Test: Salient Features of the Indian Constitution - UPSC

Sovereignty is the main feature of the parliamentary form of government in which the state bears a defined territory that administers its own government and is not subject to or dependent on another power.

The Constitution of India has opted for the British Parliamentary System of Government rather than American Presidential System of Government. The parliamentary system is based on the principle of cooperation and coordination between the legislative and executive organs.

A codified constitution is a single document; states that do not have such a document have uncodified, but not entirely unwritten, constitutions, since much of an uncodified constitution is usually written in laws such as the Basic Laws of Israel and the Parliament Acts of the United Kingdom.

The preamble makes it very clear when it says that "We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens." 

The enacting words "We, the people of India... in our constituent assembly... do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this constitution", signifies the democratic principle that power ultimately rests in the hands of the people.
It also emphasizes that the constitution is made by and for the Indian people and is not given to them by any outside power (such as the British Parliament).

 Constitution of India also emphasizes the concept of Sovereignty. By the word Sovereign, we mean that all power emanates from the people of India and Indias political system will be accountable and responsible only to the people of this country.

The submission of A. V . Dicey is that the constitution is the 'Legal Sovereign' recognised by the Court, although the ultimate 'Political Sovereignty' may and does reside in the 'People'.

Parliament cannot override the constitution. It was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, and came into effect on 26 January 1950.

India, also known as Bharat, is a Union of States. It is a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic with a parliamentary system of government. The Republic is governed in terms of the Constitution of India which was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26th November, 1949 and came into force on 26th January, 1950.

The Constitution of India was drafted by the Constituent Assembly, and it was implemented under the Cabinet Mission Plan on 16 May 1946. The members of the Constituent Assembly were elected by the provincial assemblies by a single, transferable-vote system of proportional representation.

The Constituent Assembly appointed a number of committees to deal with different tasks of constitution-making. Out of these, eight were major committees and the others were minor committees. The names of the major committees and their chairmen are given below :
1. Union Powers Committee – Jawaharlal Nehru
2. Union Constitution Committee – Jawaharlal Nehru
3. Provincial Constitution Committee – Sardar Patel
4. Drafting Committee – Dr B.R. Ambedkar
5. Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas – Sardar Patel
6. Rules of Procedure Committee – Dr Rajendra Prasad
7. States Committee (Committee for Negotiating with States) – Jawaharlal Nehru
8. Steering Committee – Dr Rajendra Prasad

Constituent Assembly elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as its permanent President.

Even though the major part of the Constitution came into force on January 26, 1950, the provisions relating to citizenship, elections, provisional parliament and temporary and transitional provisions came into force with immediate effect from November 26th, 1949

Committed Judiciary refers to the judiciary which is committed to uphold the policies of the government in power by interpreting the laws and the Constitution in a way palatable to the Government in power.

The Indian constitution is partly rigid and partly flexible.it is because three type of amendment procedures have been adopted in our constitution. These procedures are as follows-

1. Certain provisions of the constitution can be amended by a two-third majority in parliament and ratified by atleast fifty percent of the state.(rigid)

2. Certain provisions of the constitution can be amended by a simple majority in parliament. (Flexible)

3. The remaining provisions can be amended by parliament by two-third majority.(rigid)

The Indian Constitution closely follows the constitutional system of the United Kingdom. This can be seen by the fact that the Indian Constitution has borrowed following features from the British Constitution.

1. The office of the president of India is based upon the British Queen who is a ceremonial head of the state.

2. The Cabinet system of government in India is based upon the Cabinet system as prevailing in U.K.

3. Our Prime Minster is also a replica of the British Prime Minster.

4. The parliament type of government has also been adopted from the British system.

5. Just like U.K our Parliament is also bicameral, i.e it has two Houses, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

6. The Lok Sabha, the Lower house of parliament in India, is also more powerful as the House of commons in the United Kingdom.

7. Like in U.K, the presiding officer of Lok Sabha is also known as the speaker. Some of his powers are identical to those of the speaker in England.

8. The privileges of the Members of Parliament in India are also similar to those enjoyed by their counterparts in U.K.

The Executive (i.e. the political Executive the Council of Ministers) remains responsible and the administration accountable to Parliament. It is the function of Parliament to exercise political and financial control over the Executive and to ensure parliamentary surveillance of administration.

The Indian Constitution is federal because there are two levels of the government- the Union and the state governements. There also exists the local government at the local level. 

Indian Constitution is neither purely 'federal' nor purely 'unitary'. The federal form is clearly manifest in the constitutional distribution of powers between the union and the states not only in the legislative field but also in executive and administrative fields.

 “The Constitution of India is neither purely federal nor purely unitary but it is a combination of both."
Similarly, B.N. Banerjee has said that "The Constitution of India is federal in form but unitary in spirit."
In fact, the Constitution of India has many federal features as well as unitary features.

Indian Constitution is quasi-federal i.e., it comprises of a strong centre and state wherein parliament is empowered to legislate on subjects not specifically mentioned in Constitution (residuary subjects). Where state and centre both legislate on the same subject the central law shall prevail. During an emergency, it acquires unitary form. Due to this reason, it is called "Quasi federal". So, the Constitution made arrangements for the strong centre.

Indian Constitution is quasi-federal i.e., it comprises of a strong centre and state wherein parliament is empowered to legislate on subjects not specifically mentioned in Constitution (residuary subjects). Where state and centre both legislate on the same subject the central law shall prevail. During an emergency, it acquires unitary form. Due to this reason, it is called "Quasi federal". 

Britain is one of only three major democracies in the world that lacks a written, codified constitution.

The Constitution of India describes India as the Union of States. It is because our Constitution delegates powers to both Centre as well as State, yet more power lies with the Centre. After independence, India, as it is now, was formed by the decision of the princely states, who decided to join India.
Therefore, India is known as Union of States. 

On 5 August 2019, the Government of India issued a constitutional order superseding the 1954 order, and making all the provisions of the Indian constitution applicable to Jammu and Kashmir based on the resolution passed in both houses of India's parliament with a 2/3 majority of the Constitution of India states that Parliament of India and the Union Government jurisdiction extends over limited matters with respect to State of Jammu and Kashmir, and in all other matters not specifically vested in federal governments, actions have to be supported by the state legislature.

Article 1 in the Constitution states that India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.
The territory of India shall consist of: 
(i)The territories of the states
(ii) The Union territories
(iii) Any territory that may be acquired

On 16 May 1975, Sikkim became the 22nd state of the Indian Union, and the monarchy was abolished. To enable the incorporation of the new state, the Indian Parliament amended the Indian Constitution.

According to the citizenship act of 1955 a person can acquire the citizenship of a country by marrying a person of that country, and she was the wife of rajiv gandhi, an Indian citizen she got the citizenship of India.

The primary goal of Panchayati Raj is to enable the people of each area to achieve tremendous and continuous development in the interest of the entire population. The elected representatives should be encouraged to value the people rather than opportunities for the exercise of authority.

Indian Constitution is neither purely 'federal' nor purely 'unitary'. The federal form is clearly manifest in the constitutional distribution of powers between the union and the states not only in the legislative field but also in executive and administrative fields.

The Panchayat Raj System was first adopted by the state of Rajasthan in Nagaur district on 2nd Oct 1959. The second state was Andhra Pradesh

 73rd Amendment Act added Eleventh Schedule to the Constitution and Part IX, which provides for the Panchayati Raj System.