Introduction

A constitution means a document having special legal sanctity which sets out the frame work
and the principal functions of the organs of the Government of the State and declares the
principles governing the operation of those organs.26th November, 1949, is one of the crucial
dates in the Indian History, which has laid down the founding stone of the Independent India.
No doubt, India had gained its freedom from the British Raj in the year 1947 but it was on
this day when India adopted its Constitution and finally stood on its own feet to walk and
thereby run. This day is celebrated as Constitution Day or National Law Day in India. This
famous quote of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar summaries the reason of all our battle of
independence: “Our is a battle; Not for wealth, nor for power, ours is battle; for freedom;
For reclamation of human personality.”
Historical Background
As we all know India was ruled by the British for almost 200 years and the first outburst for
freedom was the Revolt of 1857 also called as the Indian Mutiny or the Sepoy Mutiny which
began on 10thMay, 1857 at Meerut and continued until December 1858. After this revolt, it
was certain that India will achieve its freedom and after freedom India needed government.
And for the effective functioning of a government certain set of principles and rules &
regulations were required to be framed, hence India needed a Constitution.

In 1934, an idea for a Constituent Assembly was proposed by M.N Roy. It became an official
demand of the Indian National Congress in 1935, C. Rajagopalachari voiced the demand for
a Constituent Assembly on 15thNovember, 1939 based on adult franchise, and was accepted
by the British in August 1940. On 8thAugust, 1940 early in the Battle of Britain, the Viceroy
of India, Lord Linlithgow, made the so-called “August Offer”, a fresh proposal promising the
expansion of the Executive Council to include more Indians, the establishment of an advisory
war council, giving full weight to minority opinion, and the recognition of Indians’ right to
frame their own constitution (after the end of the war). In return, it was hoped that all parties
and communities in India would cooperate in Britain's war effort. The Congress did not trust
the intentions of the British government. Consequently, Linlithgow recorded that the British
government “could not contemplate the transfer of their present responsibilities for the
peace and tranquillity of India to any system of Government whose authority is directly
denied by large and power elements in the India’s national life.” Therefore, Linlithgow stated
that the constitutional future of India could be resolved in the future once the war was over
by establishing a constituent assembly that was representative of the principal elements in
India’s national life. The Congress Working Committee meeting at Wardha on 21stAugust,
1940 eventually rejected the offer. The Cripps Mission was a failed attempt in late March
1942 by the British Government to secure full Indian cooperation and support for their efforts
in World War II. The mission was headed by a senior minister Sir Stafford Cripps, Lord Privy
Seal and leader of the House of Commons. Cripps was sent to negotiate an agreement with
the nationalist Congress leaders, who spoke for the majority Indians, and Muhammad Ali
Jinnah and the Muslim League, who spoke for the minority Muslim population. Cripps worked
to keep India loyal to the British war effort in exchange for a promise of elections and full
self-government (Dominion Status) once the war was over. Cripps discussed the proposals,
which he had drafted himself, with the Indian leaders and published them. Both the major
parties rejected his proposals, and they were also unacceptable to Churchill; no middle way
was found and the mission failed.

In 1946, the Cabinet Mission Plan came to India with an aim to discuss the transfer of power
from the British Government to the Indian leadership, with the aim of preserving India's unity
and granting it independence. The Cabinet Mission’s role was to hold preparatory discussions
with the elected representatives of British India and the Indian states so as to secure
agreement to the method of framing the constitution, to set up a constitution body and to
set up an Executive Council with the support of the main Indian parties. Thus, it was under
this Plan, India formed its Constituent Assembly.
Drafting of the Constitution
India under the British Raj consisted of two types of territories, that is, British India and
Princely States. The Constituent Assembly was formed on the basis of the population, for
every 10-lakh people there was one representative. So, there were 389 representatives who
were called from entire India to form the Constituent Assembly, 296 representatives from
the British India and 93 representatives from Princely States. The Princely States denied
participation in the Constituent Assembly. Hence the Constituent Assembly was formed with
the 296 representatives from the British India. The Constituent Assembly was not elected on
the basis of universal adult suffrage, and Muslims and Sikhs received special representation
as minorities. These 296 representatives also included women members viz., Sarojini Naidu,
Hansa Mehta, Durgabai Deshmukh, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur and Vijayalakshmi Pandit. Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar, Sanjay Phakey, Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajagopalachari, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel, Purushottam Mavalankar, Sandip kumar Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad,
Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Nalini Ranjan Ghosh, Balwantrai Mehta H. P. Modi, Ari Bahadur
Gururng and Frank Anthony were some important figures in the Constituent Assembly.
Prominent jurists like Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, Benegal Narsing Rau and K. M. Munshi and
Ganesh Mavlankar were also members of the Assembly.

The members of the Constituent Assembly met for the first time on 9thDecember, 1946. The
first temporary two-day president of the Constituent Assembly was Dr. Sachchidananda
Sinha. The second meeting of the Constituent Assembly was on 11thDecember, 1946 where
in Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the president, Harendra Coomar Mookerjee as the vice-
president and Benegal Narsing Rao as the constitutional advisor of the Constituent Assembly.
In the third meeting, that is, on 13thDecember, 1946 Jawaharlal Nehru presented an
‘Objective Resolution’ in the Constituent Assembly, laying down the underlying principles of
the constitution. In the next meeting, that is, on 22ndJanuary, 1947 the said Resolution was
unanimously adopted by the Constituent Assembly and it finally became the Preamble of the
Constitution. The Constituent Assembly appointed a total of 13 committees to deal with
different tasks of constitution-making. Out of these, eight were major committees and the
others were minor committees.
Major Committees:
1.Drafting Committee – Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
2.Union Powers Committee – Jawaharlal Nehru
3.Union Constitution Committee – Jawaharlal Nehru
4.Provincial Constitution Committee – Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
5.Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas –
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
This committee had the following subcommittees :
1.Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee - J.B. Kripalani
2.Minorities Sub-Committee - Harendra Coomar Mookerjee,
3.North-East Frontier Tribal Areas and Assam Excluded & Partially Excluded Areas Sub-
Committee – Gopinath Bardoloi
4.Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas (Other than those in Assam) Sub-Committee – A V
Thakkar
6. Rules of Procedure Committee- Dr. Rajendra Prasad
7. States Committee (Committee for Negotiating with States) – Jawaharlal Nehru.
8. Steering Committee - Dr. Rajendra Prasad

The Assembly met in sessions open to the public, for 166 days, spread over a period of 2
years, 11 months and 18 days before adopting the Constitution. In the last meeting of the
Assembly, that is, on 24thJanuary, 1950 the members of the Assembly signed two copies of
the document (one each in Hindi and English) and also “Jana Gana Mana” was adopted as
the national anthem and the first two verses of “ Vande Mataram” as the national song. The
original Constitution of India is hand-written with beautiful calligraphy, each page beautified
and decorated by artists from Shantiniketan including Beohar Rammanohar Sinha and
Nandalal Bose. Two days later, on 26th January, 1950, the Constitution of India became the
law of all the States and territories of India.

Most Indians recognise 26th January as Republic Day, but not many are aware that on 26th
January 1930, that is, exactly 20 years before India became a republic. The Indian National
Congress in an electrifying resolution declared Purna Swaraj - complete freedom from the
British Raj. From then on, it was a question of ‘When’ — not ‘If’ —India would become free.
The Congress appointed its own commission, led by Motilal Nehru, to propose constitutional
reforms for the country. In 1928, the ‘Nehru Report’ called for self-government for India
under dominion status of the British Empire. However, a younger generation of Congress
leaders such as Motilal’s son Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose felt the demand for
dominion status was asking for too little. Eventually in its December 1928 session in Calcutta
the Congress passed a resolution calling for the British to grant dominion status to India
within one year, failure to do so would lead to a Congress call for complete independence.
With no concession’s forthcoming from the government, the stage was set in December 1929
for the Congress to pass a historic resolution at its Lahore session at the banks of river Ravi.

The “Indian Declaration of Independence” of 26thDecember, 1929 boldly stated:" We believe

that it is the inalienable right of the Indian people, as of any other people, to have freedom
and to enjoy the fruits of their toil and have the necessities of life, so that they may have full
opportunities of growth. We believe also that if any government deprives people of these
rights and oppresses them; the people have a further right to alter it or to abolish it. The
British Government in India has not only deprived the Indian people of their freedom but has
based itself on the exploitation of the masses, and has ruined India economically, politically,
culturally, and spiritually. We believe, therefore, that India must sever the British connection
and attain Purna Swaraj, or complete independence.”

The Congress declared 26thJanuary, 1930 as ‘Independence Day’, when the Declaration of
Independence was officially promulgated. India got independence from British rule in 1947,
but was not a republic till 1950, until when the constitution of the country was adopted and
the country was declared a Republic. The country was separated and was recognized as a
separate country but it still followed British constitution and acknowledged British Monarch
as its head. It was only when India adopted its newly written constitution on 26thJanuary,
1950 that India became a Republic. The new Indian Constitution took effect on 26thJanuary,
1950 to mark the 1930 declaration. That is why 26thJanuary is a special day in India’s history
in more ways than one.

The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It is a living document, the permanent
instrument which makes the government system work. It lays down the framework defining
fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers and duties of
government institutions and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles and the duties
of citizens. It is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world. At the
time of commencement, the constitution had 395 articles in 22 parts and 8 schedules and
consists of almost 80,000 words.

Conclusion
The unambiguous commitment to a democratic, secular, egalitarian and civil libertarian
society by the framers of the constitution is a clear indication of the foresight of the learned
makers of the constitution and their commitment for the welfare of all but not of the few.

Last but not the least, I am again mentioning the quote of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, which
he had made in the concluding remarks of his speech in 1948:
“I feel that the constitution is workable, it is flexible and it is strong enough to hold the
country together both in peacetime and in wartime. Indeed, if I may say so, if things go
wrong under the new Constitution, the reason will not be that we had a bad Constitution.
What we will have to say is that Man was vile.”