The assembly appointed a number of committees to deal with different aspects of the problem of framing the Constitution. These included the Union Constitution Committee, Union Power Committee, Committees on Fundamental Rights, Minorities, etc. Some of these committees were headed by either Nehru or Patel to whom the President of the assembly gave the credit for working out the fundamentals of the Constitution. The Committees worked hard and in a businesslike manner and produced valuable reports. Between the third and the sixth sessions, the assembly considered the reports of committees on Fundamental Rights, on Union Constitution, on Union Powers, on Provincial Constitution, on Minorities and on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Recommendations of the other Committees were later considered by the Drafting Committee.
The first draft of the constitution of India was prepared in October, 1947 by the Advisory Branch of the Office of the constituent assembly under Sir B.N. Rau. Before the preparation of this draft, voluminous background material had been collected and supplied to the members of the assembly in the shape of three series of 'Constitutional Precedents' which gave salient texts from the constitutions of about 60 countries. The constituent assembly on 29 August 1947 appointed the Drafting Committee with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar as the Chairman to scrutinise the draft of the text of the constitutional advisor (B.N.Rau) giving effect to the decisions taken in the assembly.
The Draft constitution of India prepared by the Drafting Committee was submitted to the president of the assembly on 21 February 1948. A large number of comments, criticism s and suggestions for the amendment of the Draft constitution were received. The Drafting Committee considered all these. A special committee was constituted to go through them along with the recommendations of the Drafting Committee thereon. The suggestions made by the Special Committee were again considered by the Drafting Committee and certain amendments were picked up for incorporation. To facilitate reference to such amendments the Drafting Committee decided to issue a reprint off the Draft constitution which was submitted to the President of the assembly on 26 October 1948.
While introducing the Draft constitution in the assembly for consideration on 4 November 1948, Dr. Ambedkar replied to some common criticisms of the Draft, particularly the criticism in regard to there being very little in it that could claim originality. He observed:
"One likes to ask whether there can be anything new in a constitution framed at this hour in the history of the world. More than hundred years have rolled over when the first written constitution was drafted. It has been followed by many countries reducing their constitutions to writing. What the scope of a constitution should be has long been settled. Similarly what are the fundamentals of a constitution are recognised all over the world. Given these facts, all constitutions in their main provisions must look similar. The only new things, if there can be any, in a constitution framed so late in the day are the variations made to remove the faults and to accommodate it to the needs of the country. The charge of producing a blind copy of the constitutions of other countries is based, I am sure, on an inadequate study of the constitution. As to the accusation that the Draft constitution has produced a good part of the provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935, I make no apologies. There is nothing to be ashamed of in borrowing. It involves no plagiarism. Nobody holds any patent rights in the fundamental ideas of a constitution."
The clause by clause consideration of the Draft constitution was completed during 15 November 1948-17 October 1949. The Preamble was the last to be adopted. The Drafting Committee, thereafter, carried the consequential or necessary amendments, prepared the final draft and placed it before the assembly.
The second Second Reading of the Constitution was completed on 16 November 1949 and on the next day the assembly took up the Third Reading of the Constitution, with a motion by Dr. Ambedkar "that the constitution as settled by the assembly be passed". The motion was adopted on 26 November 1949 and thus on that day, the people of India in the constituent assembly adopted, enacted and gave to themselves the constitution of the Sovereign Democratic Republic of India. The constituent assembly accomplished the tremendous task of framing the constitution in less than three years.
Adoption of the constitution was, however, not the journey's end. The Chairman of the Drafting Committee, Dr. Ambedkar, and the President of the assembly, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, speaking on 25 and 26 November 1949 sounded words of warning and wisdom. Dr, Ambedkar said:
"I feel, however good a constitution may be, it is sure to turn out bad because those who are called to work it, happen to be a bad lot. However bad a constitution may be, it may turn out to be good if those who are called to work it, happen to be a good lot. The working of a constitution does not depend wholly upon the nature of the constitution. The constitution can provide only the organs of State such as the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. The factors on which the working of those organs of State depends are the people and the political parties they will set up as their instruments to carry out their wishes and their politics. Who can say how the people of India and their parties will behave?
....In addition to our old enemies in the form of castes and creeds we are going to have many political parties with diverse and opposing political creeds. Will Indians place the country above their creed or will they place creed above country? I do not know. But this much is certain that if the parties place creed above country, our independence will be put in jeopardy a second time and probably be lost for ever. This eventuality we must all resolutely guard against. We must be determined to defend our independence with the last drop of our blood".
Dr. Rajendra Prasad in his concluding speech observed that they had been able, on the whole, to draft a good constitution which he trusted would serve the country well. But , he added:
"If the people who are elected are capable and men of character and integrity, they would be able to make the best even of a defective constitution. If they are lacking in these, the constitution cannot help the country. After all, a constitution like a machine is a lifeless thing. It requires life because of men who control it and operate it, and India needs today nothing more than a set of honest men who will have the interest of the country before them. There is a fissiparous tendency arising out of various elements in our life. We have communal differences, caste differences, language differences, provincial differences and so forth. It requires men of strong character, men of vision, men who will not sacrifice the interests of the country at large for the sake of smaller groups and areas and who will rise over the prejudices which are born of these differences. We can only hope that the country will throw up such men in abundance."
The Constitution was finally signed by members of the constituent assembly on 24 January 1950-the last day of the assembly.
Our founding fathers were some of the most distinguished and the wisest of men and women- great jurists, patriots and freedom fighters. It is difficult to imagine any better or more representative results at that time even if the constituent assembly was directly elected by the people on the basis of universal adult franchise.
The institutions continued by us after independence and/or embodied in the constitution were those which had grown and developed on the Indian soil itself. The Founding Fathers chose to build further on the foundations of the old, on the institutions which had already grown and which they had known, become familiar with and worked, despite all the limitations and fetters. The constitution rejected British rule, but not the institutions that had developed during the period of British rule. Thus the constitution did not represent a complete break with the colonial past.
Also, constitution-making and institution-building being a living, growing and dynamic process, it did not come to a stop on 26 November 1949 when the people of India in their constituent assembly, were said to have "adopted, enacted and given to themselves" the constitution. Even after its commencement on 26 January 1950, the constitution of India was being further made through its actual working, judicial interpretation and constitutional amendments. The constitution kept growing for better or worse and acquired newer and newer meanings by the manner in which and the men by whom it was worked from time to time. The story continues.
Besides framing the constitution, the constituent assembly performed several other important functions like passing certain statutes of a constituent nature, adopting the national flag, declaring the national anthem, ratifying the decision in regard to the membership of Commonwealth and election of the first President of the Republic.
The first draft of the constitution of India was prepared in October, 1947 by the Advisory Branch of the Office of the constituent assembly under Sir B.N. Rau. Before the preparation of this draft, voluminous background material had been collected and supplied to the members of the assembly in the shape of three series of 'Constitutional Precedents' which gave salient texts from the constitutions of about 60 countries. The constituent assembly on 29 August 1947 appointed the Drafting Committee with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar as the Chairman to scrutinise the draft of the text of the constitutional advisor (B.N.Rau) giving effect to the decisions taken in the assembly.
The Draft constitution of India prepared by the Drafting Committee was submitted to the president of the assembly on 21 February 1948. A large number of comments, criticism s and suggestions for the amendment of the Draft constitution were received. The Drafting Committee considered all these. A special committee was constituted to go through them along with the recommendations of the Drafting Committee thereon. The suggestions made by the Special Committee were again considered by the Drafting Committee and certain amendments were picked up for incorporation. To facilitate reference to such amendments the Drafting Committee decided to issue a reprint off the Draft constitution which was submitted to the President of the assembly on 26 October 1948.
While introducing the Draft constitution in the assembly for consideration on 4 November 1948, Dr. Ambedkar replied to some common criticisms of the Draft, particularly the criticism in regard to there being very little in it that could claim originality. He observed:
"One likes to ask whether there can be anything new in a constitution framed at this hour in the history of the world. More than hundred years have rolled over when the first written constitution was drafted. It has been followed by many countries reducing their constitutions to writing. What the scope of a constitution should be has long been settled. Similarly what are the fundamentals of a constitution are recognised all over the world. Given these facts, all constitutions in their main provisions must look similar. The only new things, if there can be any, in a constitution framed so late in the day are the variations made to remove the faults and to accommodate it to the needs of the country. The charge of producing a blind copy of the constitutions of other countries is based, I am sure, on an inadequate study of the constitution. As to the accusation that the Draft constitution has produced a good part of the provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935, I make no apologies. There is nothing to be ashamed of in borrowing. It involves no plagiarism. Nobody holds any patent rights in the fundamental ideas of a constitution."
The clause by clause consideration of the Draft constitution was completed during 15 November 1948-17 October 1949. The Preamble was the last to be adopted. The Drafting Committee, thereafter, carried the consequential or necessary amendments, prepared the final draft and placed it before the assembly.
The second Second Reading of the Constitution was completed on 16 November 1949 and on the next day the assembly took up the Third Reading of the Constitution, with a motion by Dr. Ambedkar "that the constitution as settled by the assembly be passed". The motion was adopted on 26 November 1949 and thus on that day, the people of India in the constituent assembly adopted, enacted and gave to themselves the constitution of the Sovereign Democratic Republic of India. The constituent assembly accomplished the tremendous task of framing the constitution in less than three years.
Adoption of the constitution was, however, not the journey's end. The Chairman of the Drafting Committee, Dr. Ambedkar, and the President of the assembly, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, speaking on 25 and 26 November 1949 sounded words of warning and wisdom. Dr, Ambedkar said:
"I feel, however good a constitution may be, it is sure to turn out bad because those who are called to work it, happen to be a bad lot. However bad a constitution may be, it may turn out to be good if those who are called to work it, happen to be a good lot. The working of a constitution does not depend wholly upon the nature of the constitution. The constitution can provide only the organs of State such as the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. The factors on which the working of those organs of State depends are the people and the political parties they will set up as their instruments to carry out their wishes and their politics. Who can say how the people of India and their parties will behave?
....In addition to our old enemies in the form of castes and creeds we are going to have many political parties with diverse and opposing political creeds. Will Indians place the country above their creed or will they place creed above country? I do not know. But this much is certain that if the parties place creed above country, our independence will be put in jeopardy a second time and probably be lost for ever. This eventuality we must all resolutely guard against. We must be determined to defend our independence with the last drop of our blood".
Dr. Rajendra Prasad in his concluding speech observed that they had been able, on the whole, to draft a good constitution which he trusted would serve the country well. But , he added:
"If the people who are elected are capable and men of character and integrity, they would be able to make the best even of a defective constitution. If they are lacking in these, the constitution cannot help the country. After all, a constitution like a machine is a lifeless thing. It requires life because of men who control it and operate it, and India needs today nothing more than a set of honest men who will have the interest of the country before them. There is a fissiparous tendency arising out of various elements in our life. We have communal differences, caste differences, language differences, provincial differences and so forth. It requires men of strong character, men of vision, men who will not sacrifice the interests of the country at large for the sake of smaller groups and areas and who will rise over the prejudices which are born of these differences. We can only hope that the country will throw up such men in abundance."
The Constitution was finally signed by members of the constituent assembly on 24 January 1950-the last day of the assembly.
Our founding fathers were some of the most distinguished and the wisest of men and women- great jurists, patriots and freedom fighters. It is difficult to imagine any better or more representative results at that time even if the constituent assembly was directly elected by the people on the basis of universal adult franchise.
The institutions continued by us after independence and/or embodied in the constitution were those which had grown and developed on the Indian soil itself. The Founding Fathers chose to build further on the foundations of the old, on the institutions which had already grown and which they had known, become familiar with and worked, despite all the limitations and fetters. The constitution rejected British rule, but not the institutions that had developed during the period of British rule. Thus the constitution did not represent a complete break with the colonial past.
Also, constitution-making and institution-building being a living, growing and dynamic process, it did not come to a stop on 26 November 1949 when the people of India in their constituent assembly, were said to have "adopted, enacted and given to themselves" the constitution. Even after its commencement on 26 January 1950, the constitution of India was being further made through its actual working, judicial interpretation and constitutional amendments. The constitution kept growing for better or worse and acquired newer and newer meanings by the manner in which and the men by whom it was worked from time to time. The story continues.
Besides framing the constitution, the constituent assembly performed several other important functions like passing certain statutes of a constituent nature, adopting the national flag, declaring the national anthem, ratifying the decision in regard to the membership of Commonwealth and election of the first President of the Republic.
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