This article has been written by Jigyasa Nain, a student studying BBA.LLB from Indian Institute of Management, Rohtak. The author is a 1st year law student.
“You can’t stop me from raising voice against the officer’s misconduct. I have the right to speak.” … “If the employer isn’t willing to pay me extra, I won’t work overtime. Labour laws are there to safeguard me” … “The teacher cannot stop me from studying in class with the other students just because of my caste. I am entitled to equality.” … Rights – Rights – Rights everywhere … Hence the question which arises here is: Who grants an Indian these rights? Answer to this is the “Indian Constitution” which safeguard us from every possible wrong, yet a lot of us don’t know the interesting history behind drafting of Constitution. So, let’s solve the issue by learning more about the original draft of Indian Constitution.
Early colonial America is where the idea of written laws first emerged. But subsequently, the concept of creating a constitution to effectively govern a state inspires other nations to do the same. But when we talk about the most diverse country; “India” which faced suppression under the rule of Britishers until 14th August 1947 and faced a lot of problems in getting approved from the invaders to form our own constituent assembly so that we can make rules and regulations to govern ourselves then the scenario involves a different path of struggle.
MN Roy was the one who originally gave the concept for the formation of constituent assembly in 1934, but simply coming up with an idea is insufficient. As a result, in 1935, the “Congress Party” which was the official representative of Indians during that tenure proposed the establishment of the same. But when the British Government were unable to provide a suitable response, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru made an influential statement about the issue in 1938 by referencing the idea of a universal adult franchise for choosing the constituent assembly without any interference from outsiders. However, it took two more years to receive an approval from Britishers through the August Offer in 1940 and further it took six additional years to hold elections under the Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946. Voting was crucial because without it, citizens would not have the ability to select the legislators who will make the laws for Independent India. As a result of which representatives were loaded with significant responsibilities and obligations .
389 members were ultimately elected after the election was over. Members of the Muslim League and members of the Congress made up the majority of the constituent assembly. However, the Muslim League boycotted the meeting and demanded for a sovereign entity with separate elections, therefore they had no contribution in the creation of the Constitution. Thus, as a result of partition, the constituent assembly members number drops to 299. A total of 229 were elected from the British regions plus 70 were representing the princely nations.
December 9th, 1946 is recorded as the landmark day when all of the representatives (aside from 73 members of the Muslim League) gathered in the Constitution Hall ( now known as the Central Hall of Parliament House) for the first time to begin drafting the longest written constitution in history. Over the course of 11 sessions spread over 2 years, 11 months, and 18 days, they argued and addressed a range of significant policies that would strengthen the nation. In accordance with French customs, where the oldest member preside over the assembly, Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha was designated as an interim president of the Constituent Assembly at the first meeting. However, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was ultimately chosen to serve as the constituent assembly’s permanent president.
All of the members resolved to organise various committees to handle various parts of the constitution in attempt to bring the best out of the opportunity to draft the Constitution. While Dr. B.R. Ambedkar ( Father of the Indian Constitution) presided over the drafting committee, Dr. B.N. Rau was designated as the constitution’s advisor. 22 committees were chosen by the Constituent Assembly to undertake this wide-ranging responsibility. Ten of these dealt concerned procedural matters, and twelve addressed substantive matters. Prem Behari Narain Raizada was given the most astounding and magnificent responsibility, which was to write the constitution in both English and Hindi since it is not printed. Shantiniketan, Nandalal Bose, and Behar Rammanhohar Sinha were chosen as the artists to depict the distinctive elements found on each page of the constitution.
The constituent assembly is the real-life illustration of Chanakya’s advice :- “Learn from others’ mistakes; you can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” The Constitution of our nation combines features from various other countries to govern and manage the challenges and objectives of the country. Even though the same is criticise by various groups but in my opinion, there is nothing wrong in improving yourself by incorporating the best traits of others. Some refer to the Indian Constitution as being “borrowed,” while it was actually drafted by considering the historical context of Indian Nationalist battles, the geographical variety of India, and its unique traditions and traits. The essence and text of the Indian Constitution are distinctive and it is considerable to note that total money spend on the drafting of Indian Constitution is ₹6.4 Million. It is an outcome of consistent hard work and dedication of prominent leaders. Ranging from Government of India Act 1935 to the Constitution of Australia, UK, Ireland, America etc. we have cites various sources.
The Drafting Committee sent Dr. Rajendra Prasad the Indian Constitutional Draft on February 21, 1948. There were 315 articles, 18 parts, and 8 schedules in it. The copies of the original draft of the Indian Constitution was distributed to all of the members, the provincial governments, and other parties in order to seek opinions and ideas for improvements. The assembly deliberated on comments for a new round of discussions to focus on suggested loopholes on November 15, 1948. The Drafting Committee revised the Draft in light of the new decisions after these discussions ended on October 17. It is surprising that, out of the 165 total sittings of the Constituent Assembly, 114 sittings were devoted in debating for improving the loopholes of this Draft. After working their fingers to the bone the finalized draft was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26th November 1949 as the Constitution of Independent India.
Now, here comes the most fascinating historical fact. The drafting was finished on November 26, 1949, which is currently observed as National Constitution Day, but it wasn’t implemented until January 26, 1950. Why? The Indian Congress picked 26 January 1930 as the date to demand Poorna Swaraj rather than Dominion Status in December’s Lahore Session, 1929. Consequently, on January 26, 1950, we put our constitution into effect in order to honour that the date 26th. Since 1950, the national capital of New Delhi annually present a spectacular Republic Day Ceremony on the Rajpath. The parade displays India’s military dominance, missile defence systems, and historical tradition. The nation’s President, who is the military’s commander-in-chief, extends a salute. On this occasion, a special diplomatic guest is honoured to witness the republic day parade. The guest for republic day is selected while taking both financial and political aspects into account.
Let’s sum up our article by emphasizing that everyone should respect the constitution, not just because it is the supreme law of land, but rather because it is the product of the sacrifice and struggle of several political leaders who fought to establish democracy in the nation.
References :-
- https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_making_process/constituent_assembly
- https://legislative.gov.in/constitution-of-india
- https://www.india.gov.in/my-government/constitution-india
- https://www.constitutionofindia.net/historical_constitutions/draft_constitution_of_india__1948_21st%20February%201948
- Quote of Chanakya = “Learn from others’ mistakes; you can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”
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