constitution of India came into effect on 26 Jan. 1950. Before this, India was governed under the “govt. of India act” 1935. This became effective on 1937 

At that time India was part of British empire. Sovereignty of British crown prevailed over the country and through the exercise of this sovereignty that the British parliament had enacted the act of 1935. The govt. of India act, 1935 has been a source of not only administrative details, but also the verbatim (in exactly the same words as were used originally) language of many provisions of the constitution. 

2 major features of the act– 1) this act granted very limited right of self-government on the Indians. The executive authority of a region was given to a governor appointed by the crown. He acted on the advice of ministers who were to be responsible to the provincial legislature. The governor could also function “in his discretion” or “individual judgement” in which case he was not bound by ministerial advice. The executive authority at the centre was vested in the governor-general appointed by the crown. Though he would act on ministerial advice, he too could function at his discretion. Defence, external affairs, etc. fell in this category.  

2) act of 1935 sought to change the character of the Indian govt. from unitary (relating to a system of government or organization in which the powers of the constituent parts are vested in a central body) to federal (having or relating to a system of government in which several states form a unity but remain independent in internal affairs) 

Before 1947, the power and control over the Indian administration lay with the secretary of state, the governor-general and the governors. Indian participation in the governmental process was minimal. 

A) Modern constitution- framers of the Indian constitution looked at the various constitutional processes operating in various countries of the world and they drew upon a rich fund of human experience, wisdom, heritage in the area of governmental process in order to make a system suited to the political, social and economic conditions of India. 

The Indian federalism (the federal principle or system of government) is influenced by the American, Canadian and Australian federalism. The influence of British constitutional law, theories, practices is on the Indian constitution is quite pervasive [(especially of an unwelcome influence or physical effect) spreading widely throughout an area or a group of people]. Parliamentary form of India is quite similar to British model. The system of prerogative (In law, a prerogative is an exclusive right bestowed by a government or state and invested in an individual or group, the content of which is separate from the body of rights enjoyed under the general law) writs (a form of written command in the name of a court or other legal authority to act, or abstain from acting, in a particular way) which plays a crucial role in protecting people’s legal rights  

B) written constitution- Indian constitution deals with the organisation and structure not only of the central govt. but also of the states because in a federal constitution, centre-state relationship is very important. The constitution has reduced to writing many unwritten conventions of the British constitution. There also exists various communities in India. To remove distrust among them, it was necessary to include detailed provisions on fundamental rights, safeguards to minorities, scheduled tribes, scheduled castes and backward classes. One of the reasons our constitution is lengthy because it includes directive principles of state policy to ensure that the future India is based on the concept of social welfare. The constitution contains not only the fundamental principles of governance, but also provisions regarding citizenship, official language, govt. services, electoral services, etc. but in other constitutions, these matters are left to be regulated by the law of the land. After the British rule ended, India emerged as an independent nation but lacked democratic values. The framers thought not to take unnecessary risk and also wrote in the constitution the form of administration as well, instead of leaving it to the legislature, so that the whole mechanism may become viable. 

 The difference between a written and unwritten Constitution is somewhat basic. A written Constitution is the formal source of all Constitutional law in the country. It is regarded as the supreme or fundamental law of the land, and it controls and permeates each institution in the country. Every organ in the country must act in accordance with the Constitution. 

Our constitution provides scope, though not so much as in Britain, for the growth and development of conventions.  

C) preamble– constitution of India has an elaborate preamble. The purpose of preamble is to tell who has made the constitution, what is its source, what is the ultimate sanction behind it, what is the nature of the polity (a form or process of civil government or constitution) which is sought to be established by the constitution and what are its goals and objectives. The preamble gives a direction and purpose to the constitution and also contains the fundamentals of the constitution. The preamble to the constitution declares India to be a “sovereign socialist secular democratic republic”. ‘Sovereign’ denotes that India is subject to no external authority and that the state has the power to legislate on any subject in conformity (compliance) with constitutional limitations. ‘democratic’ signifies that India has a responsible parliamentary form of govt. which is accountable to an elected legislature. Democracy is the basic feature of the constitution as stated by supreme court. ‘republic’ denotes that head of the state is not a hereditary monarch, nut an elected functionary.                             

The purpose of preamble is to, for example: 1) contain the enacting clause which brings the constitution into force. 

2) declare the rights and freedoms which the people of India intended to secure to all its citizens.  

3) declare the type of govt. and polity (a form or process of civil government or constitution) which is sought to be established in the country. 

4) it throws light on the source of the constitution, viz. the people of India.  

Sovereignty lies in the people; the constitution emanates from them. The ultimate source for the validity of, and the sanctions behind the constitution is the will of the people. The constitution has not been imposed on them by any external force or authority, but it is made by Indians themselves. source of the constitution are the people themselves from whom the constitution derives its ultimate sanction.  

The goals and objectives of the preamble are to secure to all its citizens social, economic, and political justice; liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; equality of status and opportunities; to promote fraternity so as to secure the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation. The goals and objectives of the Indian polity are to be further clarified, strengthened and concretised through the directive principles of state policy. it is essential that the preamble be read along with the directive principles which lay down certain goals for the govt. to achieve so as to maximize social welfare of the people. Thus, the constitution is an instrument to achieve the goal of economic democracy along with political and social democracy.  

Ordinarily, preamble does not form part of the constitution, But the view has changed. The judges constituting the bench of kesavananda said that the preamble does form part of the constitution. Our courts and supreme courts look to the preamble for guidance and for interpreting the constitution or other laws.  

 The preamble lays emphasis on principle of equality. It is a basic feature of the constitution which means that a constitutional amendment offending the basic structure of the constitution is ultra vires (done beyond one’s legal power or authority). A legislature can’t transgress this basic feature of the constitution while making a law. 

Aishwarya Says:

I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.

If you are interested in participating in the same, do let me know.

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