A recall list of the durable polity facts CAPF tests at speed: Article numbers, posts, schedules and amendment numbers. For the reasoning and case law, use laxmikanth polity digest and the polity module. Anchor every fact to the Constitution itself; verify any year-sensitive count (number of amendments, current office-holders, number of States).
- The Constituent Assembly was constituted under the Cabinet Mission Plan (1946); Dr B.R. Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee (and is called the chief architect of the Constitution); Dr Rajendra Prasad was the President of the Assembly.
- The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 (now Constitution Day) and came into force on 26 January 1950 (Republic Day, chosen to mark the 1930 Purna Swaraj declaration).
- It took about 2 years, 11 months and 18 days to frame. It is the longest written constitution in the world.
- Article 1: India, that is Bharat, is a Union of States.
- Article 14: equality before law. Article 15: no discrimination. Article 17: abolition of untouchability. Article 19: six freedoms (speech, assembly, association, movement, residence, profession). Article 21: right to life and personal liberty. Article 21A: right to education. Article 22: protection against arbitrary arrest and preventive detention.
- Article 32: the right to constitutional remedies (Ambedkar called it the "heart and soul" of the Constitution); the writs (habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari, quo warranto).
- Article 44: Uniform Civil Code (a Directive Principle). Article 51A: Fundamental Duties.
- Article 72 (President's pardon) and Article 161 (Governor's pardon). Article 123 (President's ordinance). Article 280 (Finance Commission).
- Emergency: Article 352 (national emergency), Article 356 (President's Rule in a State), Article 360 (financial emergency).
- Article 368: the amendment procedure.
- The President is the head of State (Articles 52 to 62); elected indirectly by an electoral college; can be removed by impeachment.
- The Prime Minister heads the real executive; the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.
- Parliament = the President + the Rajya Sabha (Council of States, the upper house, permanent, members retire by rotation) + the Lok Sabha (House of the People, the lower house, directly elected).
- The Supreme Court (Article 124) is headed by the Chief Justice of India; it is the guardian of the Constitution and the apex court of appeal.
- Independent constitutional bodies: the Election Commission (Article 324), the Comptroller and Auditor-General (Article 148), the Union Public Service Commission (Article 315, which conducts the CAPF examination), the Attorney-General (Article 76) and the Finance Commission (Article 280).
- There are twelve schedules. The high-frequency ones: the First (States and Union Territories), the Seventh (the Union, State and Concurrent Lists), the Eighth (the recognised languages, now 22), the Ninth (laws protected from judicial review, added by the First Amendment), and the Tenth (the anti-defection law, added by the 52nd Amendment).
- 1st (1951): added the Ninth Schedule and reasonable restrictions on speech.
- 42nd (1976): the "mini-constitution"; added "Socialist, Secular and Integrity" to the Preamble and the Fundamental Duties.
- 44th (1978): undid several emergency-era changes; made the right to property an ordinary legal right.
- 52nd (1985): the anti-defection law (Tenth Schedule).
- 61st (1988): lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 (the Act of 1988, brought into force in 1989).
- 73rd and 74th (1992): gave constitutional status to Panchayats and Municipalities (local self-government).
- 86th (2002): made education a fundamental right (Article 21A).
- 101st (2016): introduced the Goods and Services Tax.
- Verify the latest total count of amendments.
- From the British: the parliamentary system, single citizenship, the rule of law, the office of the Speaker.
- From the United States: the Fundamental Rights, judicial review, the independence of the judiciary, the impeachment of the President.
- From Ireland: the Directive Principles. From Canada: the federation with a strong Centre. From the former Soviet Union: the Fundamental Duties and the ideal of justice in the Preamble.
Polity is high-yield for CAPF and carries the human-rights overlay the examiner stresses: Articles 14, 19, 21 and 22 (preventive detention), Article 32 and the writs, the role of the National Human Rights Commission, and the constitutional limits on emergency powers under Articles 352, 356 and 360. The UPSC, which conducts the CAPF examination, is itself a constitutional body under Article 315. These themes are developed in human rights and internal security.
- Which Article is called the "heart and soul of the Constitution" by Dr B.R. Ambedkar because it guarantees the right to constitutional remedies? (Answer: Article 32.) Authored practice, not a verbatim PYQ.
- The anti-defection law is contained in which schedule of the Constitution? (a) Seventh (b) Eighth (c) Ninth (d) Tenth. (Answer: d, the Tenth Schedule.) Authored practice, not a verbatim PYQ.