This Article is written by Falguni Ghude & this article discuss the Main Sources of the Indian Constitution.
Introduction
Indian constitution is a monumental document which declares India as a sovereign state emphasizing on socialist secular and democratic principles. Our Indian constitution is an umbrella of rights that gives its citizens assurance safeguarding these rights and liberties and removing the biases. It serves as a robust framework which not only guarantees the citizens fundamental rights but also promotes fraternity among all the citizens despite a diverse culture all over. One of the distinct features of the Indian constitution is that it is lengthiest and written. The Indian constitution is one of the most successful constitutions in the world . This constitution is rigid and flexible at the same time, rigid that the basic structure of the constitution cannot be changed and flexible because it is open to amendments. Our Indian constitution was ratified on November 26, 1949 and was officially validated on 26 January 1950. Dr B.R Ambedkar was the chairman of the drafting committee. Crucially, the Indian constitution is supreme and is placed above all the parliamentary authorities. The Indian constitution is supreme even the parliament cannot override its provisions. The constituent assembly of India drafted the constitution including some features of other countries. The Government of India act 1935 was also an important source for the Indian constitution. There was no hesitation on our part to learn from the experience of other Nations and borrow their features which we found essential. The constitution has absorbed these features from other Nation’s constitutions which are suitable for Indian aspirations and mode of conduct for its affairs. The constituent assembly adopted these features and incorporated them in our constitution in our own way. The ideas were taken from the constitution of other countries and were implemented according to the Indian aspiration and method. The table given below will help us to understand the countries and features borrowed from them.
| Sr. No | Country / Source | Provisions |
1 | Australia | Freedom of trade and commerce within the country and between the states Power of the national legislature to make laws for implementing treaties, even on matters outside normal Federal jurisdiction Concurrent List. |
2 | Ireland | Method of election of president, DPSP, nomination of members to Rajya Sabha. |
3 | Constitution of United States of America | Electoral college, federal structure of government, judicial review, independence of judiciary preamble and separation of power among three branches of government namely judiciary legislature, executive also equal protection before the law and principle that president will be the supreme commander of armed forces. |
4 | British constitution | Procedure established by law, Writs, parliamentary form of Government, idea of single citizenship and law making role of the speaker and his position in the parliament. |
5 | Constitution of Soviet Union(USSR) | Fundamental duties incorporated under article 51A of the Indian constitution. Ideas of social, economics and political justice . |
6 | Canadian Constitution | Distribution of power between Central and state government, quasi federal structure of government, federal system with a stronger Central bias, all the residuary powers retained by the central government. |
7 | French Constitution | Idea of a Republic nation, ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity incorporated in the preamble. |
8 | South African and German Constitution | South African: Election of Rajya Sabha members, amendment procedure. German Constitution: Emergency provisions, suspension of fundamental rights during emergency. |
9 | Constitution of Japan | Procedure established by law. |
10 | Government of India act 1935 | Judiciary, office of the governor, federal scheme, administrative details and public service commission. |
Now let us further have a brief discussion on the sources which we have discussed in the table.
Sources :
The Government of India Act 1935:
The government act of 1935 acted as one of the most important sources for the present constitution. It included
- Joint select committee
- Third round table conference and its discussions
- White paper of 1933 and most importantly the reports of Simon commission.
This act suggested establishment of a “federation of India” consisting of provinces of British India and princely states. It abolished provincial diarchy. An office of governor was established and all the executive powers were vested in him. There are some more features which were adopted from this act such as, functioning of the legislature and two houses of legislature. The current functioning of council of states as a permanent body was proposed in this act but here the tenure was of 3 years and it was composed of 260 members of which 156 were representatives of British and 101 of princely states. The federal assembly was the lower house with a total of 5 years which included 250 representatives of British India and 125 members of princely states. The lists were also mentioned in the Government of India act of 1935 there were federal list provincial list and concurrent list. The residuary powers were vested in the viceroy and it gave provincial autonomy.
Australia:
Concept of freedom of trade and commerce within the countries and between the states is borrowed from the Constitution of Australia. The provisions for the same are given under article 301 to 307 of the Constitution. The Australian Constitution has also lent us the provision of joint sitting of both the houses of parliament .
Ireland:
The main features which are borrowed from Ireland are Directive Principles of the State Policy (DPSP) which is listed in part IV of the Indian Constitution under article 51A. These are the guidelines for this state based upon the socialist principles meant for collective development of the state. We have also borrowed the procedure for nomination of members of the council of States from the Irish Constitution.
The United States:
Features borrowed from the United States are;
- Fundamental rights- article 12 to 32 of the Indian Constitution enshrines fundamental rights. These are the basic human rights given to all the citizens; they derive their origin from the ancient Magna Carta.
- Judicial review- the provision of judicial review gives a proof that any legislation is subject to scrutiny by the judiciary if there is violation of any provision of the Constitution.
- Impeachment of president and removal of judges- the impeachment of president is a legislative procedure given under article 61 of Indian Constitution and article 124 (4) deals with removal of judges.
The United Kingdom :
We have a lot of concepts which are borrowed from the British constitution. The Indian constitution derives its roots from the constitution of Great Britain. Some of those are:
- Parliamentary form of Government- in parliamentary form of Government the country is governed by the cabinet of ministers led by the Prime Minister.
- Rule of law- this means that rule of law governs the state. Nobody is above the law; it is enshrined in article 14 of the Constitution.
- The idea of single citizenship- no person who is a citizen of India can have more than one citizenship.
- Writs- Mentioned in article 32 to 35 of the Indian Constitution also in article 226.
USSR:
Fundamental duties incorporated under article 51A of the Indian Constitution. Ideas of social, economics and political justice .
Canadian Constitution:
The provision of strong Central bias, residuary power at center advisory state jurisdiction of the supreme court and appointment of the State governor are some provisions which are borrowed from the Canadian Constitution.
South Africa:
election of rajya sabha members, amendment procedure are some features which are borrowed from the South African Constitution.
Germany:
The provisions for emergency and suspension of fundamental rights during emergency are borrowed from the German Constitution.
Japan:
Procedure established by law is also borrowed from the Japanese Constitution is.
Thus In crafting the Constitution of India, the framers artfully wove together threads from diverse global fabrics.The Constitution of India stands as a timeless masterpiece, a mosaic of borrowed brilliance, guiding the nation towards a future that seamlessly integrates its past, present, and aspirations for a brighter tomorrow.
References
- https://www.drishtiias.com/gs-special/gs-special-polity/important-sources-of-the-indian-constitution
- Jain, M.P., Chelameswar, J. and Naidu, D.S. (2019) Indian constitutional law. Gurgaon, Haryana, India: LexisNexis.
- Mehta, S.M. (1990) Indian constitutional law. New Delhi: Deep & Deep Publications.
