Making of the Constitution

Demand for a Constituent Assembly

• 1934: M.N. Roy proposed the idea.
• 1935: INC officially demanded a Constituent Assembly.
• 1938: Jawaharlal Nehru (INC) stated the Constitution of free India must be framed by a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of adult franchise, without outside interference.
• 1940: 'August Offer' - British Government accepted the demand in principle.
• 1942: Sir Stafford Cripps came with a draft proposal, but it was rejected by the Muslim League.
• Cabinet Mission: Rejected the idea of two Constituent Assemblies but proposed a scheme for one that satisfied the Muslim League.

Composition of the Constituent Assembly

• Formed in November 1946 under the Cabinet Mission Plan.
• Features of the Scheme:
  1. Total Strength: 389 (296 British India, 93 Princely States)
     • British India: 292 from governors' provinces, 4 from chief commissioners' provinces.
  2. Allocation: Seats allotted proportionally to population; roughly one seat per million.
  3. British Province Seats: Divided among Muslims, Sikhs, and General (excluding Muslims and Sikhs) proportionally.
  4. Representatives: Elected by members of their respective community in the provincial legislative assembly using proportional representation by single transferable vote.
  5. Princely States: Representatives nominated by the heads of the princely states.
• Partly elected, partly nominated body. Indirect election via provincial assemblies. Limited franchise.
• Elections (for 296 British India seats) held in July-August 1946.
  • INC: 208 seats
  • Muslim League: 73 seats
  • Small groups & Independents: 15 seats
• Princely states (93 seats) initially stayed away.
• Comprised representatives of all sections of Indian society, except Mahatma Gandhi.

Working of the Constituent Assembly

• First Meeting: December 9, 1946. Muslim League boycotted. Attended by 207 members.
• Temporary Chairman: Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha (oldest member)
• Permanent Chairman (President): Dr. Rajendra Prasad (elected December 11, 1946).
• Vice-President: H.C. Mukherjee (elected January 25, 1947), later V. T. Krishnamachari (elected July 16, 1947) as second Vice-President.

Objectives Resolution

• Moved by Jawaharlal Nehru on December 13, 1946.

• Key Points:

  1. Declare India as Independent Sovereign Republic, to draw up a Constitution.
  2. Union of territories: British India, Indian States, and other willing territories.
  3. Territories retain status of autonomous units with residuary powers.
  4. Power derived from the people.
  5. Guarantee and secure justice (social, economic, political), equality, freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship, etc.
  6. Adequate safeguards for minorities, backward and tribal areas, and depressed classes.
  7. Maintain integrity of the Republic and its sovereign rights.
  8. India to attain its rightful place and contribute to world peace.

• Unanimously adopted on January 22, 1947. Influenced the Constitution, modified version is the Preamble.

Changes by the Independence Act

• Princely states gradually joined the Assembly.
• Muslim League members from the Indian Dominion entered.
• Indian Independence Act of 1947 brought changes:
  1. Assembly became fully sovereign. Could abrogate or alter any law made by the British Parliament.
  2. Assembly became a legislative body.
     • Two Functions: Constitution-making and Enacting ordinary laws. Performed on separate days.
     • First Parliament of free India (Dominion Legislature).
     • Dr. Rajendra Prasad chaired when functioning as Constituent body.
     • G.V. Mavlankar chaired when functioning as legislative body.
  3. Muslim League members (from Pakistan areas) withdrew. Total strength reduced to 299.

Other Functions Performed

• Ratified India's membership of the Commonwealth in May 1949.
• Adopted the national flag on July 22, 1947.
• Adopted the national anthem on January 24, 1950.
• Adopted the national song on January 24, 1950.
• Elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as the first President of India on January 24, 1950.
• 11 sessions in total (2 years, 11 months, 18 days).
  Constitutions of about 60 countries were gone through, and the Draft Constitution was considered for 114 days.
• Total expenditure: ₹64 lakh.
• Final session: January 24, 1950. Continued as provisional parliament until new Parliament formed in 1951-52.

Committees of the Constituent Assembly

• To deal with tasks of constitution-making.
• 8 Major Committees.

Committee	Chairman
Union Powers Committee	Jawaharlal Nehru
Union Constitution Committee	Jawaharlal Nehru
Provincial Constitution Committee	Sardar Patel
Drafting Committee	Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas	Sardar Patel
Rules of Procedure Committee	Dr. Rajendra Prasad
States Committee (Negotiating with States)	Jawaharlal Nehru
Steering Committee	Dr. Rajendra Prasad

• Advisory Committee Sub-Committees:

  • Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee - J.B. Kripalani
  • Minorities Sub-Committee - H.C. Mukherjee
  • North-East Frontier Tribal Areas and Assam Excluded & Partially Excluded Areas Sub-Committee – Gopinath Bardoloi
  • Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas (other than those in Assam) Sub-Committee - A.V. Thakkar

• Minor Committees.

Committee	Chairman
Finance and Staff Committee	Dr. Rajendra Prasad
Credentials Committee	Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar
House Committee	B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya
Order of Business Committee	Dr. K.M. Munshi

• Drafting Committee (August 29, 1947): Entrusted with preparing the draft Constitution. 7 members:

Member	Role
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar	Chairman
N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar
Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar
Dr. K.M. Munshi
Syed Mohammad Saadullah
N. Madhava Rau	Replaced B.L. Mitter
T.T. Krishnamachari	Replaced D.P. Khaitan

• First draft published in February 1948.
• Second draft published in October 1948.

Enactment of the Constitution

• Final draft introduced by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on November 4, 1948.
• Assembly had general discussion for five days.
• Second reading (clause by clause consideration) started on November 15, 1948, and ended on October 17, 1949. 7653 amendments proposed, 2473 actually discussed.
• Third reading started on November 14, 1949.
• Motion to pass the Constitution was passed on November 26, 1949, and received signatures.
• 284 members present and signed.
• Date mentioned in the Preamble.
• Constitution (November 26, 1949): Preamble, 395 Articles, 8 Schedules. The Preamble was enacted after the entire Constitution.
• Dr. B.R. Ambedkar piloted the Draft Constitution. Recognized as 'Father of the Constitution of India'.

Enforcement of the Constitution

• November 26, 1949: Provisions on citizenship, elections, provisional parliament, temporary and transitional provisions, and short title (Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 60, 324, 366, 367, 379, 380, 388, 391, 392 and 393) came into force.
• January 26, 1950: Remaining provisions came into force. Celebrated as Republic Day.
• January 26 chosen due to historical importance (Purna Swaraj day in 1930).
• Indian Independence Act of 1947 and Government of India Act of 1935 were repealed.
• Abolition of Privy Council Jurisdiction Act (1949) continued.

Experts Committee of the Congress

• Appointed on July 8, 1946, by the Congress Party to prepare material for the Constituent Assembly.
• Members:
  • Jawaharlal Nehru (Chairman)
  • M. Asaf Ali
  • K.M. Munshi
  • N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar
  • K.T. Shah
  • D.R. Gadgil
  • Humayun Kabir
  • K. Santhanam
• Krishna Kripalani co-opted as member and convener.
• Granville Austin: "It was the Congress Experts Committee that set India on the road to her present Constitution".

Criticism of the Constituent Assembly

1. Not a Representative Body: Members not directly elected by universal adult franchise.
2. Not a Sovereign Body: Created by the proposals of the British Government.
3. Time Consuming: Took unduly long time.
4. Dominated by Congress: One-party body. Assembly was the Congress, and the Congress was India.
5. Lawyer-Politician Domination: Other sections not sufficiently represented. Reason for bulkiness.
6. Dominated by Hindus: A Hindu dominated body.

Important Facts

• Elephant: Symbol (seal) of the Constituent Assembly.
• Sir B.N. Rau: Constitutional advisor (Legal Advisor).
• H.V.R. Iyengar: Secretary.
• S.N. Mukherjee: Chief draftsman.
• Prem Behari Narain Raizada: Calligrapher of the Indian Constitution. Original constitution hand-written in italic style.
• Original version decorated by artists from Shantiniketan.
• Beohar Rammanohar Sinha illuminated the original Preamble.
• Hindi version calligraphy done by Vasant Krishan Vaidya.

Hindi Text of the Constitution

• Originally, no provision for authoritative text in Hindi.

• 58th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1987 inserted Article 394-A.

• Provisions:

  1. President to publish Hindi translation, conforming to language and style of Central Acts.
  2. Translation should have same meaning as English text. President to revise if difficulty arises.
  3. Translation deemed authoritative text in Hindi for all purposes.