The Constitution of India was drafted by the Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assembly held its first sitting on the 9th December, 1946. It reassembled on the 14th August, 1947, as the sovereign Constituent Assembly for the Dominion of India. The proposed Constitution had been outlined by various committees of the Assembly like:
a) Union Constitution Committee
b) The Union Powers Committee
c) Committee on Fundamental Rights.
It was after a general discussion on the reports of these Committees that the Assembly appointed a Drafting Committee on the 29th August, 1947. The Drafting Committee, under the Chairmanship of Dr. Ambedkar, embodied the decision of the Assembly with alternative and additional proposals in the form of a 'Draft Constitution of India which was published in February, 1948. The Constituent Assembly next met in November, 1948, to consider the provisions of the Draft, clause by clause. After several sessions the consideration of the clauses or second reading was completed by the 17th October, 1949. The Constituent Assembly again sat on the 14th November, 1949, for the third reading and finished it on the 26th November, 1949, on which date the Constitution received the signature of the President of the Assembly and was declared as passed. The provisions relating to citizenship, elections, provisional Parliament, temporary and transitional provisions, were given immediate effect, i.e., from November 26, 1949. The rest of the Constitution came into force on the 26th January, 1950, and this date is referred to in the Constitution as the Date of its Commencement.
PREAMBLE OF INDIA
WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;
and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.
Purpose of Having a Preamble:
The Preamble to our Constitution serves two purposes: -
A) It indicates the source from which the Constitution derives its authority;
B) It also states the objects, which the Constitution seeks to establish and promote.
The Preamble seeks to establish what Mahatma Gandhi described as The India of my Dreams, "…an India in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country in whose making they have an effective voice; …an India in which all communities shall leave I perfect harmony. There can be no room in such an India for the curse of untouchability or the curse of Intoxicating drinks and drugs. Woman will enjoy as the same rights as man."
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
The Fundamental Rights embodied in the Indian constitution acts as a guarante that all Indian citizens can and will lead their lifes in peace as long as they live in Indian democracy. These civil liberties take precedence over any other law of the land. They include individual rights common to most liberal democracies, such as equality before the law, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of association and peaceful assembly, freedom of religion, and the right to constitutional remedies for the protection of civil rights such as habeas corpus.
In addition, the Fundamental Rights for Indians are aimed at overturning the inequities of past social practices. They have also been used to in sucessfully abolishing the "untouchability"; prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth; and forbid trafficking in human beings and also the forced labor. They go beyond conventional civil liberties in protecting cultural and educational rights of minorities by ensuring that minorities may preserve their distinctive languages and establish and administer their own education institutions.
Originally, the right to property was also included in the Fundamental Rights; however, the Forty-fourth Amendment, passed in 1978, revised the status of property rights by stating that "No person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law." Freedom of speech and expression, generally interpreted to include freedom of the press, can be limited "in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence"
Here we have defined the six fundamental rights as per the constitution of India:-
1. Right to Equality
2. Right to Particular Freedom
3. Cultural and Educational Rights
4. Right to Freedom of Religion
5. Right Against Exploitation and
6. Right to Constitutional Remedies
FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
hese Fundamental rights have been provided at the cost of some fundamental duties. These are considered as the duties that must be and should be performed by every citizen of India. These fundamental duties are defined as:
It shall be the duty of every citizens of India: -
* To abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem;
* To cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom;
* To uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;
* To defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so;
* To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women;
* To value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;
* To protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures;
* To develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform;
* To safeguard public property and to abjure violence;
* To strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE UNION
The part that describes the official language of the Indian democracy have to be written to promote a feeling of unity among Indian citizens. As we know that even today anywhere between 300 to 1,000 languages are spoken in India, this makes an integral part of the Indian constitution.
The official language of India shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. The form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals.
Notwithstanding anything in clause (1), for a period of fifteen years from the commencement of this Constitution, the English language shall continue to be used for all the official purposes of the Union for which it was being used immediately before such commencement: Provided that the President may, during the said period, by order authorise the use of the Hindi language in addition to the English language and of the Devanagari form of numerals in addition to the international form of Indian numerals for any of the official purposes of the Union.
Notwithstanding anything in this article, Parliament may by law provide for the use, after the said period of fifteen years, of-
The English language, or
The Devanagari form of numerals, for such purposes as may be specified in the law.
Regional Languages:
Article 345. Official language or languages of a State:-
Subject to the provisions of articles 346 and 347, the Legislature of a State may by law adopt any one or more of the languages in use in the State or Hindi as the language or languages to be used for all or any of the official purposes of that State:
Provided that, until the Legislature of the State otherwise provides by law, the English language shall continue to be used for those official purposes within the State for which it was being used immediately before the commencement of this Constitution.
Article 346. Official language for communication between one State and another or between a State and the Union: -
The language for the time being authorised for use in the Union for official purposes shall be the official language for communication between one State and another State and between a State and the Union:
Provided that if two or more States agree that the Hindi language should be the official language for communication between such States, that language may be used for such communication.
Article 347. Special provision relating to language spoken by a section of the population of a State: -
On a demand being made in that behalf the President may, if he is satisfied that a substantial proportion of the population of a State desire the use of any language spoken by them to be recognised by that State, direct that such language shall also be officially recognised throughout that State or any part thereof for such purpose as he may specify.
Special Directives: -
Article 350. Language to be used in representations for redress of grievances: -
Every person shall be entitled to submit a representation for the redress of any grievance to any officer or authority of the Union or a State in any of the languages used in the Union or in the State, as the case may be.
Article 350A. Facilities for instruction in mother-tongue at primary stage: -
It shall be the endeavour of every State and of every local authority within the State to provide adequate facilities for instruction in the mother-tongue at the primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups; and the President may issue such directions to any State as he considers necessary or proper for securing the provision of such facilities.
Article 350B. Special Officer for linguistic minorities: -
There shall be a Special Officer for linguistic minorities to be appointed by the President. It shall be the duty of the Special Officer to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for linguistic minorities under this Constitution and report to the President upon those matters at such intervals as the President may direct, and the President shall cause all such reports to be laid before each House of Parliament, and sent to the Governments of the States concerned.
Article 351. Directive for development of the Hindi language: -
It shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language, to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India and to secure its enrichment by assimilating without interfering with its genius, the forms, style and expressions used in Hindustani and in the other languages of India specified in the Eighth Schedule, and by drawing, wherever necessary or desirable, for its vocabulary, primarily on Sanskrit and secondarily on other languages.
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