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critics that the Constituent Assembly was dominated by

lawyers and politicians. They pointed out that other sections

of the society were not sufficiently represented. This, to

them, is the main reason for the bulkiness and complicated

language of the Constitution.

6. Dominated by Hindus: According to some critics, the

IMPORTANT FACTS

1. Elephant was adopted as the symbol (seal) of the

Constituent Assembly.

2. Sir B.N. Rau was appointed as the constitutional advisor

(Legal advisor) to the Constituent Assembly.

3. H.V.R. Iyengar was the Secretary to the Constituent

Assembly.

4. S.N. Mukerjee was the chief draftsman of the constitution in

the Constituent Assembly.

5. Prem Behari Narain Raizada was the calligrapher of the

Indian Constitution. The original constitution was handwritten

by him in a flowing italic style.

6. The original version was beautified and decorated by artists

from Shantiniketan including Nand Lal Bose and Beohar

Rammanohar Sinha.

7. Beohar Rammanohar Sinha illuminated, beautified and

ornamented the original Preamble calligraphed by Prem

Behari Narain Raizada.

8. The calligraphy of the Hindi version of the original

constitution was done by Vasant Krishan Vaidya and

elegantly decorated and illuminated by Nand Lal Bose.

HINDI TEXT OF THE CONSTITUTION

Originally, the Constitution of India did not make any provision with

respect to an authoritative text of the Constitution in the Hindi

language. Later, a provision in this regard was made by the 58th

Constitutional Amendment Act of 19878f. This amendment

inserted a new Article 394-A in the last part of the Constitution i.e.,

Part XXII8g. This article contains the following provisions:

1. The President shall cause to be published under his

authority:

(i) The translation of the Constitution in Hindi language. The

modifications which are necessary to bring it in

conformity with the language, style and terminology

adopted in the authoritative texts of the Central Acts in

Hindi can be made in it. All the amendments of the

Constitution made before such publication should be

incorporated in it.

(ii) The translation in Hindi of every amendment of the

constitution made in English.

2. The translation of the Constitution and its every amendment

published shall be construed to have the same meaning as

the original text in English. If any difficulty arises in this

matter, the President shall cause the Hindi text to be revised

suitably.

3. The translation of the Constitution and its every amendment

published shall be deemed to be, for all purposes, its

authoritative text in Hindi.

Table 2.1 Allocation of seats in the Constituent Assembly of India

(1946)

Sl.No. Areas Seats

1. British Indian Provinces (11) 292

2. Princely States (Indian States) 93

3. Chief Commissioners’ Provinces (4) 4

Total 389

Table 2.2 Results of the Elections to the Constituent Assembly

(July–August 1946)

Sl.No. Name of the Party Seats

won

1. Congress 208

2. Muslim League 73

3. Unionist Party 1

4. Unionist Muslims 1

5. Unionist Scheduled Castes 1

6. Krishak - Praja Party 1

7. Scheduled Castes Federation 1

8. Sikhs (Non-Congress) 1

9. Communist Party 1

10. Independents 8

Total 296

Table 2.3 Community-wise Representation in the Constituent

Assembly (1946)

Sl.No. Community Strength

1. Hindus 163

2. Muslims 80

3. Scheduled Castes 31

4. Indian Christians 6

5. Backward Tribes 6

6. Sikhs 4

7. Anglo-Indians 3

8. Parsees 3

Total 296

Table 2.4 State-wise Membership of the Constituent Assembly of

India as on December 31, 1947

Sl.No. Name No. of Members

A. Provinces (Indian Provinces)–229

1. Madras 49

2. Bombay 21

3. West Bengal 19

4. United Provinces 55

5. East Punjab 12

6. Bihar 36

7. C.P. and Berar 17

8. Assam 8

9. Orissa 9

10. Delhi 1

11. Ajmer-Merwara 1

12. Coorg 1

B. Indian States (Princely States)–70

1. Alwar 1

2. Baroda 3

3. Bhopal 1

4. Bikaner 1

5. Cochin 1

6. Gwalior 4

7. Indore 1

8. Jaipur 3

9. Jodhpur 2

10. Kolhapur 1

13. Mysore 7

14. Patiala 2

15. Rewa 2

16. Travancore 6

17. Udaipur 2

18. Sikkim and Cooch Behar Group 1

19. Tripura, Manipur and Khasi States 1

Group

20. U.P. States Group 1

21. Eastern Rajputana States Group 3

22. Central India States Group 3

(including Bundelkhand and Malwa)

23. Western India States Group 4

24. Gujarat States Group 2

25. Deccan and Madras States Group 2

26. Punjab States Group 3

27. Eastern States Group I 4

28. Eastern States Group II 3

29. Residuary States Group 4

Total 299

Table 2.5 Sessions of the Constituent Assembly at a Glance

Sessions Period

First Session December 9–23, 1946

Second Session January 20–25, 1947

Third Session April 28-May 2, 1947

Fourth Session July 14–31, 1947

Fifth Session August 14–30, 1947

Seventh Session November 4, 1948-January 8, 1949

Eighth Session May 16-June 16, 1949

Ninth Session July 30-September 18, 1949

Tenth Session October 6–17, 1949

Eleventh November 14–26, 1949

Session

Note: The Assembly met once again on January 24, 1950, when

the members appended their signatures to the Constitution of

India.

Table 2.6 Time Taken by the Framers of Other Constitutions8h

Sl. Country No. of Working Period Time Taken

No. Articles

1 U.S.A. 7 May 25, 1787 to Less than 4

September 17, months

1787

2 Canada 147 October 10, 1864 to About 2 years

March 1867 and 6 months

3 Australia 128 March 1891 to July About 9 years

9, 1900

4 South 153 October 1908 to 1 year

Africa September 20,

1909

Table 2.7 Articles Related to Short Title, Commencement, Hindi

Text and Repeals at a Glance

Article No. Subject Matter

393 Short title

394 Commencement

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. The Cabinet Mission consisting of three members (Lord

Pethick Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps and A.V.

Alexander) arrived in India on March 24, 1946. The

Cabinet Mission published its plan on May 16, 1946.

2. These include Madras, Bombay, UP, Bihar, Central

Provinces, Orissa, Punjab, NWFP, Sindh, Bengal and

Assam.

3. These include Delhi, Ajmer-Merwara, Coorg and British

Baluchistan.

4. The Government of India Act of 1935 granted limited

franchise on the basis of tax, property and education.

5. These include Baroda, Bikaner, Jaipur, Patiala, Rewa

and Udaipur.

6. For the first time, the Constituent Assembly met as

Dominion Legislature on November 17, 1947 and

elected G.V. Mavlankar as its speaker.

7. These are West Punjab, East Bengal, NWFP, Sindh,

Baluchistan and Sylhet District of Assam. A separate

Constituent Assembly was set up for Pakistan.

8. The Provisional Parliament ceased to exist on April 17,

1952. The first elected Parliament with the two Houses

came into being in May 1952.

8a. One of the political consequences of the British

Government’s statement of June 3, 1947, was that

following a referendum, the North-West Frontier

Province and Baluchistan became part of the territory of

the Dominion of Pakistan and as a result the tribal areas

in this region became a concern of that Dominion. The

Sub-Committee on the Tribal Areas in the North-West

Frontier Province and Baluchistan was not therefore

called upon to function on behalf of the Constituent

Assembly of India. (B. Shiva Rao, The Framing of

India’s Constitution : Select Documents, Volume III,

P.681.)

The members of this Sub-Committee were : Khan

Mehr Chand Khanna. The information about the

Chairman is not found.

8b. B. Shiva Rao, The Framing of India’s Constitution,

Select Documents, Volume 1, p.326.

8c. Ibid.

8d. Granville Austin, The Indian Constitution - Cornerstone

of a Nation, Oxford, 1966, pp. 32–33.

8e. See Table 2.6 at the end of this chapter.

8f. The 56th Constitutional Amendment Bill of 1987, after

being passed by both the Houses of Parliament and

assented by the President, finally emerged as the 58th

Constitutional Amendment Act of 1987.

8g. Part XXII is entitled as ‘Short Title, Commencement,

Authoritative Text in Hindi and Repeals’. Originally, this

part consisted of three Articles only - Article 393 (short

title), Article 394 (commencement) and Article 395

(repeals).

8h. J.R. Siwach, Dynamics of Indian Government and

Politics, Sterling Publishers Private Limited, Second

Edition, 1990, p.10.

9. Granville Austin, The Indian Constitution–Cornerstone

3 Salient Features of the Constitution

T

he Indian Constitution is unique in its contents and spirit.

Though borrowed from almost every Constitution of the

world, the Constitution of India has several salient features

that distinguish it from the Constitutions of the other countries.

It should be noted at the outset that a number of original

features of the Constitution (as adopted in 1949) have undergone

a substantial change, on account of several amendments,

particularly 7th, 42nd, 44th, 73rd, 74th, 97th and 101st

Amendments. In fact, the 42nd Amendment Act (1976) is known

as ‘Mini-Constitution’ due to the important and large number of

changes made by it in various parts of the Constitution. However,

in the Kesavananda Bharati case1 (1973), the Supreme Court

ruled that the constituent power of Parliament under Article 368

SALIENT FEATURES OF THE CONSTITUTION

The salient features of the Constitution, as it stands today, are as

follows:

1. Lengthiest Written Constitution

Constitutions are classified into written, like the American

Constitution, or unwritten, like the British Constitution. The

Constitution of India is the lengthiest of all the written

Constitutions of the world. It is a very comprehensive, elaborate

and detailed document.

Originally (1949), the Constitution contained a Preamble, 395

Articles (divided into 22 Parts) and 8 Schedules. Presently (2019),

it consists of a Preamble, about 470 Articles (divided into 25

Parts) and 12 Schedules2. The various amendments carried out

since 1951 have deleted about 20 Articles and one Part (VII) and

added about 95 Articles, four Parts (IVA, IXA, IXB and XIVA) and

four Schedules (9, 10, 11 and 12). No other Constitution in the

world has so many Articles and Schedules3 .

Four factors have contributed to the elephantine size of our

Constitution. They are:

(a) Geographical factors, that is, the vastness of the country and

its diversity.

(b) Historical factors, e.g., the influence of the Government of

India Act of 1935, which was bulky.

(c) Single Constitution for both the Centre and the states4 .

(d) Dominance of legal luminaries in the Constituent Assembly.

The Constitution contains not only the fundamental principles of

governance, but also detailed administrative provisions. Further,

those matters which in other modern democratic countries have

been left to the ordinary legislation or established political

conventions have also been included in the constitutional

The Constitution of India has borrowed most of its provisions from

the Constitutions of various other countries as well as from the

Government of India Act5 of 1935. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar proudly

acclaimed that the Constitution of India has been framed after

‘ransacking all the known Constitutions of the World6 ’.

The structural part of the Constitution is, to a large extent,

derived from the Government of India Act of 1935. The

philosophical part of the Constitution (the Fundamental Rights and

the Directive Principles of State Policy) derive their inspiration

from the American and Irish Constitutions, respectively. The

political part of the Constitution (the principle of Cabinet

Government and the relations between the Executive and the

Legislature) have been largely drawn from the British Constitution7

.

The other provisions of the Constitution have been drawn from

the Constitutions of Canada, Australia, Germany, USSR (now

Russia), France, South Africa, Japan and so on8 .

The most profound influence and material source of the

Constitution is the Government of India Act, 1935. The Federal

Scheme, Judiciary, Governors, Emergency Powers, the Public

Service Commissions and most of the administrative details are

drawn from this Act. More than half of the provisions of

Constitution are identical to or bear a close resemblance to the

Act of 19359 .

3. Blend of Rigidity and Flexibility

Constitutions are also classified into rigid and flexible. A rigid

Constitution is one that requires a special procedure for its

amendment, as for example, the American Constitution. A flexible

constitution, on the other hand, is one that can be amended in the

same manner as the ordinary laws are made, as for example, the