Jonah Patel
The Indian Constitution is the world's longest written national constitution for a sovereign nation. It is the supreme legal document of India and lays out the fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions, as well as the fundamental rights and duties of citizens. The Constitution of India has been amended 106 times, with the latest amendment given assent on September 28, 2023. The appendices of the Indian Constitution outline the residuary powers of legislation, granting Parliament the exclusive power to make laws regarding the prevention of terrorist activities, the prevention of activities disrupting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, and the taxation of foreign and inland travel, among other topics.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of Appendices | 5 |
| Number of Articles | 470 |
| Number of Parts | 25 |
| Number of Schedules | 12 |
| Number of Amendments | 106 |
| Date of Latest Amendment | 28 September 2023 |
| Date of Enactment | 26 January 1950 |
| Date of Articles Coming into Force | 26 November 1949 |
| Date of Independence from British Rule | 1947 |
| Previous Number of Articles | 395 |
| Previous Number of Parts | 22 |
| Previous Number of Schedules | 8 |
| Previous Number of Appendices | N/A |
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What You'll Learn
- The Indian Constitution is the world's longest for a sovereign nation
- It is the supreme legal document of India
- It lays down the fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers and duties of government institutions
- It sets out the fundamental rights, directive principles and duties of citizens
- The Constitution is frequently amended
The Indian Constitution is the world's longest for a sovereign nation
The Indian Constitution is the longest written constitution of any sovereign state in the world. It came into effect on 26 January 1950, which is celebrated annually in India as Republic Day. The original text of the Constitution contained 395 articles in 22 parts and eight schedules. The number of articles has since increased to 448 due to 100 amendments, with the latest amendment assented to on 28 September 2023. The Constitution has been amended over 100 times in less than eight decades of the country's existence. In comparison, the American Constitution, written in 1787 and ratified in 1788, has been amended just 27 times.
The Indian Constitution is approximately 145,000 words long. This makes it the second-longest active constitution in the world after the Constitution of Alabama. The US Constitution, by contrast, has only 4,400 words. The Indian Constitution is so long because it is very specific in spelling out government powers. Many amendments address issues that are dealt with by statute in other democracies. The Constitution was drawn from a number of sources, including previous legislation such as the Government of India Acts of 1858, 1919 and 1935, and the Indian Independence Act of 1947.
The Constitution of India is the supreme legal document of India and lays down the framework for the fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions. It also sets out the fundamental rights and duties of citizens. The Constitution espouses constitutional supremacy, as it was created by a constituent assembly rather than Parliament. The Indian Constitution does not contain a provision to limit the powers of Parliament to amend it. However, the Supreme Court has ruled that there are certain features of the Constitution that are so integral to its functioning and existence that they cannot be removed.
The original 1950 Constitution is preserved in a nitrogen-filled case at the Parliament Library Building in New Delhi. Two copies of the Constitution were handwritten, one in English and one in Hindi. These copies are currently kept in helium-filled cases in the library of the Parliament House. In December 2012, a copy of the first edition of the Indian Constitution, signed by the country's first president Rajendra Prasad, was auctioned by Sotheby's in London. It sold for nearly £40,000 to a private collector.
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It is the supreme legal document of India
The Constitution of India is the supreme legal document of the country. It is the longest written national constitution in the world, with 470 articles, 12 schedules, and 5 appendices. The document lays down the framework for the fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions. It also sets out the fundamental rights, directive principles, and duties of citizens.
The Indian Constitution espouses constitutional supremacy, as it was created by a constituent assembly rather than Parliament. This means that it is the supreme power of the nation, governing all laws. The Constitution grants all citizens Fundamental Rights and empowers the independent judiciary to invalidate legislations or government actions that violate it. The judiciary's independence is a basic feature of the Constitution, protected by the legislature and the executive.
The Constitution establishes India as a 'Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic' with a Parliamentary form of government. It provides for a federal system of governance between the Union and the States, separation of powers between the three organs of the government, free and fair elections, equality before the law, and freedom of conscience and religion.
The Constitution of India is a living document that has been amended 106 times to adapt to the changing needs of the nation. Despite being the world's most frequently amended national governing document, it has certain integral features that the Supreme Court has ruled can never be removed.
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It lays down the fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers and duties of government institutions
The Constitution of India is the supreme legal document of India and the longest written national constitution in the world. It lays down the fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions. It sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens. It espouses constitutional supremacy, as it was created by a constituent assembly rather than Parliament. The Indian Constitution does not contain a provision to limit the powers of Parliament to amend the Constitution. However, the Supreme Court in Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala held that there were certain features of the Indian Constitution so integral to its functioning and existence that they could never be removed.
The Constitution of India is a social document, with Parts III and IV (Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy, respectively) acting as its chief instruments and its conscience in realising the goals set for the people. It has been deliberately worded in generalities to ensure its flexibility. It is intended to be interpreted not only based on the intention and understanding of its framers but also in the existing social and political context.
The Constitution establishes India as a 'Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic' with a Parliamentary form of government. It grants all citizens Fundamental Rights and empowers the independent judiciary to invalidate legislations or government actions that violate the Constitution. The Constitution is the source of legal authority and empowers Parliament and the Legislatures of States and Union Territories to enact statutes.
The Indian Parliament is competent to make laws on matters enumerated in the Union List. State Legislatures are competent to make laws on matters in the State List. Both the Union and the States can legislate on the Concurrent List, but only Parliament can make laws on matters not included in the State or Concurrent Lists. In the event of repugnancy, laws made by Parliament prevail over laws made by State Legislatures, to the extent of the repugnancy.
The Constitution also provides for the prevention of activities involving terrorist acts or those directed towards disrupting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.
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It sets out the fundamental rights, directive principles and duties of citizens
The Indian Constitution is the world's longest written national constitution for a sovereign nation. It lays out the fundamental rights, directive principles and duties of citizens, which are considered vital elements of the constitution. The Fundamental Rights are defined in Part III of the Indian Constitution, from Article 12 to Article 35, and are applied irrespective of race, birthplace, religion, caste, creed, sex, gender, and equality of opportunity in matters of employment. They are enforceable by the courts, subject to specific restrictions.
The Fundamental Rights are human rights conferred on the citizens of India. They are justiciable in a court of law, and the state cannot take them away from individuals. The rights resemble those of the American Constitution and those adopted by post-war European countries, with several of them being adopted from the 1925 Bill. The rights include the defence of civil rights and economic freedom, with the stated objectives of ending exploitation, providing social security and implementing land reforms. The drafting of the Fundamental Rights was influenced by the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN General Assembly, as well as the activities of the United Nations Human Rights Commission and decisions of the US Supreme Court in interpreting the Bill of Rights in the American Constitution.
The Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) are guidelines for the framing of laws by the government. They are embodied in Part IV of the Constitution, from Article 36 to Article 51, and are not enforceable by the courts. They refer to the ideals and principles that the state must consider while forming a policy or enacting a law in the legislative process. The DPSPs are fundamental guidelines for governance that the state is expected to keep in mind when formulating policies and enacting laws. The drafting of the DPSPs was influenced by the Irish Constitution, which was itself inspired by the Spanish Constitution.
The Fundamental Duties are defined as the moral obligations of all citizens to help promote a spirit of patriotism and to uphold the unity of India. They are set out in Part IV-A of the Constitution and concern individuals and the nation. They are not enforceable by courts unless made so by parliamentary law. The Fundamental Duties were added to the Constitution by the 42nd Amendment in 1976 and there are 11 of them mentioned in the Constitution.
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The Constitution is frequently amended
The Indian Constitution is the world's longest for a sovereign nation. At its enactment, it had 395 articles in 22 parts and 8 schedules. It has since been amended 106 times, with the latest amendment added on 28 September 2023. The amended constitution now has a preamble and 470 articles, which are grouped into 25 parts, 12 schedules, and five appendices. With over 117,000 words (450 articles plus 104 amendments), it is the longest constitution of any sovereign nation in the world.
The Constitution of India is the supreme legal document of India and the longest written national constitution globally. It lays down the framework that demarcates the fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions. It also sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens. The document espouses constitutional supremacy, which was created by a constituent assembly rather than Parliament.
The framers of the Constitution adopted a combination of the "theory of fundamental law", underlying the written Constitution of the United States, with the theory of "parliamentary sovereignty" as existing in the United Kingdom. The Constitution vests constituent power upon the Parliament, subject to the special procedure laid down therein. During the discussion in the Constituent Assembly, some members favoured an easier mode of amendment procedure for the first five to ten years. Jawaharlal Nehru observed that it was necessary to introduce an element of flexibility in the Constitution. He stated that the Constitution should be adaptable to changing conditions and that a rigid document would not be applicable in a world of constant transition.
The procedure for amending the Constitution is laid down in Part XX (Article 368) of the Constitution of India. This procedure ensures the sanctity of the Constitution and keeps a check on the arbitrary power of Parliament. However, there is a limitation on the amending power of the Constitution, which developed during conflicts between the Supreme Court and Parliament. The Supreme Court wants to restrict Parliament's discretionary use of power to amend the Constitution. This has led to various doctrines or rules regarding checking the validity and legality of an amendment. The most famous is the Basic Structure Doctrine, as laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala. The ruling confirmed that all laws, including those in Schedule 9, would be open to judicial review if they violate the "basic structure of the constitution".
The Constitution is so specific in spelling out government powers that amendments are often required to address matters that could be dealt with by ordinary statutes in other democracies. The most important and frequent reason for amendments to the Constitution is the curtailment of the Fundamental Rights charter. This is achieved by inserting laws contrary to the fundamental rights provisions into Schedule 9 of the Constitution, which protects such laws from judicial review.
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Frequently asked questions
Appendices in the Indian Constitution are additions to the original document. The amended constitution has 12 schedules and five appendices and has been amended 106 times.
The Indian Constitution is the supreme legal document of India and is the longest written national constitution in the world. It lays out the fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens.
The original 1950 constitution had 395 articles in 22 parts and 8 schedules. The amended constitution has a preamble and 470 articles, which are grouped into 25 parts.
