FRAMING OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION

GROUP IV

Polity Handout – 1

 

FRAMING OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION

 

Introduction:

In modern world, Constitution of a country is framed by a representative body called the Constituent Assembly comprising of members elected (directly or indirectly) or nominated by the people of that country. Thus the sole purpose of a Constituent Assembly is to draft the Constitution of the country. The Constitution of India was also drafted by a Constituent Assembly the demand for which was implicit in the national freedom struggle from around 1918.

 

Timeline:-

The timeline for framing of the Constitution of India:

1922: A joint meeting of members of both houses of the Central Legislature, initiated by Mrs. Annie Besant, decided to call for a convention for the framing of a Constitution.

1925: Commonwealth of India Bill drafted by Indians in the Central Legislature and modified by members of all parties in India, was introduced in the British Parliament. Though the bill was not passed by the British Parliament, it is considered as a major effort by Indians for a Constitution.

1928: A committee headed by Motilal Nehru was constituted to give effect to a resolution to frame a Constitution made by the Congress in 1927. The report famously known as the Motilal Nehru Report, is seen as the first major effort of India to frame a full-fledged Constitution.

1930-32: Three round table conferences were held between the National leaders of India and the British Government to discuss Constitutional Reforms in India, these discussions reflected in the Government of India Act 1935.

1934: For the first time, the establishment of a Constituent Assembly was proposed by M. N. Roy, a prominent trade union leader.

1937-39: On several occasions, the working committee of Congress reiterated the demand for the Constituent Assembly.

1940: The British Government accepted the demand for a Constituent Assembly in what is called August offer. To move this forward, the British made three attempts in the form of the Cripps Mission, the Wavell Plan and the Cabinet Mission.

1942:  Cripps mission was appointed, however it failed as it could not meet the demands of the Congress and Muslim League on the formation of a Constituent Assembly.

1945: Simla Conference was conveyed to discuss the Wavell Plan. The plan was also rejected by all the major parties in India.

1946: Cabinet mission arrived in India on 24^th March and published its recommendations on 16^th May. Constituent Assembly was formed on the recommendations of the Cabinet Mission.  The three members of the mission were – Sir Stafford Cripps, Sir Pathick Lawrence and A.B. Alexander.

Jul-Aug 1946: Elections were held for the constituent assembly. The members of the Constituent Assembly were indirectly elected by the elected representatives from British India.  Members from Princely States were nominated. Therefore the Constituent Assembly was a partly elected and partly nominated body.

November 1946:  The Constituent Assembly was formed.

9^th December 1946: Constituent Assembly met for the first time Dr. Sachidananda Sinha, the oldest member of the constituent assembly was elected as the Protem Speaker.

11^th December 1946:  Dr. Rajendra Prasad and H.C. Mukharjee were elected as the President and Vice-President respectively of the Constituent Assembly. Sir B.N. Rau was appointed as the constitutional advisor to the assembly.

13^th December 1946: Nehru moved the objectives resolution in the constituent Assembly The objectives resolution was the broad framework or plan for drafting the Constitution.  It defined the territory of India its composition and constitution; the aims and objectives of the Constituent Assembly in framing the constitution, the source of power and the safeguards for different sections of the society.

22^nd January 1947: The Objectives Resolution was unanimously adopted by the constituent assembly.

15^th August 1947:  India Independence Act 1947 made the following three changes to the position of the Constituent Assembly.

1. i) The assembly became a fully sovereign body which was independent to frame any constitution it pleased.
2. ii) The assembly also functioned as the legislative body of India ie it was performing two separate functions.
3. Making the constitution of the country
4. Enacting ordinary laws for the country

The constituent assembly met as a legislature for the first time on 17^th November 1947 and elected GV Mavlankar as the speaker.  The Constituent Assembly thus became the first Parliament of free India. Whenever the constituent Assembly met to frame the constitution it was headed by Dr. Rajendra Prasad and when it met as a legislative body it was headed by G.V. Mavlankar.

iii) The Muslim league members withdrew from the constituent assembly as a consequence of which the strength of the constituent assembly decreased from 389 to 299.

4^th November 1948:  First reading of the draft constitution was done and general discussion was conducted for 5 days.

15^th November 1948 to 17^th October 1949: Second reading, clause by clause constitution started on 15^th November 1948 and ended on 17^th October 1949.  In all 7635 amendments were proposed out of which only 2473 were accepted.

24^th Nov 1949:  Third reading started

26^th November 1949:  The draft constitution was declared passed and signed by the members of Constituent Assembly out of total 299 members only 284 members singed  the constitution.

26^th January 1950:  Constitution of India came into force on this day is historically significant because, in Dec 1929 the annual session of congress held in Lahore, Nehru declared Jan 26^th 1930 as the Purna Swaraj Day.

 

Composition of Constituent Assembly:-

The Constituent Assembly was a partly elected, partly nominated body. While the representatives from the Provinces and Presidencies of British India were indirectly elected by the method of proportional representation with single transferrable vote, the representatives of the princely states were nominated. The exact representation from British India and Princely States is given below-

As a result of the partition under the Mountbatten Plan of 3 June, 1947, a separate Constituent Assembly was set up for Pakistan and representatives of some Provinces ceased to be members of the Assembly, as a consequence of which the membership of the Assembly was reduced to 299.

 

Committees of The Constituent Assembly:-

In order to accomplish the enormous task of framing a Constitution of India, the Constituent Assembly appointed different committees to deal with the different aspects related to the framing of the Constitution. The most important committees of the Constituent Assembly and their Chairpersons is listed below:

IMPORTANT COMMITTEES OF THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY AND THEIR CHAIRPERSONS
Name of the Committee	Chairman
Committee on the Rules of Procedure	Rajendra Prasad
Steering Committee	Rajendra Prasad
Finance and Staff Committee	Rajendra Prasad
Credential Committee	AlladiKrishnaswamiAyyar
House Committee	B. PattabhiSitaramayya
Order of Business Committee	K.M. Munsi
Ad hoc Committee on the National Flag	Rajendra Prasad
Committee on the Functions of the Constituent Assembly	G.V. Mavalankar
States Committee	Jawaharlal Nehru
Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minoritiesand Tribal and Excluded Areas	Vallabhbhai Patel
Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee	J.B. Kripalani
North-East Frontier Tribal Areas and Assam Exluded& Partially Excluded Areas Sub-Committee	Gopinath Bardoloi
Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas (Other than those in Assam) Sub-Committee	A.V. Thakkar
Union Powers Committee	Jawaharlal Nehru
Union Constitution Committee	Jawaharlal Nehru
Drafting Committee	B.R. Ambedkar

 

Drafting Committee:-

In the making of the Constitution, a very valuable role was played by the Drafting Committee. The seven member Committee was responsible for framing the draft constitution of India and was constituted on 29th August, 1947 with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar as its chairman. The members of this committee are

• Dr. Ambedkar (Chairman)
• B.L.Mitter (Mitter resigned due to ill health and N.Madhab Rao was appointed in his place)
• N.GopalswamiAyyanagar
• AlladiKrishnaswamiAyyar
• K.M. Munshi
• Saiyid MohdSaadullah
• D.P. Khaitan (after the death of Mr. D.P. Khaitan, T.T. Krishnamachari was made its member)

The Drafting Committee submitted its report (draft) to the Constituent Assembly on 21^st February, 1948 and the Constituent Assembly held debates on it. On the basis of these discussions, a new draft was prepared by the Drafting Committee and submitted to the Assembly on 4th November, 1948. In all, the Drafting Committee met for 114 days for framing the Draft Constitution.

Dr B. R. Ambedkar is known as the father of the Constitution of India for his contribution towards the drafting of the Constitution in the capacity of the Chairman of the Drafting Committee. He played an important role in evolving a Constitution that was both balanced as well as accommodative of the interests of all sections of the society.

PREAMBLE

 

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:

JUSTICE, social, economic and political;

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;

and to promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949,DO HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.

 

Origin of Words

1. Sovereignty – derived from the Latin term superanusand the French term souverainetéwhich means equal to supreme power
2. Socialism – derived from Latin sociare, which means to combine or to share
3. Secular – derived from Latin saecularismeaning “worldly” or “temporal”
4. Democracy – derived from Greek wordsdēmos(people) and kratos(rule)
5. Republic – derived fromthe Latin word res publica meaning public thing
6. Justice – derived from the Latin word jus which means just or right
7. Liberty – derived from Latin word līber, equivalent to freedom
8. Fraternity – derived from Latin word fratermeaning brother

 

Significance of the Preamble

The importance of the Preamble of the Constitution of India, perceived by eminent people is given below.

• Dyer C J  – Key to open the minds of the makers of the Constitution

• K.M. Munshi – The horoscope of over Sovereign Democratic Republic
• Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava – The preamble is the most precious part of the constitution. It is the soul of the constitution. It is a key to the constitution.
• Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer – The preamble to over Constitution expresses what we had thought or dreamt so long.
• Sir Ernest Parker – Key note to the Constitution.
• Nehru – Preamble is a firm resolution and a solid promise.
• Phalkewala – Identity card of the Constitution.
• Dr. B. R. Ambedkar – Preamble is the heart of the Constitution

 

SOURCES OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION

SOURCE	PROVISIONS
Government of India Act 1935	ü  Federal Scheme ü  Office of the Governor ü  Public Service Commissions ü  Emergency Provisions ü  Administrative Details
British Constitution	ü  Parliamentary Form of Government ü  Rule of Law ü  Legislative Procedure ü  Single Citizenship ü  Cabinet System ü  Writ Jurisdiction ü  Parliamentary Privileges ü  Bicameralism
American Constitution	ü  Fundamental Rights ü  Independent Judiciary ü  Judicial Review ü  Office of Vice President ü  Procedure of Impeachment of the President ü  Procedure of removal of judges of High Courts and Supreme Court
Russian Constitution	ü  Fundamental Duties ü  Ideals of justice – social, economic and political – in the Preamble
Constitution of Ireland	ü  Directive Principles of State Policy ü  Nomination of members to Rajya Sabha ü  Method of election of President
Canadian Constitution	ü  Federation with a strong centre ü  Vesting of Residuary powers in the Centre ü  The practice of appointment of governor of a state by the Centre ü  Advisory jurisdiction of Supreme Court
Australian Constitution	ü  Concurrent list ü  Freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse amongst the states ü  Joint sitting of both houses of Parliament
Weimer Constitution of Germany	ü  Suspension of Fundamental Rights during emergency
French Constitution	ü  Republic ü  The ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity in the Preamble
South African Constitution	ü  Procedure of amendment to the Constitution ü  Election of members to Rajya Sabha
Japanese Constitution	ü  The term “Procedure established by law” in Article 21

 

PARTS AND SCHEDULES

The following table gives an overview of the parts and schedules in the Constitution as on date

PARTS IN THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
PART	DECSRIPTION	ARTICLES
I	Union and its territory	1 to 4
II	Citizenship	5 to 11
III	Fundamental Rights	12 to 35
IV	Directive Principles of State Policy	36 to 51
IV A	Fundamental Duties	51 A
V	Union Government	52 to 151
VI	State Government	152 to 237
VII	Repealed	238
VIII	The Union Territories	239 to 242
IX	The Panchayats	243 to 243 O
IX A	The Municipalities	243 P to 243 ZG
IX B	The Co-operative Societies	243 ZH to 243 ZT
X	The Scheduled and Tribal Areas	244 and 244 A
XI	Relation between the Centre and the States	245 to 263
XII	Finance, Property, Contracts and Suits	264 to 300 A
XIII	Trade, Commerce and intercourse within the territory of India	301 to 307
XIV	Services Under the Centre and States (PSCs)	308 to 323
XIV A	Tribunals	323 A and 323 B
XV	Elections	324 to 329
XVI	Special Provisions relating to certain classes	330 to 342
XVII	Official Language	343 to 351
XVIII	Emergency Provisions	352 to 360
XIX	Miscellaneous	361 to 367
XX	Amendment to the Constitution	368
XXI	Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions	369 to 392
XXII	Short title, commencement, authoritative text in Hindi and repeals	393 to 395

 

 

SCHEDULES OF THE CONSITUTION
SCHEDULE	DESCRIPTION
First Schedule	List of the names of the 29 States and 7 Union Territories in India
Second Schedule	Information related to Salaries and other allowances of President of India; Governors of the States; Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies; Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha and State Legislative Councils; Judges of Supreme Court and High Courts; and CAG
Third Schedule	Forms of Oaths and Affirmations of Ministers of Union and States (Oath of Office and Oath of Secrecy); Candidates for election as Member of Parliament and as Members of State Legislature; Members of Parliament and Members of State Legislature; Judges of Supreme Court and High Courts; CAG;
Fourth Schedule	Allocation of seats to states in Rajya Sabha
Fifth Schedule	Provisions related to the administration and control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes
Sixth Schedule	Provisions related to the administration of Tribal Areas in the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram
Seventh Schedule	The three lists related to division of powers between the centre and the states – Union List, State List and Concurrent List
Eighth Schedule	The list of languages recognised by the Constitution
Ninth Schedule	Laws related to land reforms
Tenth Schedule	Provisions related to Anti-defection Act
Eleventh Schedule	List of functions that can be given to the Panchayats
Twelfth Schedule	List of functions that can be given to the Muncipalities

 

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION

No.	Amendments	Enforced since	Objectives
1	Amend articles 15, 19, 85, 87, 174, 176, 341, 342, 372 and 376. Insert articles 31A and 31B. Insert schedule 9.	18 June 1951	To fully secure the constitutional validity of zamindari abolition laws and to place reasonable restriction on freedom of speech. A new constitutional device, called Schedule 9 introduced to protect laws that are contrary to the Constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights. These laws encroach upon property rights, freedom of speech and equality before law
2	Amend article 81(1)(b).	1 May 1953	Removed the upper population limit for a parliamentary constituency by amending Article 81(1)(b).
3	Amend schedule 7.	22 February 1955	Re-enacted entry 33 of the Concurrent List in the Seventh Schedule with relation to include trade and commerce in, and the production, supply and distribution of 4 classes of essential commodities, viz., foodstuffs, including edible oil seeds and oils; cattle fodder, including oilcakes and other concentrates; raw cotton whether ginned or unginned, and cotton seeds; and raw jute.
4	Amend articles 31, 35 band 305. Amend schedule 9.	27 April 1955	Restrictions on property rights and inclusion of related bills in Schedule 9 of the constitution
5	Amend article 3.	24 December 1955	Empowered the President to prescribe a time limit for a State Legislature to convey its views on proposed Central laws relating to the formation of new States and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing States. Also permitted the President to extend the prescribed limit, and prohibited any such bill from being introduced in Parliament until after the expiry of the prescribed or extended period.
6	Amend articles 269 and 286. Amend schedule 7.	11 September 1956	Amend the Union and State Lists with respect to raising of taxes
7	Amend articles 1, 3, 49, 80, 81, 82, 131, 153, 158, 168, 170, 171, 216, 217, 220, 222, 224, 230, 231 and 232. Insert articles 258A, 290A, 298, 350A, 350B, 371, 372A and 378A. Amend part 8. Amend schedules 1, 2, 4 and 7.	1 November 1956	Reorganization of states on linguistic lines, abolition of Class A, B, C, D states and introduction of Union Territories
8	Amend article 334.	5 January 1960	Extended the period of reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Anglo-Indians in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies till 1970
9	Amend schedule 1.	28 December 1960	Minor adjustments to territory of Indian Union consequent to agreement with Pakistan for settlement of disputes by demarcation of border villages, etc.
10	Amend article 240. Amend schedule 1.	11 August 1961	Incorporation of Dadra, Nagar and Haveli as a Union Territory, consequent to acquisition from Portugal
11	Amend articles 66 and 71.	19 December 1961	Election of Vice President by Electoral College consisting of members of both Houses of Parliament, instead of election by a Joint Sitting of Parliament. Indemnify the President and Vice President Election procedure from challenge on grounds of existence of any vacancies in the electoral college
12	Amend article 240. Amend schedule 1.	20 December 1961	Incorporation of Goa, Daman and Diu as a Union Territory, consequent to acquisition from Portugal
13	Amend article 170. Insert new article 371A.	1 December 1963	Formation of State of Nagaland, with special protection under Article 371A
14	Amend articles 81 and 240. Insert article 239A. Amend schedules 1 and 4.	28 December 1962	Incorporation of Pondicherry into the Union of India and creation of Legislative Assemblies for Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Manipur and Goa
15	Amend articles 124, 128, 217, 222, 224, 226, 297, 311 and 316. Insert article 224A. Amend schedule 7.	5 October 1963	Raise retirement age of High court judges from 60 to 62 and other minor amendments for rationalizing interpretation of rules regarding judges etc.
16	Amend articles 19, 84 and 173. Amend schedule 3.	5 October 1963	Make it obligatory for seekers of public office to swear their allegiance to the Indian Republic and prescribe the various obligatory templates
17	Amend article 31A. Amend schedule 9.	20 June 1964	To secure the constitutional validity of acquisition of Estates and place land acquisition laws in Schedule 9 of the constitution
18	Amend article 3.	27 August 1966	Technical Amendment to include Union Territories in Article 3 and hence permit reorganization of Union Territories
19	Amend article 324.	11 December 1966	Abolish Election Tribunals and enable trial of election petitions by regular High Courts
20	Insert article 233A.	22 December 1966	Indemnify & validate judgments, decrees, orders and sentences passed by judges and to validate the appointment, posting, promotion and transfer of judges barring a few who were not eligible for appointment under article 233. Amendment needed to overcome the effect of judgment invalidating appointments of certain judges in the state of Uttar Pradesh
21	Amend schedule 8.	10 April 1967	Include Sindhi as an Official Language
22	Amend article 275. Insert articles 244A and 371B.	25 September 1969	Provision to form Autonomous states within the State of Assam
23	Amend articles 330, 332, 333 and 334.	23 January 1970	Discontinued reservation of seats for the Scheduled Tribes in Nagaland, both in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assembly and stipulated that not more than one Anglo-Indian could be nominated by the Governor to any State Legislative Assembly. Extend reservation for SC/ST and Anglo Indian members in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for another ten years, i.e. up to 1980.
24	Amend articles 13 and 368.	5 November 1971	Enable parliament to dilute fundamental rights through amendments to the constitution
25	Amend article 31. Insert article 31C.	20 April 1972	Restrict property rights and compensation in case the state takes over private property
26	Amend article 366. Insert article 363A. Remove articles 291 and 362.	28 December 1971	Abolition of privy purse paid to former rulers of princely states which were incorporated into the Indian Republic
27	Amend articles 239A and 240. Insert articles 239B and 371C.	15 February 1972	Reorganization of Mizoram into a Union Territory with a legislature and council of ministers
28	Insert article 312A. Remove article 314.	29 August 1972	Rationalize Civil Service rules to make it uniform across those appointed prior to Independence and post-independence
29	Amend schedule 9.	9 June 1972	Place land reform acts and amendments to these act under Schedule 9 of the constitution
30	Amend article 133.	27 February 1973	Change the basis for appeals in Supreme Court of India in case of Civil Suits from value criteria to one involving substantial question of law
31	Amend articles 81, 330 and 332.	17 October 1973	Increase size of Parliament from 525 to 545 seats. Increased seats going to the new states formed in North East India and minor adjustment consequent to 1971 Delimitation exercise
32	Amend article 371. Insert articles 371D and 371E. Amend schedule 7.	1 July 1974	Protection of regional rights in Telangana and Andhra regions of State of Andhra Pradesh
33	Amend articles 101 and 190.	19 May 1974	Prescribes procedure for resignation by members of parliament and state legislatures and the procedure for verification and acceptance of resignation by house speaker
34	Amend schedule 9.	7 September 1974	Place land reform acts and amendments to these act under Schedule 9 of the constitution
35	Amend articles 80 and 81. Insert article 2A. Insert schedule 10.	1 March 1975	Terms and Conditions for the Incorporation of Sikkim into the Union of India
36	Amend articles 80 and 81. Insert article 371F. Remove article 2A. Amend schedules 1 and 4. Remove schedule 10.	26 April 1975	Formation of Sikkim as a State within the Indian Union
37	Amend articles 239A and 240.	3 May 1975	Formation of Arunachal Pradesh legislative assembly
38	Amend articles 123, 213, 239B, 352, 356, 359 and 360.	1 August 1975	Enhances the powers of President and Governors to pass ordinances
39	Amend articles 71 and 329. Insert article 329A. Amend schedule 9.	10 August 1975	Amendment designed to negate the judgment of Allahabad High Court invalidating Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s election to parliament. Amendment placed restrictions on judicial scrutiny of post of Prime Minister
40	Amend article 297. Amend schedule 9.	27 May 1976	Enable Parliament to make laws with respect to Exclusive Economic Zone and vest the mineral wealth with Union of India Place land reform & other acts and amendments to these act under Schedule 9 of the constitution
41	Amend article 316.	7 September 1976	Raise Retirement Age Limit of Chairmen and Members of Joint Public Service Commissions and State Public Service Commissions from sixty to sixty two.
42	Amend articles 31, 31C, 39, 55, 74, 77, 81, 82, 83, 100, 102, 103, 105, 118, 145, 150, 166, 170, 172, 189, 191, 192, 194, 208, 217, 225, 226, 227, 228, 311, 312, 330, 352, 353, 356, 357, 358, 359, 366, 368 and 371F. Insert articles 31D, 32A, 39A, 43A, 48A, 131A, 139A, 144A, 226A, 228A and 257A. Insert parts 4A and 14A. Amend schedule 7.	1 April 1977	Amendment passed during internal emergency by Indira Gandhi. Provides for curtailment of fundamental rights, imposes fundamental duties and changes to the basic structure of the constitution by making India a “Socialist Secular” Republic
43	Amend articles 145, 226, 228 and 366. Remove articles 31D, 32A, 131A, 144A, 226A and 228A.	13 April 1978	Amendment passed after revocation of internal emergency in the Country. Repeals some of the more ‘Anti-Freedom’ amendments enacted through Amendment Bill 42
44	Amend articles 19, 22, 30, 31A, 31C, 38, 71, 74, 77, 83, 103, 105, 123, 132, 133, 134, 139A, 150, 166, 172, 192, 194, 213, 217, 225, 226, 227, 239B, 329, 352, 356, 358, 359, 360 and 371F. Insert articles 134A and 361A. Remove articles 31, 257A and 329A. Amend part 12 Amend schedule 9.	6 September 1978	Amendment passed after revocation of internal emergency in the Country. Provides for human rights safeguards and mechanisms to prevent abuse of executive and legislative authority. Annuls some Amendments enacted in Amendment Bill 42
45	Amend article 334.	25 January 1980	Extend reservation for SC / ST and nomination of Anglo Indian members in Parliament and State Assemblies for another ten years i.e. up to 1990
46	Amend articles 269, 286 and 366. Amend schedule 7.	2 February 1983	Amendment to negate judicial pronouncements on scope and applicability on Sales Tax
47	Amend schedule 9.	26 August 1984	Place land reform acts and amendments to these act under Schedule 9 of the constitution
48	Amend article 356.	1 April 1985	Article 356 amended to permit President’s rule up to two years in the state of Punjab
49	Amend article 244. Amend schedules 5 and 6.	11 September 1984	Recognize Tripura as a Tribal State and enable the creation of a Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council
50	Amend article 33.	11 September 1984	Technical Amendment to curtailment of Fundamental Rights as per Part III as prescribed in Article 33 to cover Security Personnel protecting property and communication infrastructure
51	Amend articles 330 and 332.	16 June 1986	Provide reservation to Scheduled Tribes in Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assemblies
52	Amend articles 101, 102, 190 and 191. Insert schedule 10.	1 March 1985	Anti-Defection Law – Provide disqualification of members from parliament and assembly in case of defection from one party to other
53	Insert article 371G.	20 February 1987	Special provision with respect to the State of Mizoram.
54	Amend articles 125 and 221. Amend schedule 2.	1 April 1986	Increase the salary of Chief Justice of India & other Judges and to provide for determining future increases without the need for constitutional amendment
55	Insert article 371H.	20 February 1987	Special powers to Governor consequent to formation of state of Arunachal Pradesh
56	Insert article 371I.	30 May 1987	Transition provision to enable formation of state of Goa
57	Amend article 332.	21 September 1987	Provide reservation to Scheduled Tribes in Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assemblies
58	Insert article 394A. Amend part 22.	9 December 1987	Provision to publish authentic Hindi translation of constitution as on date and provision to publish authentic Hindi translation of future amendments
59	Amend article 356. Insert article 359A.	30 March 1988	Article 356 amended to permit President’s rule up to three years in the state of Punjab, Articles 352 and Article 359A amended to permit imposing emergency in state of Punjab or in specific districts of the state of Punjab
60	Amend article 276.	20 December 1988	Profession Tax increased from a minimum of Rs. 250/- to a maximum of Rs. 2500/-
61	Amend article 326.	28 March 1989	Reduce age for voting rights from 21 to 18
62	Amend article 334.	20 December 1989	Extend reservation for SC / ST and nomination of Anglo Indian members in Parliament and State Assemblies for another ten years i.e. up to 2000
63	Amend article 356. Remove article 359A.	6 January 1990	Emergency powers applicable to State of Punjab, accorded in Article 359A as per amendment 59 repealed
64	Amend article 356.	16 April 1990	Article 356 amended to permit President’s rule up to three years and six months in the state of Punjab
65	Amend article 338.	12 March 1990	National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes formed and its statutory powers specified in The Constitution.
66	Amend schedule 9.	7 June 1990	Place land reform acts and amendments to these act under Schedule 9 of the constitution
67	Amend article 356.	4 October 1990	Article 356 amended to permit President’s rule up to four years in the state of Punjab
68	Amend article 356.	12 March 1991	Article 356 amended to permit President’s rule up to five years in the state of Punjab
69	Insert articles 239AA and 239AB.	1 February 1992	To provide for a legislative assembly and council of ministers for Federal National Capital of Delhi. Delhi continues to be a Union Territory
70	Amend articles 54 and 239AA.	21 December 1991	Include National Capital of Delhi and Union Territory of Pondicherry in electoral college for Presidential Election
71	Amend schedule 8.	31 August 1992	Include Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali as Official Languages
72	Amend article 332.	5 December 1992	Provide reservation to Scheduled Tribes in Tripura State Legislative Assembly
73	Insert part 9.	24 April 1992	Statutory provisions for Panchyat Raj as third level of administration in villages
74	Insert part 9A.	1 June 1992	Statutory provisions for Local Administrative bodies as third level of administration in urban areas such as towns and cities
75	Amend article 323B.	15 May 1994	Provisions for setting up Rent Control Tribunals
76	Amend schedule 9.	31 August 1994	Enable continuance of 69% reservation in Tamil Nadu by including the relevant Tamil Nadu Act under 9th Schedule of the constitution
77	Amend article 16.	17 June 1995	A technical amendment to protect reservation to SC/ST Employees in promotions
78	Amend schedule 9.	30 August 1995	Place land reform acts and amendments to these act under Schedule 9 of the constitution
79	Amend article 334.	25 January 2000	Extend reservation for SC / ST and nomination of Anglo Indian members in Parliament and State Assemblies for another ten years i.e. up to 2010
80	Amend articles 269 and 270. Remove article 272.	9 June 2000	Implement Tenth Finance Commission recommendation to simplify the tax structures by pooling and sharing all taxes between states and The Centre
81	Amend article 16.	9 June 2000	Protect SC / ST reservation in filling backlog of vacancies
82	Amend article 335.	8 September 2000	Permit relaxation of qualifying marks and other criteria in reservation in promotion for SC / ST candidates
83	Amend article 243M.	8 September 2000	Exempt Arunachal Pradesh from reservation for Scheduled Castes in Panchayati Raj institutions
84	Amend articles 55, 81, 82, 170, 330 and 332.	21 February 2002	Extend the usage of 1971 national census population figures for statewise distribution of parliamentary seats
85	Amend article 16.	4 January 2002	A technical amendment to protect Consequential seniority in case of promotions of SC/ST Employees
86	Amend articles 45 and 51A. Insert article 21A.	12 December 2002	Provides Right to Education until the age of fourteen and Early childhood care until the age of six
87	Amend articles 81, 82, 170 and 330.	22 June 2003	Extend the usage of 2001 national census population figures for statewise distribution of parliamentary seats
88	Amend article 270. Insert article 268A. Amend schedule 7.	15 January 2004	To extend statutory cover for levy and utilization of Service Tax
89	Amend article 338. Insert article 338A.	28 September 2003	The National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was bifurcated into The National Commission for Scheduled Castes and The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
90	Amend article 332.	28 September 2003	Reservation in Assam Assembly relating to Bodoland Territory Area
91	Amend articles 75 and 164. Insert article 361B. Amend schedule 10.	1 January 2004	Restrict the size of council of ministers to 15% of legislative members & to strengthen Anti Defection laws
92	Amend schedule 8.	7 January 2004	Include Bodo, Dogri, Santali and Maithali as official languages
93	Amend article 15.	20 January 2006	To enable provision of reservation(27%) for other backward classes (O.B.C.) in government as well as private educational institutions
94	Amend article 164.	12 June 2006	To provide for a Minister of Tribal Welfare in newly created Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh States including Madhya Pradesh, Orissa.
95	Amend article 334.	25 January 2010	To extend the reservation of seats for SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha and states assemblies from Sixty years to Seventy years
96	Amend schedule 8.	23 September 2011	Substituted “Odia” for “Oriya”
97	Amend Art 19 and added Part IXB.	12 January 2012	Added the words “or co-operative societies” after the word “or unions” in Article 19(l)(c) and insertion of article 43B i.e., Promotion of Co-operative Societies and added Part-IXB i.e., The Co-operative Societies. The amendment objective is to encourage economic activities of cooperatives which in turn help progress of rural India. It is expected to not only ensure autonomous and democratic functioning of cooperatives, but also the accountability of the management to the members and other stakeholders.
98	To insert Article 371J in the Constitution	2 January 2013	To empower the Governor of Karnataka to take steps to develop the Hyderabad-Karnataka Region.
99	Insertion of new articles 124A, 124B and 124C. Amendments to Articles 127, 128, 217, 222, 224A, 231.	13 April 2015	The amendment provides for the formation of a National Judicial Appointments Commission. 16 State assemblies out of 29 States including Goa, Rajasthan, Tripura, Gujarat and Telangana ratified the Central Legislation, enabling the President of India to give assent to the bill.
100	Amendment of First Schedule to Constitution	TBA	Acquisition of certain territories of Bangladesh consequent to the agreement between India and Bangladesh.
101	Addition of articles 246A, 269A, 279A. Deletion of Article 268A. Amendment of articles 248, 249, 250, 268, 269, 270, 271, 286, 366, 368, Sixth Schedule, Seventh Schedule.	1 July 2017	Introduced the Goods and Services Tax.

EVOLUTION OF STATES IN INDIA

The Government accepted the recommendations of the first SRC with a few changes and enacted the States Reorganisation Act 1956 to implement the recommendations. Thus the following 14 States and 6 Union Territories were created through the Act which came into force in November 1956.

States

1. Andhra Pradesh: Andhra State was merged with the Telugu-speaking area of Hyderabad state (also known as Telangana) to create Andhra Pradesh in 1956.
2. Assam: No change of boundary in 1956.
3. Bihar: reduced slightly by the transfer of minor territories to West Bengal.
4. Bombay State: the state was enlarged by the addition of Saurashtra and Kutch, the Marathi- speaking districts of Nagpur Division of Madhya Pradesh, and the Marathi speaking Marathwada region of Hyderabad. The state’s southernmost districts of Bombay were transferred to Mysore State. (In 1960, Bombay State was split into Maharashtra and Gujarat.)
5. Jammu and Kashmir: No change of boundary in 1956.
6. Kerala: formed by the merger of Travancore-Cochin state with the Malabar district of Madras

State, Kasaragod of South Canara (Dakshina Kannada). The southern part of Travancore- Cochin, Kanyakumari district was transferred to Madras State.

7. Madhya Pradesh: Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh, and Bhopal State were merged into Madhya Pradesh; the Marathi-speaking districts ofNagpurDivisionwere transferred to Bombay State.
8. Madras State: Malabar District was transferred to the new state of Kerala, and a new union territory,Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands, was created. The southern part of Travancore-Cochin (Kanyakumari district) was added to the state. (The state was renamed Tamil Nadu in 1968.)
9. Mysore State: enlarged by the addition of Coorg State and the Kannada speaking districts from southern Bombay state and westernHyderabad state. (The state was renamed Karnataka in 1973.)

10.Orissa: No change of boundary in 1956.

11.Punjab: enlarged by addition of the Patiala and East Punjab States Union.

12.Rajasthan: enlarged by the addition of Ajmer state and parts of Bombay and Madhya Bharat

states.
13.Uttar Pradesh: No change of boundary in 1956

14.West Bengal: enlarged by addition of minor territory previously forming part of Bihar.

15th State	1960	Gujarat	The State of Bombay was divided into – Maharashtra and Gujarat
Union Territory	1961	Dadar and Nagar Haveli	The former Portuguese territories, acquired by India in 1954, converted into UT by the 10th Constitutional Amendment Act 1961.
Union Territory	1962	Goa, Daman and Diu	The former Portuguese territories, acquired by India in 1961, converted into UT by the 12th Constitutional Amendment Act 1961.
Union Territory	1962	Puducherry	Former French colonies – Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yamuna – together known as the Territory of Puducherry, acquired by India in 1954, converted into UT by the 14th Constitutional Amendment Act 1962.
16th State	1963	Nagaland	The state of Nagaland was formed by taking the Naga Hills and Tuensang area out of the state of Assam
17th State	1966	Haryana	The state of Punjab was bifurcated to create the state of Haryana
Union Territory	1966	Chandigarh	Along with the creation of the state of Haryana, Chandigarh was converted into UT
18th State	1971	Himachal Pradesh	The Union Territory of Himachal Pradesh was converted into a state
19th State	1972	Manipur	The Union Territory of Manipur was converted into a state
20th State	1972	Tripura	The Union Territory of Tripura was converted into a state
21st State	1972	Meghalaya	Meghalaya, which was established as a sub-state by the 22nd Constitutional Amendment Act 1969, was converted into a state
Union Territory	1972	Arunachal Pradesh	Along with the creation of the states of Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh (within the state of Assam) was converted into UT
Union Territory	1972	Mizoram	Along with the creation of the states of Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya, Mizoram (within the state of Assam) was converted into UT
22nd State	1975	Sikkim	Sikkim initially accorded the status of an associate state by the 34th Constitutional Amendment Act 1974 which added Article 2A to the Constitution was accorded the status of a full fledges state by the 35th Constitutional Amendment Act 1975
23rd State	1987	Mizoram	The Union Territory of Mizoram was accorded a full-fledged status
24th State	1987	Arunachal Pradesh	The Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh was accorded a full-fledged status
25th State	1987	Goa	The Union Territory of Goa was accorded a full-fledged status
26th State	2000	Chhattisgarh	The state of Madhya Pradesh was divided to create the state of Chhattisgarh
27th State	2000	Uttarakhand	The state of Uttar Pradesh was divided to create the state of Uttarakhand
28th State	2000	Jharkhand	The state of Bihar was divided to create the state of Jharkhand
29th State	2014	Telangana	The state of Andhra Pradesh was divided to create the state of Telangana

 

 

 

UNION AND ITS TERRITORIES

The following table lists the changes in the names of the states.

Former Name	Renamed As	Year
United Provinces	Uttar Pradesh	1950
Madras	Tamil Nadu	1969
Mysore	Karnataka	1973
Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands	Lakshadweep	1973
Union Territory of Delhi	National Capital Territory of Delhi	1992
Uttaranchal	Uttarakhand	2006
Pondicherry	Puducherry	2006
Orissa	Odisha	2011

 

 

FACTS RELATED TO POLITY

 

LIST OF PRESIDENTS OF INDIA

S.NO.	NAME	PERIOD	CONTESTED AGAINST	REMARKS
1.	Rajendra Prasad	26-Jan-1950  to 13-May-1962	K.T. Shah (1st Term) Chowdhry Hari Ram (2nd Term) Nagendra Narayan Das (2nd Term)	He was the first President of independent India. He was the only president to serve two terms in office.
2.	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan	13-May-1962to 13-May-1967	Chowdhry Hari Ram	Vice President to become President
3.	Zakir Hussain	13-May-1967 to 3-May-1969	Koka Subbarao	Vice President to become President. He died during his term in office.
	Varahagiri Venkata Giri	3-May-1969  to 20-Jul-1969	NA	Vice President to become President.
	Muhammad Hidayatullah	20-Jul-1969  to 24-Aug-1969	NA	Hidayatullah served as the Chief Justice of India
4.	Varahagiri Venkata Giri	24-Aug-1969  to 24-Aug-1974	Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy	Giri is the only person to have served as both an acting president and president of India.
5.	Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed	24-Aug-1974  to 11-Feb-1977	Tridib Chaudhuri	Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed served as a Minister before being elected as president. He died in 1977 before his term of office ended, and was the second Indian president to die in office
6.	BasappaDanappaJatti	11-Feb-1977  to 25-Jul-1977	NA	Jatti was the vice president of India during Ahmed’s term of office, and was sworn in as Acting President of India upon Ahmed’s death.
7.	Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy	25-Jul-1977  to 25-Jul-1982	Unanimously Elected	N.S. Reddy was the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh State.
8.	GianiZail Singh	25-Jul-1982  to 25-Jul-1987	H.R.Khanna	In March 1972, Singh assumed the position of chief Minister of Punjab, and in 1980, he became Union Home Minister
9.	Ramaswamy Venkataraman	25-Jul-1987  to 25-Jul-1992	V. R. Krishna Iyer	Served as Minister of Finance and Industry and later as Minister of Defence
10.	Shankar Dayal Sharma	25-Jul-1992  to 25-Jul-1997	G.G.Swell	Sharma was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, and the Indian Minister for Communications. He has also served as the governor of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra
11.	Kocheril Raman Narayanan	25-Jul-1997  to 25-Jul-2002	T.N.Seshan	Narayanan served as India’s ambassador to Thailand, Turkey, China and United States of America.
12.	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam	25-Jul-2002  to 25-Jul-2007	Lakshmi Sahgal	Kalam is a scientist who played a leading role in the development of India’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs
13.	Pratibha Patil	25-Jul-2007  to 25-Jul-2012	Bhairon Singh Shekhawat	Patil is the first woman to become the President of India. She was also the first female Governor of Rajasthan
14.	Pranab Mukherjee	25-Jul-2012 to Till Date	P. A. Sangma	Shri Pranab Mukherjee held various posts in the cabinet ministry for the Government of India such as Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, Defence Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission
15.	Ram Nath Kovind	25th July 2017 – Present	Meira Kumar	H Served as the Governor of Bihar from 2015-2017.

 

LIST OF VICE-PRESIDENTS OF INDIA

S.No.	Name	Period	Then President
1	Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan	13-May-52 to 12-May-62	Dr. Rajendra Prasad
2	Dr. Zakir Hussain	13-May-62 to 12-May-67	Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
3	Sh. Varahagiri Venkata Giri	13-May-67 to 3-May-69	Dr. Zakir Hussain
4	Gopal Swarup Pathak	31-Aug-69 to 30-Aug-74	Sh. Varahagiri Venkata Giri
5	BasappaDanappaJatti	31-Aug-74 to 30-Aug-79	Dr. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
6	Justice Muhammad Hidayatullah	31-Aug-79 to 30-Aug-84	Shri Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
7	Ramaswamy Venkataraman	31-Aug-84 to 24-Jul-87	GianiZail Singh
8	Shankar Dayal Sharma	3-Sep-87 to 24-Jul-92	Ramaswamy Venkataraman
9	Kocheril Raman Narayanan	21-Aug-92 to 24-Jul-97	Shankar Dayal Sharma
10	Krishan Kant	21-Aug-97 to 27-Jul-02	Kocheril Raman Narayanan
11	Bhairon Singh Shekhawat	19-Aug-02 to 21-Jul-07	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
12	Mohammad Hamid Ansari	11-Aug-07 to Till Date	Pratibha Patil Pranab Mukherjee
13	M  Venkaiah Naidu	Aug 06, 2017	Ram Nath Kovind

 

 

LIST OF PRIME MINISTERS OF INDIA

S.No	Name	Period	Political party
1	Jawahar Lal Nehru	15-Aug-1947 to 27-May-1964	Indian NationalCongress
2	Gulzarilal Nanda	27-May-1964 to 9 June 1964	Indian NationalCongress
3	Lal Bahadur Shastri	09-Jun-1964 to 11-Jan-1966	Indian NationalCongress
4	Gulzarilal Nanda	11-Jan-1966 to 24 January 1966	Indian NationalCongress
5	Indira Gandhi	24-Jan-1966 to 24-Mar-1977	Indian NationalCongress
6	Morarji Desai	24-Mar-1977 to 28-Jul-1979	Janata Party
7	Charan Singh	28-Jul-1979 to 14-Jan-1980	Janata Party
8	Indira Gandhi	14-Jan-1980 to 31-Oct-1984	Indian NationalCongress
9	Rajiv Gandhi	31-Oct-1984 to 02-Dec-1989	Indian National Congress (Indira)
10	Vishwanath Pratap Singh	02-Dec-1989 to 10-Nov-1990	Janata Dal
11	Chandra Shekhar	10-Nov-1990 to 21-Jun-1991	Samajwadi JanataParty
12	P. V. Narasimha Rao	21-Jun-1991 to 16-May-1996	Indian NationalCongress
13	Atal Bihari Vajpayee	16-May-1996 to 01-Jun-1996	BharatiyaJanataParty
14	H. D. Deve Gowda	01-Jun-1996 to 21-Apr-1997	Janata Dal
15	Atal Bihari Vajpayee	19-Mar-1998 to 22-May-2004	BharatiyaJanataParty
16	Dr. Manmohan   Singh	22-May-2004 to 26-May-2014	Indian NationalCongress
17	Narendra Modi	26-May-2014  to Incumbent	BharatiyaJanataParty

 

LIST OF SPEAKERS OF LOK SABHA

S.No	Lok Sabha	First meeting	Dissolution	Speaker	Tenure	Party
	First Lok Sabha	13 May, 1952	4 April, 1957	Shri Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar	15 May, 1952-27 – February, 1956	Indian National Congress
				Shri M. AnanthasayanamAyyangar	8 March, 1956 –  10 May, 1957	Indian National Congress
	Second Lok Sabha	10 May, 1957	31 March, 1962	Shri M. AnanthasayanamAyyangar	11 May, 1957 –  16 April, 1962	Indian National Congress
	Third Lok Sabha	16 April, 1962	3 March,  1967	Shri Hukam Singh	17 April, 1962 –  16 March, 1967	Indian National Congress
	Fourth Lok Sabha	16 March, 1967	7 December, 1970	Shri Neelam Sanjiva Reddy	17 March, 1967 –  19 July, 1969	Indian National Congress
				Shri Gurdial Singh Dhillon	8 August, 1969 –  19 March, 1971	Indian National Congress
	Fifth Lok Sabha	19 March, 1971	18 January, 1977	Shri Gurdial Singh Dhillon	22 March, 1971 –  1 December, 1975	Indian National Congress
				Shri Bali Ram Bhagat	5 January, 1976 –  25 March, 1977	Indian National Congress
	Sixth Lok Sabha	25 March, 1977	22 August, 1979	Shri Neelam Sanjiva Reddy	26 March, 1977 –  13 July, 1977	Janata Party
				Shri K. S. Hegde	21 July, 1977 –  21 January, 1980	Janata Party
	Seventh Lok Sabha	21 January, 1980	31 December, 1984	Shri Bal Ram Jakhar	22 January, 1980 –  15 January, 1985	Indian National Congress
	Eighth Lok Sabha	15 January, 1985	27 November, 1989	Shri Bal Ram Jakhar,	16 January, 1985 –  18 December, 1989	Indian National Congress
	Ninth Lok Sabha	18 December, 1989	13 March, 1991	Shri Ravi Ray	19 December, 1989 –  9 July, 1991	Janata Party
	Tenth Lok Sabha	9 July, 1991	10 May, 1996	Shri Shivraj V. Patil	10 July, 1991 –  22 May, 1996	Indian National Congress
	Eleventh Lok Sabha	22 May, 1996	4 Dec., 1997	Shri P. A. Sangma	23 May, 1996 –  23 March, 1998 (FN)	Indian National Congress
	Twelfth Lok Sabha	23 March, 1998,	26 April, 1999	Shri G. M. C. Balayogi	24 March, 1998 –  20 October, 1999 (FN)	Telugu Desam Party
	Thirteenth Lok Sabha	20 October, 1999	6 February, 2004	Shri G. M. C. Balayogi	22 October, 1999 –  3 March, 2002	Telugu Desam Party
				Shri Manohar Joshi	10 May, 2002 –  4 June, 2004	Shiv Sena
	Fourteenth Lok Sabha	2 June, 2004	18 May, 2009	Shri Somnath Chatterjee	4 June, 2004 –  30 May 2009	Communist Party of India (Marxist)
	Fifteen Lok Sabha	1 July, 2009	4 June 2014	Meera Kumar	30 May 2009–4 June 2014	Indian National Congress
	Sixteenth Lok Sabha	5 June 2014	————–	Sumitra Mahajan	5 June 2014-Present	Bharatiya Janata Party