The Indian Constitution, the longest of any sovereign nation in the world, provides a comprehensive framework to guide and govern the country, keeping in view her social, cultural, and religious diversity.
A distinctive document with many extraordinary features, the Constitution of India is the longest-written constitution of any sovereign nation in the world. The original text of the Constitution contained 395 articles in 22 parts and eight schedules. It came into effect on January 26, 1950, the day that India celebrates each year as Republic Day. The number of articles has since increased to 448 due to 100 amendments.
The Constitution was framed by the Constituent Assembly of India, established by the members of the provincial assemblies elected by the people of India. Dr. Sachidanand Sinha was the first president of the Constituent Assembly. Later, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected its president. Dr. BR Ambedkar, the chairman of its Drafting Committee, is considered the chief architect of the Indian Constitution which provides a comprehensive and dynamic framework to guide and govern the country, keeping in view her unique social, cultural, and religious diversity.
It establishes the main organs – executive, legislature, and judiciary, defining their powers, demarcating their responsibilities, and regulating the inter-se relationship. It inter alia lays down the basic structure of governance and the relationship between the government and the people. The rights and duties of citizens are also spelled out. The Constitution applies to the state of Jammu and Kashmir with certain exceptions and modifications as provided in Article 370 and the Constitution (application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954. It is the mother of all other laws of the country. Every law enacted by the Government has to conform with the Constitution.
The preamble to the Constitution declares India to be a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic and a welfare state committed to securing justice, liberty, and equality for the people and for promoting fraternity, the dignity of the individual, and unity and integrity of the nation. The objectives specified in the preamble constitute the basic structure of the Indian Constitution which cannot be amended. The opening and last sentences of the preamble: “We, the people... adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution” signifies the power is ultimately vested in the hands of the people.
Although Article 1 of the Constitution says India shall be a Union of States, the Constitution provides for a federal structure with a clear division of powers between the Centre and the states, each empowered by the Constitution to enact and legislate within their sphere of activity. The seventh schedule contains three legislative lists which enumerate subjects of administration viz union, state, and concurrent legislative lists. The Central Government enjoys exclusive power to legislate on the subjects mentioned in the Union list.
The state governments have full authority to legislate on the subjects of the state list. And both the Centre and the state can legislate on the subjects mentioned in the concurrent list with the residuary powers vested in the Central Government. It can be said that India has cooperative federalism. The Constitution provides for the Parliamentary form of Government with a bicameral legislature at the Centre consisting of Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) and Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament).
While the Lok Sabha consists of the elected representatives of the people, the Rajya Sabha consists of representatives elected by the state legislative assemblies. The President is the nominal head of the state and the Parliament. In actual practice, the Prime Minister, aided by the Council of Ministers, heads the executive and is responsible for governance.
An impartial judiciary, independent of the legislature and the executive, is one of the main features of the Constitution. The Supreme Court of India is the highest court in the country and acts as guardian of the Constitution and serves as the final court of appeal. Each state has a High Court as its highest court. Under powers of judicial review, the Supreme Court and High Court can declare a law as unconstitutional or ultra vires if it contravenes any provisions of the Constitution.
This power of judicial review constitutes a middle path between American judicial supremacy on one hand and British Parliamentary supremacy on the other. To ensure the impartiality of the judiciary, the judges are appointed by a process free of the influence of the executive. The judges can only be removed by a rigorous process of impeachment to be approved by both houses of the Parliament.
The Constitution vests many fundamental rights in citizens. These are (i) the Right to Equality, (ii) the Right to Freedom, (iii) the Right against Exploitation, (iv) the Right to Freedom of Religion, v) Cultural and Educational Rights and vi) the Right to Constitutional Remedies. These rights are justiciable and an individual can move the Supreme Court or the High Courts if there is an encroachment on any of these rights. However, Fundamental Rights in India are not absolute. Reasonable restrictions can be imposed. By the 42nd Amendment in 1976, fundaments duties were added to the Constitution to remind people that while enjoying their rights as citizens, they should perform their duties for rights and duties are correlative.
Another novel feature of the Constitution is that it contains a chapter on the directive principles of state policy, which is like directives to the Government to implement them for establishing social and economic democracy in the country. Though not justiciable, these principles are considered fundamental in the governance of the country.
There are many autonomous institutions set up under the Constitution that perform a key role, such as the Election Commission (responsible for holding free and fair elections), a Public Service Commission (responsible for the selection of main government services), and an Auditor General (for an independent audit of accounts of the government and its agencies).
One of the strengths of the Constitution is that it is a dynamic instrument that can evolve with time either by its interpretation or amendment. On paper, an amendment to the Constitution is a difficult affair, and normally needs, at least, two-thirds of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to pass it. However, the Constitution of India is one of the most frequently amended constitutions in the world so as not to stand in the way of the growth and development of the nation and its people.
The success of the Indian Constitution, for a country as diverse and complex as India, continues to intrigue, impress and inspire experts around the world.
Often candidates do not know how many articles are there in the Indian Constitution. They are confused about different parts and schedules. Thus, you can refer to the details given below to clear all your doubts:- There are 25 parts of the Indian Constitution which contain a total of 465 articles.
- The different parts, what they relate to and the Articles they contain are as follows:
Part Of the Indian Constitution
| Subject the Part Relates To | Articles |
Part I | Union & Its Territory | Article 1-4 |
Part II | Citizenship | Article 5-11 |
Part III | Fundamental Rights | Article 12-35 |
Part IV | Directive Principles of State Policy | Article 36-51 |
Part IV A | Fundamental Duties | Article 51A |
Part V | The Union | Article 52-151 |
Part VI | The States | Article 152-237 |
Part VII | Note: 7th Amendment Act, 1956 repealed Part 7 | - |
Part VIII | Union Territories | Article 239-242 |
Part IX | Panchayats | Article 243-243O |
Part IX A | Municipalities | Article 243P-243ZG |
Part IX B | Co-operative Societies | Article 243ZH-243ZT |
Part X | Scheduled and Tribal Areas | Article 244-244A |
Part XI | Relation between Union & States | Article 245-263 |
Part XII | Finance, Property, Contracts, and Suits | Article 264-300A |
Part XIII | Trade, Commerce, and Intercourse within the territory of India | Article 301-307 |
Part XIV | Services under the Union and States | Article 308-323 |
Part XIV A | Tribunals | Article 323A-323B |
Part XV | Elections | Article 324-329A |
Part XVI | Special Provisions relating to certain classes | Article 330-342 |
Part XVII | Official Languages | Article 343-351 |
Part XVIII | Emergency Provisions | Article 352-360 |
Part XIX | Miscellaneous | Article 361-367 |
Part XX | Amendment of the Constitution | Article 368 |
Part XXI | Temporary, Transitional, and Special Provisions | Article 369-392 |
Part XXII | Short title, Commencement, Authoritative Text in
Hindi and Repeals | Article 393-395 |
Created & Posted by Garima
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