Mainly the Indian Constitution is founded by the spirit of this act.
  • It provided for the establishment of an all India federation, taking the provinces and the Indian princely states as units.
  • It divides the legislative power between the Centre and Provinces.
  • It gave the Governor the power of executive authority of a Province.
  • The Governor was required to act with the advices of ministers responsible to the provincial legislatures.

Indian Independence Act, 1947

  • This act was announced by the British Parliament on 4th July 1947 and passed on 18th July 1947.
  • By this act the British rule of India ended and India was declared as an Independent and Sovereign Country from August 15, 1947.
  • It also provided for the partition of India and created another Country ‘Pakistan’.

Constituent Assembly and Making of Constitution

  • The constituent assembly was constituted in November 1946 under the Cabinet Mission Plan.
  • The total strength of this assembly was to be 389. Of this 296 seats were for British India and 93 seats for Princely States.
  • The first meeting of Constituent Assembly held on December 9, 1946 in the library house of Council Chamber in Delhi.
  • The oldest member Sachidananda Sinha was selected as the temporary president of the Assembly.
  • The Muslim League boycotted the meeting and insisted on a separate state of Pakistan.
  • Dr Rjendra Prasad was elected as the permanent president of the assembly on December 11, 1946.
  • ‘Objectives Resolution’ was moved in the assembly on December 13, 1946 by Jawaharlal Nehru.
  • On 22nd January 1947 the ‘Objectives Resolution’ was adopted and some committees were formed.
  • A resolution was passed by the drafting committee on August 29, 1947 to have a discussion on the draft framed by B. N. Rao.
  • Dr B.R. Ambedkar was Law Minister at that time & piloting the Drafting of the constitution in the assembly. For his crucial role in drafting the constitution he is also regarded as the father of the constitution.
  • After partition the strength of assembly decreased to 299.
  • After 3 reading of the draft the Constituent Assembly adopted the constitution on the day of 26 Nov, 1949. 284 members out of 299 members signed the document.
  • The constituent Assembly had 11 sessions. It continued for 2 years 11 months and 18days.
  • The constitution makers went through the constitution of 60 countries while working on the draft of Indian Constitution and the Constitutional Draft was considered for 114 days.
  • Rs 60 Lakh was the total expenditure for making the constitution.
  • Firstly the 15 schedule of constitution: 5,6,7,8,9,60,324,366,367,372,380,388,391,392 and 393 were passed on 26 Nov, 1949 and the rest were passed on January 26, 1950.
  • The last meeting of constituent Assembly held on Jan 24, 1950 and Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the first President of India.

Different Sources of Indian Constitution

Ireland

  • Process of Election of President,
  • Concept of Directive Principles of State Policy,
  • Nomination of the members of Rajya Sabha by the President

British

  • Bi-Cameral Parliamentary system,
  • Process of Law making,
  • Single Citizenship

USA

  • From here the concept of written constitution,
  • Independence of Judiciary and Judicial review,
  • Procedures regarding Supreme Court and High Court, removal of Supreme Court and High Court judges,
  • Fundamental Rights and Preamble

Canada

  • System of distribution of powers between Centre and states was taken. Residuary power lies with the centre.
  • Federation with a strong in Centre.

Weimar Constitution of Germany

  • Suspension of Fundamental Rights during emergency

Australia

  • Concept of Concurrent List,
  • The Language of Preamble

South Africa

  • Process of Parliamentary Amendments

Russia

  • Fundamental duties