The Constituent Assembly and adoption
When was the Constitution adopted, and when did it come into force?
Adopted on 26 November 1949 and brought into force on 26 January 1950. The date 26 January was chosen because the Congress had declared Purna Swaraj on that day in 1930, and it is now celebrated as Republic Day. 26 November is observed as Constitution Day.
Who was the President of the Constituent Assembly, and who chaired the Drafting Committee?
Dr Rajendra Prasad was President of the Constituent Assembly; Dr B.R. Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee, which is why he is regarded as the chief architect of the Constitution. Sachchidananda Sinha was the temporary chairman at the first sitting.
When did the Constituent Assembly first meet, and how long did drafting take?
It first met on 9 December 1946, and the Constitution took 2 years, 11 months and 18 days to complete. That figure is asked verbatim.
How many Articles, Parts and Schedules did the Constitution originally have?
Originally 395 Articles, 22 Parts and 8 Schedules. It has since grown through amendments to over 440 Articles, 25 Parts and 12 Schedules, and remains the longest written constitution of any sovereign country.
Practice this now
Related reading
The Preamble
How does the Preamble describe India?
As a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic, securing to all its citizens justice, liberty, equality and fraternity.
Which words were added to the Preamble by amendment, and when?
'Socialist' and 'Secular', along with 'Integrity' in the phrase about the unity of the nation, were added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976. This is one of the most frequently asked facts about the Preamble.
Is the Preamble part of the Constitution, and can it be amended?
Yes to both. The Supreme Court has held that the Preamble is part of the Constitution and can be amended without altering its basic structure - the 42nd Amendment being the amendment that actually did so.
From where does the idea of the Preamble's opening phrase derive?
The 'We, the people' formulation follows the United States Constitution, which is the standard comparison drawn in exam answers.
Practice this now
Fundamental Rights, Duties and Directive Principles
| Provision | Part | Articles | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fundamental Rights | Part III | 12-35 | Justiciable; six rights currently |
| Directive Principles | Part IV | 36-51 | Not enforceable in court; borrowed from Ireland |
| Fundamental Duties | Part IVA | 51A | Added by the 42nd Amendment, 1976 |
How many Fundamental Rights are there now, and which one was removed?
Six. The Right to Property was removed as a Fundamental Right by the 44th Amendment in 1978 and now exists as a legal right under Article 300A - a very common question.
Which article did Dr Ambedkar call the 'heart and soul' of the Constitution?
Article 32, the right to constitutional remedies, which allows a citizen to move the Supreme Court directly for enforcement of Fundamental Rights. Article 226 gives similar power to High Courts.
What do Articles 14, 19 and 21 guarantee?
Article 14 guarantees equality before the law, Article 19 the six freedoms including speech and expression, and Article 21 protection of life and personal liberty. Article 21A, added by the 86th Amendment in 2002, makes elementary education a fundamental right.
How many Fundamental Duties are there, and where did the idea come from?
Eleven. Ten were added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976 on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee, and an eleventh - concerning a parent's duty to provide education - was added by the 86th Amendment in 2002. The concept was borrowed from the former USSR.
Are Directive Principles enforceable in a court of law?
No. They are non-justiciable guidelines for the state in making policy, borrowed from the Irish Constitution. Their non-enforceability is precisely what distinguishes them from Fundamental Rights.
Practice this now
Related reading
Borrowed features
Source-country matching is a guaranteed question in polity papers. The Government of India Act 1935 supplied the largest structural share, with specific features drawn from elsewhere.
| Source | Features borrowed |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Parliamentary government, rule of law, single citizenship, writs, bicameralism |
| United States | Fundamental Rights, judicial review, independence of judiciary, impeachment, preamble style |
| Ireland | Directive Principles of State Policy, nomination to Rajya Sabha |
| Canada | Federation with a strong centre, residuary powers with the union, appointment of governors |
| Australia | Concurrent List, joint sitting of the houses, freedom of trade and commerce |
| Germany (Weimar) | Suspension of Fundamental Rights during an emergency |
| Former USSR | Fundamental Duties, the ideal of justice in the Preamble |
| South Africa | Procedure for amending the Constitution, election of Rajya Sabha members |
| Japan | Procedure established by law |
Practice this now
Institutions and key articles
How is the President elected, and what is the minimum age?
By an electoral college of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of state legislative assemblies, using proportional representation by single transferable vote. The minimum age is 35, and the term is five years.
What are the maximum strengths of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha?
The Rajya Sabha may have up to 250 members - 238 representing states and union territories plus 12 nominated by the President. The Lok Sabha's maximum is 550 elected members, with 530 from states and 20 from union territories; the earlier provision for nominating Anglo-Indian members lapsed in 2020.
Which house alone can introduce a Money Bill, and under which article is it defined?
Only the Lok Sabha, and a Money Bill is defined in Article 110. The Rajya Sabha can only make recommendations, which the Lok Sabha may accept or reject.
What is the current sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court?
34 judges, comprising the Chief Justice of India and 33 other judges, following an increase in 2019. The Court was established under Article 124 and began functioning on 28 January 1950 with a Chief Justice and seven judges.
What do Articles 352, 356 and 360 provide for?
Article 352 provides for a National Emergency, Article 356 for President's Rule in a state on the failure of constitutional machinery, and Article 360 for a Financial Emergency. Only Article 360 has never been invoked.
Under which article can the Constitution be amended?
Article 368. Some amendments require only a special majority in Parliament, while others also need ratification by at least half the state legislatures.
Practice this now
Schedules and landmark amendments
- ✓Schedules worth knowing: the First lists states and union territories; the Seventh contains the Union, State and Concurrent Lists; the Eighth lists the recognised languages, currently 22; the Ninth contains laws immune from certain challenges, mainly land reform; the Tenth contains the anti-defection provisions; the Eleventh and Twelfth deal with panchayats and municipalities.
- ✓The 42nd Amendment, 1976 - added 'socialist', 'secular' and 'integrity' to the Preamble, added Fundamental Duties, and made several other changes. Often called the 'mini-Constitution', and the single most-asked amendment.
- ✓The 44th Amendment, 1978 - removed the Right to Property from Fundamental Rights, reduced to a legal right under Article 300A.
- ✓The 61st Amendment, 1988 - lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
- ✓The 73rd and 74th Amendments, 1992 - gave constitutional status to panchayats and to urban local bodies respectively.
- ✓The 86th Amendment, 2002 - made elementary education a fundamental right under Article 21A and added the eleventh Fundamental Duty.
- ✓The 101st Amendment, 2016 - introduced the Goods and Services Tax.
- ✓Article 370, which provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was effectively abrogated in 2019, and the state was reorganised into union territories.
Practice this now
How to revise polity for exams
- ✓Learn article numbers with their content, not separately. 'Article 32, constitutional remedies, heart and soul' is one item; the number alone is useless.
- ✓Group by Part - III for Rights, IV for Directive Principles, IVA for Duties - because part-based questions are as common as article-based ones.
- ✓Memorise the borrowed-features table as a table. It is pure matching and it appears in nearly every paper.
- ✓Learn amendments by number, year and effect together. The 42nd, 44th, 61st, 73rd, 74th, 86th and 101st cover most questions.
- ✓Distinguish carefully between what is justiciable and what is not. Rights versus Directive Principles is the conceptual distinction examiners test most.
- ✓Verify anything constitutional you learnt from older material, since provisions do change - the Anglo-Indian nomination, Article 370 and the union territory count have all shifted in recent years.
Practice this now