Laxmikanth Test: Preamble - 1

The Preamble has only been amended once through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976.

The Preamble clearly mentions the date of adoption and enactment of the Constitution of India as 26 November 1949.

The word freedom is not used in the text of the Preamble.

The Preamble assures the citizens Justice-social, economic and political.

The term liberty does not mean that citizens have unrestricted freedom. Their liberties are subject to reasonable restrictions.

The Objective Resolution was introduced before the Constituent Assembly by Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 December 1946.

The Preamble was only amended once and it was using the 42nd Constitution Amendment Act of 1976.

According to the Preamble, the citizens enjoy equality of status and opportunity and are secured social, economic and political justice. The term socialist has no clear meaning and remains undefined.

The 42^nd C.A Act introduced 3 new words into the Preamble- Socialist, Secular and integrity. The text has no such word as ‘liberal’ in it.

Fraternity, as per the Preamble, seeks to promote dignity of individual and national integration. Communalism seeks to divide the nation on religious lines and hence is discouraged for unity and integrity of the nation. Fraternity clearly captures this idea.

Beohar Rammanohar Sinha of Jabalpur was tasked with designing the artwork on the Preamble.

The word federalism is not mentioned anywhere in the Preamble. It is also not conveyed in any other way in the text of the Preamble.

The term Republic means that the Head of State in a country will be an elected individual and not hereditary. It does not convey the meaning whether the position of the Head of State is nominal or not. In case of India, Bangladesh, Germany, etc the Head of State is a nominal position whereas in countries like USA, France etc, the Head of State is not a nominal position.

The word socialist was introduced in the Preamble in 1976 but the term has not been properly defined and is vague.

Fraternity: All of us should behave as if we are members of the same family. No one should treat a fellow citizen as inferior.

One of the controversies about the Preamble is as to whether it is a part of the Constitution or not. In the Berubari Union case (1960), the Supreme Court said that the Preamble shows the general purposes behind the several provisions in the Constitution, and is thus a key to the minds of the makers of the Constitution. Further, where the terms used in any article are ambiguous or capable of more than one meaning, some assistance at interpretation may be taken from the objectives enshrined in the Preamble. Despite this recognition of the significance of the Preamble, the Supreme Court specifically opined that Preamble is not a part of the Constitution.

Untouchability has been prohibited in India and the term equality in the Preamble covers this aspect as well.

The Constitution was handwritten by Prem Bihari Narain Raizada.

Key Points

• The American Constitution was the first to incorporate a Preamble.
  • So, the term and idea of the Preamble were borrowed from the Constitution of the United States of America.
  • The ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity are borrowed from the French Constitution.
  • But, the language of the Preamble is borrowed from the Constitution of Australia.

Jawaharlal Nehru’s Objective Resolution was accepted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 January 1947. It heavily influenced the philosophy of the Preamble.

There are 9 values or characteristics mentioned in the constitution- Sovereign, Secular, Socialist, Democratic, Republic, Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.