The Indian Constitution, which stands for national goals like Democracy, Socialism, Secularism and National Integration, was framed by the representatives of Indian people after a long period of debates and discussions. It is the most detailed constitution in the world. No other constitution has gone into such minute details as the Indian Constitution.
The Constitution of India was framed by a Constituent Assembly which was established in 1946. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected President of the Constituent Assembly. A Drafting Committe was appointed to draft the Constitution. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was appointed the Chairman of the Drafting Committee.
The Assembly met for 166 days spread over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 Days. The Constitution was adopted on 26 November, 1949. It came into force on 26 January, 1950. It had incorporated some of the salient features of the British, Irish, Swiss, French, Canadian and the American Constitutions.
The Constitution of India begins with a Preamble which contains the basic ideals and principles of the Contitution. It lays down the objectives of the frames of the Constitution. The Constitution contains 395-Articles and 12 Schedules. A number of amendment passed have also become a part of this Constitution.
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The Constitution declares India to be a Sovereign, Secular, Socialist, and Democratic Republic. At the same time, India has federal features. The powers of the government are divided between the centred government and the state governments. The Constitution demarcates the powers of the central and estate governments into different lists of subjects.
These lists ire called the Union List, the State List and the Concurent List. The constitution provides for an independent and impartial lUdiciaiy and the Supreme Court is the highest court of the country. It decides disputes between the people and the government. The Constitution provides for the establishment of parliamentary form of government in India.
The President is the nominal head of the state. In actual practice the administration is run by the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers. The council of Ministers is responsible to the Parliament.
The Constitution of India guarantees Fundamental Rights to all its citizens. They have Right to Equality, Right to Freedom, right against Exploitation, Right to Freedom of Riligion, Cultural and Educational Rights and Right to Constitutional Remedies.
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Taking inspiration from the Constitution” of Ireland, framer of our constitution included the directive principles directions given to the central government and state governments to adopt such policies which would help establish a just society in our country. There are times when the country could not be run as in ordinary times. To cope with such difficult times, the constitution provides for the emergency provisions, which are it’s another important features.
Yet another unique feature of our constition is that it is not as rigid as the American Constitution or as flexible as the British constitution. It means it is partly rigid and partly flexible. And so it can easily change and grow with the change of times.
Thus, Indian Constitution in keeping to its size has a number of distinctive features.