Laxmikanth Ch 2: Making of the Constitution (CAPF Digest)

The idea in one line

The Constitution was framed by a Constituent Assembly that worked for nearly three years (1946 to 1949), drawing on the Objectives Resolution as its philosophy and on Dr B. R. Ambedkar's Drafting Committee as its engine.

How the Assembly was set up

• Idea of a Constituent Assembly: first put forward in concrete form by M. N. Roy (1934) and adopted as a Congress demand; conceded in the Cabinet Mission Plan 1946.
• Composition under the Cabinet Mission Plan: a partly elected body of 389 members (296 from British India, elected indirectly by the provincial assemblies, and 93 from the princely states). After Partition, the strength fell to 299.
• First sitting: 9 December 1946. Dr Sachchidananda Sinha was the temporary (provisional) President; Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected permanent President on 11 December 1946.
• The Muslim League boycotted the first session and pressed for a separate Pakistan.

Key milestones and dates

• Objectives Resolution: moved by Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 December 1946, adopted 22 January 1947; later became the basis of the Preamble.
• National Flag adopted: 22 July 1947.
• National Anthem and National Song adopted: 24 January 1950 (the last session).
• Constitution adopted: 26 November 1949 (now Constitution Day / Samvidhan Divas).
• Constitution came into force: 26 January 1950 (chosen to honour the Purna Swaraj declaration of 26 January 1930).
• Total time taken: about 2 years, 11 months and 18 days.

The major committees

• Drafting Committee: chaired by Dr B. R. Ambedkar, set up 29 August 1947, with seven members. Ambedkar is rightly called the "Father of the Constitution".
• Union Powers Committee, Union Constitution Committee, and States Committee: chaired by Jawaharlal Nehru.
• Provincial Constitution Committee: chaired by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who also chaired the Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights and Minorities.
• Rules of Procedure Committee and the Steering Committee: chaired by Dr Rajendra Prasad.
• B. N. Rau served as the Constitutional Adviser (he prepared the initial draft).

Sources of borrowing (set in this chapter, expanded in Ch 3)

The framers borrowed deliberately: parliamentary government and the rule of law from Britain; Fundamental Rights and judicial review from the United States; Directive Principles from Ireland; the federal scheme and emergency provisions largely from the Government of India Act 1935; Fundamental Duties from the erstwhile Soviet Union.

Criticism and enactment

Critics called it a "lawyer's paradise", overly borrowed and un-Gandhian. The framers answered that they had selected what suited Indian conditions. The Constitution was enacted in the name of "We, the People of India".

CAPF angle: the four most-asked facts are the adoption date (26 November 1949), the commencement date (26 January 1950), the Drafting Committee chairman (Ambedkar) and the proposer of the Objectives Resolution (Nehru). Distinguish "adopted" from "came into force". Note also that some provisions (citizenship, elections, provisional Parliament) came into force on 26 November 1949 itself.