- The idea of Constituent Assembly was implicit in the demand for Swaraj made by the Indian National Congress as early as 1906.
- In 1936 Constituent Assembly having the power to finally determine the Constitution of the country.
- The Constituent Assembly went into action as per the Cabinet Mission plan.
- The Constituent Assembly, when it met for the first time on December 9, 1946, was not a sovereign body. This met was boycotted by the Muslim League, which insisted on a separate state of Pakistan.
- It had to follow the prescribed procedure set up by the Cabinet Mission of the British Parliament.
- Its total membership for entire India was 389, out of which 93 members were from the princely states and 296 were elected from the British Indian provinces.
- On December 11, 1946, the Indian National Congress elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as the permanent Chairman of the Constituent Assembly.
- The Constituent Assembly was a partly elected and a partly nominated body.
- The members were elected indirectly by people in the provincial assemblies, who in turn had been elected on the basis of a limited franchise (on the basis of tax, property and education)
- Further, the Constituent Assembly included all leading personalities of India of the time, with the exception of Gandhi and Jinnah.
- On March 15, 1946, Clement Atlee, the Labour Party’s Prime Minister, categorically admitted the right of Indians to frame their own Constitution.
- The British Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act, 1947 in July of the same year.
- As per the Independence Act, the two independent dominions were created w.e.f. August 15, 1947.
Major Committees
- Union Powers Committee: Jawaharlal Nehru
- Union Constitution Committee: Jawaharlal Nehru
- States Committee (Committee for Negotiating with States) : Jawaharlal Nehru
- Provincial Constitution Committee: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
- Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
- Rules of Procedure Committee: Dr. Rajendra Prasad
- Steering Committee: Dr. Rajendra Prasad
- Drafting Committee: Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
Enactment and Enforcement
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After two readings of the draft, during which various alterations were accommodated, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar proposed a motion on 26th November, 1949, which has been mentioned as the day ‘people of India in the Constituent Assembly adopted, enacted and gave to themselves the Constitution of India’.
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January 26, 1950, was chosen as the ‘date of commencement’ on which the Constitution came into force owing to its historic importance (although some provisions came into force on 26th November, 1949 only).
Criticism of the Constituent Assembly
- Not a Representative Body
- Not a Sovereign Body
- Domination of Congress members
- Lawyer-Politician Domination
Evolution as an Ongoing Process
- The 42nd constitutional amendment mentioned explicitly the concepts of secularism and socialism as a part of the Constitution.
- Article 15(4) was added by the 1st constitutional amendment act and provides for affirmative action for socially and economically backward sections of society or for SC/STs.
- Article 15(5) was added by the 93rd constitutional amendment act and provides for affirmative action for socially and economically weaker sections of society in educational institutions, whether aided or unaided.
- Constitution is open to constant interpretation by the Supreme Court. This feature allows the Supreme Court to accord such interpretations so as to make the Constitution:
- Right to Education (Article 21A) was incorporated through the 86th constitutional amendment enacted by the Parliament of India after landmark judgements by the Supreme Court in the Mohini Jain and Unni Krishnan case.
- Article 21 or the ‘Right to Protection of Life and Personal Liberty’. Starting with its judgment in the Maneka Gandhi vs. Union of India case,
- 1978, the SC has time and again brought about various judgments so as to tackle various issues crippling normal life of Indian citizens or some other need of the hour. The CNG ruling in Delhi, Ganga river protection, right to adequate shelter, right to privacy as a Fundamental Right, right to die with dignity as a Fundamental Right and thus allowing passive euthanasia et al are instances of such rulings.