Making of Indian Constitution: The Constituent Assembly

Indian Constitution: The Indian Constitution is the supreme law of India, delineating the roles, responsibilities, powers of governments and rights and duties of the citizens. It was adopted on 26th January 1950 which we call Republic Day. 

The journey of the Indian Constitution from its drafting stages to becoming an official document is worth a revisit. 

Indian Constitution: The Constituent Assembly 

It was the Constituent Assembly that drafted the Indian Constitution. MN Roy, a communist, was the one who mooted the idea of having this Assembly. It was in 1935 that the Indian National Congress officially put its demand to have an Assembly for the purpose of the Indian Constitution. 

Three years later, in the year 1938, Jawaharlal Nehru, the eventual Prime Minister of an independent India declared that ‘the Constitution of free India must be framed, without outside interference, by a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of the adult franchise’.

Sir Stafford Cripps, a representative of the British government, presented a draft proposal of his government of the Indian Constitution in 1942. 

On the other hand, the Muslim League rejected the proposal, advocating that India be split into two states having two separate Constitutent Assemblies. To quell this dissent, a Cabinet Mission was sent to India. It finally succeeded in its mission as the Muslim League countenanced the proposal of a single Constituent Assembly. 

Now, as the Constituent Assembly was formed, it had members from an undivided India. It had its first sitting in 1946. It was only later in 1947 that it sat for the second time as the sovereign Constituent Assembly for the Dominion of India. 

Initially, it had a strength of 389, but later, reduced to 299 owing to the partition. 

It is to be noted that the constitutions of as many as 60 countries were perused while the Indian Constitution was framed. The members took almost 3 years and eleven sessions to frame the Constitution.  

Also Read: Introduction to Indian Constitution

Objective Resolution 

It was in 1946 that Jawaharlal Nehru declared the Objective Resolution that mentioned its intent on the philosophy of the constitutional structure. Here, we mention only a few: 

• This Constituent Assembly declares its firm and solemn resolve to proclaim India as the Independent Sovereign Republic and to draw up for her future governance, a Constitution –

• Wherein the territories that now comprise British India, the territories that now form the Indian States, and such other parts of India as are outside India and the States as well as other territories as are willing to be constituted into independent sovereign India, shall be a Union of them all

• This ancient land attains its rightful and honoured place in the world and makes its full and willing contribution to the promotion of world peace and the welfare of mankind. This Resolution was unanimously adopted by the Assembly on January 22, 1947. It influenced the eventual shaping of the Constitution through all its subsequent stages. Its modified version forms the Preamble of the present Constitution.

The Head of the Constituent Assembly

It was decided that Dr Ambedkar would be the head of the Constituent Assembly. Even to this day, he is regarded as the ‘Father of Indian Constitution’ for his yeoman service in the drafting of the all-important document. 

Finally, the draft was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26th November 1949. 

It is interesting to note that the original Indian Constitution is preserved in a helium-filled case at the Parliament House in New Delhi. 

We hope this article on Making of the Indian Constitution helped you understand the process better. For more such informative articles, please keep visiting Embibe.