CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

The Constitution is the Parent Law and it is the Supreme Law of the Land and it is the source of the authority and power of the government and its various organs. Moreover, the government gets its origin from the Constitution, however, discharges its functions and responsibilities within the structure of the Constitution.

INTRODUCTION

The Constitution of India makes India a democratic nation and it determines −

v The procedure of formation of a government

v The techniques and process of functions of government and

v The process of interactions among the different parts of the government in a particular area of their work.

The constitution is a fundamental of rules and standards based on which the people of this nation are obliged to be administered or governed. The major standards of the Constitution characterize the type of government and its constituent's parts and also the nature of the provisions and policies to be adopted by the nation.

Thus, the Constitution fills in as a pivot in finding some kind of harmony between the differences and gives safeguards to the interests of every citizen of the country.

HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

· In 1928, Motilal Nehru and eight different Congress pioneers drafted a constitution for India.

· In 1931, the Indian National Congress in its meeting at Karachi passed a resolution on how the constitution of free India should resemble.

· Both these two documents have incorporated the right of universal adult franchise, the right to freedom and equality, and to secure the rights of minorities.

· Afterward, the provisions of these reports and different documents gave a foundation of the specific basic values, which were acknowledged by all leaders and included in the constitution of free India.

· British Rule had presented weak legislations in India by the given voting rights to a few people.

· Elections were held in 1937 to Provincial Legislatures all over British India, which were not completely democratic governments. Working with these legislative institutions gave valuable experience to Indians, which helped in setting up native institutions in free India.

FACTS RELATED TO CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

v The Indian National Congress made a demand for a Constituent Assembly in 1934, which appeared for drafting the constitution of India on 9 December 1946.

v The Constituent Assembly drafted the Constitution for autonomous or independent India between 9 December 1946 and 26 November 1949 so it took 2 years 11 months and 18 days to draft the complete Constitution of India

v We, the individuals of India, have embraced and enacted the Indian Constitution on 26 November 1949 and it was made enforceable on 26 January 1950.

v The Constitution additionally characterizes a list of Fundamental Rights that are a significant part of the Constitution to secure the interest of each citizen against the oppression of the state and also from the predominance of a specific community.

v Indian Constitution is a written constitution.

v The Indian Constitution is a unique blend of rigidity and flexibility.

v Indian Constitution is Unitary as Centre has more power, yet it is additionally Federal as power is divided between the Centre and the State.

v Like South Africa, India's Constitution was additionally drawn up under exceptionally difficult conditions.

v The Constitution makers have adopted its basic structure from the Government of India Act 1935.

v The Constituent Assembly was the group of elected representatives of the citizens of India.

v The election for the Constituent Assembly was held in July 1946 and its first meeting was held in December 1946.

v On Partition, the Constituent Assembly was additionally divided into two sections called the Constituent Assembly of India and the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.

v The Constituent Assembly of India had amended the Constitution on 26 November 1949, yet it came into effect on 26 January 1950.

v There are three organs of the government in particular the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. The lawmaking body makes laws, the executive implements them and the judiciary applies them to the particular cases emerging out of the breach of law.

v The Constitution of India is the Lengthiest Written Constitution of the World. At present, it contains 448 Articles in 25 Parts and 12 Schedules

GENERAL RULES IN INTERPRETATION OF THE CONSTITUTION

1. The Constitution prevails over other statutes as it is the parent law and the Supreme Law of the Land and no Law can contradict the provisions of the Constitution.

2. Internal Aids and External Aids to interpretation may be used while interpreting the Constitutional Law.

3. The Constitution must be read as a whole.

4. The principle of Harmonious Construction must be applied in the interpretation of the Constitution.

5. The constitution must be interpreted in a broad and literal sense.

6. The Court has to infer the spirit of the Constitution from the language.

VALUES OF THE CONSTITUTION

1. India is a Republic Country and the President of India is the head of the country. He/she is elected after every specific time i.e. 5 years.

2. The provisions are written in the Constitution to ensure justice for all. Nobody can be discriminated against on the grounds of gender, religion, and caste. Social inequalities on any grounds of caste, religion, and sexual orientation are prohibited.

3. Welfare for all citizens is the prime goal of the Government; furthermore, the legislature likewise needs to give special attention, especially to the back of the underprivileged classes of society.

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

Fundamental rights are the basic Human Rights as provided in the Constitution of India 1950 which are guaranteed to all citizens of the Country. They are applicable to all citizens without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, etc. Significantly, fundamental rights are Enforceable By the courts through writ Jurisdiction, subject to certain conditions. Articles 12-35 of the Indian Constitution deal with Fundamental Rights which comes under part 3 of the Constitution. These human rights are conferred upon the citizens of India for the Constitution tells that these rights cannot be violated by anyone not even by ant enactment by parliament., Right to Education, Right to Life, Right to Dignity, etc they all come under one of the six main fundamental rights.

WHY ARE THEY CALLED FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS?

· They are mentioned under the Constitution of India which guarantees them

· They are Justifiable (enforceable by courts). In case of a violation, a person can directly approach a Court of Law by Writ Jurisdiction (Article 32 and 226)

· A person can approach Supreme Court in case of violation of his or her Fundamental Right and he can also approach High Court in case of Violation of his Fundamental or legal Right under Article 226 of the Constitution Of India.

There are six fundamental rights in the Part 3rd of the Indian Constitution along with the constitutional articles which are as follows::

1. Right to Equality (Article 14-18)

2. Right to Freedom (Article 19-22)

3. Right against Exploitation (Article 23-24)

4. Right to Freedom of Religion (Article 25-28)

5. Cultural and Educational Rights (Article 29-30)

6. Right to Constitutional Remedies (Article 32)

There was one more fundamental right which was earlier mentioned in part 3rd of the Constitution, i.e., the right to property.

However, after the 44th amendment of the Constitution, this right was removed from the Fundamental Rights which is now under Article 300 of the Constitution of India

This was done because this particular right was proved to be an obstruction towards attaining the goal of socialism and redistributing wealth (property) in an equitable manner among the people.

LEGISLATURE

· Legislatures may be Unicameral or Bicameral in India we follow a bicameral legislature as it has 2 houses of Parliament Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha

· Their powers may incorporate passing laws, setting up the budget plan of government,

· It has power in appointments of executive, and it also has a function to ratify various treaties.

· It also can investigate the executive bench and it can impeach and remove officials of the executive and judiciary and redressing the constituent's complaints.

· Individuals may be appointed or may be elected directly or indirectly.

· They represent the country and every citizen of India at the global level.

· India has a Parliamentary Form of Government. In the Parliamentary Form of Government; there is no clear separation of power of Legislative and Executive organs. In India, the Prime Minister is the head of the government.

· The Constitution of India accommodates the division of power between the Central and the State governments. It likewise satisfies some different highlights of federalism, for example, the rigidity of the constitution, written constitution, a bicameral lawmaking body, autonomous judiciary, and supremacy of the constitution. Consequently, India has a Federal System with unitary bias.

· The Constitution promotes the unity and convergence of the standards of patriotism and nationalism. Single Constitution empowers the Parliament of India to make changes in the Constitution. It enables the Parliament even to create a new state or abolish an existing state or modify its boundaries.

EXECUTIVE

The executive is the part of government that is responsible for the proper implementation of laws and provisions and policies which were adopted by the legislature. The executive is generally engaged with the framing of strategy. The official designations of the executive shift from nation to nation. A few nations have presidents, while others have chancellors. The executive branch isn't simply about presidents, ministers, and prime ministers. It too

stretches out to the administrative machinery of government employees.

While the heads of government and their ministers, outfitted with the general obligation of government policy, are known as the political executive, those responsible for everyday administration are known as the permanent executive.

As indicated by this framework, there is a President who is the formal Head of the territory of India and the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, which run the administration at the national level. At the State level, the executive involves the Governor also, the Chief Minister, and the Council of Ministers.

The Constitution of India vests the executive power of the Union office in the President. The President practices this power through the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. The President is elected for a time of five years. However, there are no direct elections by the people for the President. The President is elected indirectly. This implies that the president is not elected by the general public but by the chosen MLAs and MPs. This election happens in understanding the principle of proportional representation with a single transferable vote.

INDIAN JUDICIARY SYSTEM

The Judiciary system of India is one which contains various laws and rules for the welfare of the citizens. It is that system which is responsible to ensure law, order, and peace in society. The Indian Judiciary or Judiciary System or the court system is a remnant of the legal system established by the British Raj and is based on English law. It consists of precedence, legislature, and custom. The court has the power to resolve disputes, make decisions, and also enforce laws.

On 26 January 1950, the Indian Constitution was written with elements from Irish, French, American, and also adheres to the human rights code set forth by the UN. It is the longest constitution of any nation, comprising of articles, 104 amendments, and 117,369 words Indian Judicial System consists of various levels of Judiciary with different powers depending on the tier and Jurisdiction bestowed upon them. There is a Strict Hierarchy of Courts which is being followed such as the Supreme Court of India at the top followed by the High Court in respective states, with the District Court in each of the districts followed by Panchayat Courts with the village or group of the village. Each state is divided into Judicial districts that a presided over by district session judges below whom are munsifs, civil and sub judges.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

The SC was created in 1950 with a Chief Justice and seven puisne judges but now consist of 34 judges including CJI. The first chief Justice was Justice Harilal J.Kania(1950) and the Present CJI is Sharad Arvind Bobde. It is the apex law body of India (part v, chapter iv of the constitution of India ). The Judgements and laws declared by SC are binding on all the lower courts within the territory of India (Article 141). The CJI is appointed by President. The judges once appointed cannot be removed except by the President and 2/3 majority in both the houses of the Parliament. For the Judges, the Retirement age is 65 years. SC is a federal court, guardian of the Constitution. Article 124 to 147 lays down the Jurisdiction and the structure of the SC. Supreme Court also acts as an Appellate court which can take up the appeal against the Judgment of the High Court, It is an Appellate court which takes up an appeal against the judgment of high courts of the state and territories. It can also exercise its Writ Jurisdiction under Article 32 and can issue writs in cases of Violation of Fundamental Rights. The Inaugural meeting of the Supreme Court took place on 28 January 1950 and till now it has delivered more than 25000 reported Judgments.

HIGH COURT

There is each high court for each state or group of state, union territory (article 214,231). There are 25 high courts in totality at the state level. These courts have jurisdiction over a particular location for example state, a union territory, a group of states, and union territories. They are based on the original jurisdiction principal i.e in that particular State they may have jurisdiction. Every High court consists of a Chief Justice appointed by the President with the consultation of the governor of the state and the CJI. The High court also acts as an Appellate Court and its major work is to hear appeals from lower courts and also issue writ petitions in cases of violation of fundamental rights as well as Legal Right under Article 226 of the constitution of India. A judge of High Court shall hold off office until the age of 62 years. It is superior to all the other lower courts (ARTICLE 227) and has the power to transfer case to itself from subordinate courts.

DISTRICT COURTS

These courts are established by the state government for every district or for more than one district as per the population distribution in the district. They administer justice at the district level in India under the control of the High court of the respective state. The decisions of the District court are subject to the appellate jurisdiction of the concerned state. It looks after the civil and criminal matters related to the district. A law declared by them is applicable to all subordinate courts.

VILLAGE COURT

Village courts, called Lok Adalat (People’s court) or Nyaya Panchayat (justice of the village), compose a system of alternative dispute resolution at the village level. They are also called Gram nyayalays established under Gram nyayalays act 2008 for every panchayat for providing inexpensive justice to people in rural areas at their doorstep. The presiding officer of a Gram nyayalays is called Nyaya Adhikari appointed by the state government in consultation with the high court.

CONCLUSION

The Constitution of India is a great effort by different members of the constitutional assembly and that's why it covers every aspect. It is the Supreme Law of the land and no law can contradict or override any provisions of the constitution especially Part 3 of the Constitution. Constitution makers also mentioned different fundamental duties in Part 4 A of the Constitution i.e. Article 51 which provides 11 Fundamental Duties. The procedure to amend the constitution is provided in Article 368 making it a unique blend of rigidity and flexibility. There are 3 types of Emergency mentioned in the Constitution Article 352, 356, and Article 360 of the Constitution. So basically it covers all things which are essential to run the administration of the Country and it is one of the lengthiest written constitutions in the world.

Author -GAURAV PUROHIT

AMITY UNIVERSITY RAJASTHAN

5TH SEMESTER

REFERENCES

· BARE ACT OF CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

· JN PANDEY CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

· https://www.britannica.com/topic/legislature

· https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/administrative-law/legislative-executive-and-judicial-functions-administrative-law-essay.php#:~:text=Corresponding%20to%20these%20three%20activities,of%20the%20breach%20of%20law.

· http://www.egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/20952/1/Unit-17.pdf