In the Preamble, the Constitution proclaims India as a sovereign, socialist, democratic republic ensuring for all its citizens justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. All the laws have to conform in accordance with the statutes of the Constitution, any provision of law or regulation which is inconsistent with it is null and void.
The constitution is an essential document which describes the basic functions of good or constructive governance; ensures the protection of the rights and interests of its citizens and directs government to work for their welfare in all spheres of life. It also indicates how citizens should conduct themselves and be responsible to the government.
It becomes significant to see the Government of India Act 1935 because it formed part of the basic documents that were consulted by the experts involved in making the constitution of India.
The Government of India Act, 1935 is a landmark act which further advanced the movement towards self-rule leading to the independence of India. This Act for the first time by the colonial administration aimed at establishing the federal system of Government of India, the most complicated document ever enacted by the British Parliament running into 451 clauses and 15 Schedules. The major features were: (a) All India Federation; (b) Provincial Autonomy; (c) Dyarchy at the Centre; and (d) Federal Court.
The framers of the Constitution perceived unity, social revolution, and democracy as the three interdependent goals which had to be sought together and could not be pursued or achieved disjointedly, which Granville Austin refers to as the three strands of a seamless web (Austin, 2001,pp. ix-x). Three important documents of the pre-independence period provided the framework for the Constitution apart from the Government of India Act of 1935, these were :
i) The Nehru Report (1928)
The Nehru Report was produced by a sub-committee headed by Motilal Nehru. The colonial government doubted the capabilities of the Indian leaders, that they would not be able to produce such a document. However this document produced by the sub-committee constituted for this purpose. It as was further approved by the All Party Conference in August, 1928 held at Lucknow (Austin, 2001, p. 55). A Declaration of Rights mainly, it declared that the chief aims of the Constitution would be to secure for Indians fundamental rights and provide certain safeguards to minorities. The independence perceived at this time was of a dominion, which would function under the authority of the British, and not total independence.
ii) The Karachi Resolution (1931)
The drafting of the Karachi Resolution has been credited to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. In March 1931, the Congress Convention held at Karachi adopted the resolution on economic and social changes and Fundamental Rights. It was a declaration of rights and a humanitarian, socialist manifesto. The document’s provisions did in fact become the spiritual and, in some cases, the direct antecedents of the Directive Principles (Austin 2001: x).
iii) The Sapru Report (1945)
The Sapru Report published in 1945, vitiated by communal tensions and conflicts around this time, concerned itself mainly with the problems of minority fears which were overshadowing the political scene. By this time, it had become clear that India would achieve its independence in the near future and the minorities had to be reassured about their security. The Sapru Report declared that Fundamental Rights within the new Constitution would have to include certain safeguards for minorities. The report stated:
‘That what the constitution demands and expects is perfect equality between one section of the community and another in the matter of political and civic rights, equality of liberty and security in the enjoyment of the freedom of religious worship and the pursuit of the ordinary applications of life’ (Sapru, 1945, p. 260).
Through the Independence Act of 1947, India attained independence on August 15, 1947 and the British colonial rule in India came to an end. The same Act had also conferred power on the Constituent Assembly to frame a Constitution for India. This Act was the result of a prolonged struggle for political freedom and the constitution of the Constituent Assembly as the precise mechanism and authority to draft the Constitution for India was the precise course to follow for the new nation–state for its political sovereignty.
Although the first sitting of the Constituent Assembly took place on 9th December, 1946 the provision for its constitution through the Cabinet Mission had already been made. Initially it had 207 members including 15 women. It was reckoned by the Constitution Drafting Committee that the inclusion of traditionally marginalised sections is to be of prime importance in order to ensure that their concerns were reflected in the Constitution. The Committee consisted of several national leaders like Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and others as members with Dr. Rajendra Prasad as its Chairman. However, the Constituent Assembly was not very active before the Indian Independence Act of 1947 and it became more active and did majority of its work only after passing of the Act. Once a federal constitution was decided upon, the major models were selected for study. The models fell mostly into two categories; the Constitution of the United States on the one hand, and the Constitution Acts passed by the British Parliament establishing federal constitutions for Canada, Australia and India, all of which had drawn mostly on the American experience.
Various committees were constituted by the Constituent Assembly to deal with different aspects of the constitution. The Reports of these committees were considered by the Constituent Assembly and it appointed a Drafting Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, whose efforts had finally culminated in adoption of the so drafted Constitution of India by the Constituent Assembly on 26th November, 1949 and came into force on 26th January 1950.
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