The Preamble to the Constitution of India is based on the Objectives Resolution, which was moved in the Constituent Assembly by Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 December 1946 accepted on 22 January 1947 and adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, coming into force on 26 January 1950, celebrated as the Republic Day of India, and was initially drafted by Jawaharlal Nehru. The words "socialist", "secular" and "integrity" were later added during the Indian emergency by Indira Gandhi.
The preamble of the Constitution of India
The Constitution of India's preamble, as amended up to July 2024, reads as follows:
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.
Historical background
The preamble is based on the Objectives Resolution, which
was moved in the Constituent Assembly by Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 December 1946 accepted on 22 January 1947 and
adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, coming into force on
26 January 1950. B. R. Ambedkar said about the preamble:
It was, indeed, a way of life, which recognizes liberty,
equality, and fraternity as the principles of life and which cannot be divorced
from each other: Liberty cannot be divorced from equality; equality cannot be
divorced from liberty. Nor can liberty and equality be divorced from
fraternity. Without equality, liberty would produce the supremacy of the few
over the many. Equality without liberty would kill individual initiative.
Without fraternity, liberty and equality could become a natural course of
things.
While the Constituent Assembly was debating the Preamble,
there was an argument to rename India the 'Union of Indian Socialistic
Republics' as if India was to imitate the U.S.S.R. However, other members were not convinced.
There was even argument as to whether to include the
names of 'God' and 'Gandhi' in the Preamble. The former was outvoted when 68
members voted against 'God'. H.V. Kamath desperately commented, 'This, Sir, is
a black day in our annals. God save India'. While the latter - the suggestion
to include Gandhi's name, was disapproved by Brajeshwar
Prasad who felt that the
'rotten constitution'- which was based on the American Supreme Court cases and Government of India Act and thus not
'Gandhian' in nature, should not carry his name. Prasad said,
"I do not want that the name of Mahatma Gandhi
should be incorporated in this Constitution, because it is not a Gandhian
Constitution.... If we had a Gandhian Constitution, I would have been the first
to offer my support. I do not want that the name of Mahatma Gandhi should be
dragged in the rotten Constitution."
The preamble page, along with other pages of the
original Constitution of India, was designed and decorated by the renowned
painter Beohar Rammanohar Sinha of Jabalpur who was at Shantiniketan with Acharya Nandalal Bose at that time. Nandalal Bose endorsed Sinha's
artwork without any alteration whatsoever. As such, the page bears Sinha's
short signature Ram in Devanagari lower-right corner. The calligraphy was done
by Prem Behari Narain Raizada.
The Supreme Court of India originally stated in the Berubari case
presidential reference[8] that the preamble is not an integral part of
the Indian constitution, and therefore it is not enforceable in a court of law.
However, the same court, in the 1973 Kesavananda case, over-ruled its earlier decisions and
recognized that the preamble is a "Basic Structure" of the constitution and it may also be used to
interpret ambiguous areas of the constitution where differing interpretations
present themselves. In the 1995 case of Union Government vs LIC of India, the Supreme Court once again held that the Preamble is
an integral part of the Constitution.
Question of Amendability before emergency
In the Berubari Case (1960), the amendability & the
significance of the constitution came into force. A question was raised
relating to the powers of the Parliament to cede Indian territory to a foreign
country, as an interpretation of Article 3. The Supreme Court had held that the
power of Parliament to diminish the area of a state as guaranteed in article 3
of the Constitution does not cover cession of the Indian territory to a foreign
country. Hence, Indian territory can be ceded to a foreign country only by
means of amendment of the Constitution under the Article 368. Consequently, the
9th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1960 was enacted to transfer the Berubari Union
to Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan). Supreme Court also held the view that
Preamble cannot be a part of the constitution but later in Kesavananda Bharati Case (1973), the Supreme Court gave a comprehensive
verdict. It said that Preamble is part of the Constitution and is subject to
the amending power of the parliament as are any other provisions of the Constitution,
provided the basic structure of the Constitution is not destroyed.
It has been clarified by the Supreme Court of India that, being a part of the Constitution, the Preamble can be subjected to Constitutional Amendments exercised under article 368, however, the basic structure cannot be altered. Therefore, it is considered as the heart and soul of the Constitution.
Amendments during Indian emergency
As originally enacted the preamble described the state as
a "sovereign democratic republic", to which the terms "Secular" and "Socialist" were later passed by the Parliament during The Emergency in the 42nd Amendment.
The preamble was amended only once on 18 December 1976.
During the Emergency in India, the Indira Gandhi government pushed through several changes in the Forty-second
Amendment of
the constitution. Through this amendment, the words "socialist" and
"secular" were added between the words "Sovereign" and
"Democratic" and the words "unity of the Nation" were
changed to "unity and integrity of the Nation".
In the year 1994, during the S. R. Bommai v. Union of India case, the Supreme Court of India held that secularism is a part of the basic structure doctrine.
Interpretation
Sovereign
Sovereign means the independent authority of a state—that it has the power to
legislate on any subject; and that it is not subject to the control of any
other state or external power.
According to the preamble, the constitution of India has
been pursuance of the solemn resolution of the people of India to constitute
India into a 'Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic', and to secure
well-defined objects set forth in the preamble. Sovereignty denotes supreme and
ultimate power. It may be real or normal, legal or political, individual or
pluralistic.
Sovereignty, in short, means the independent authority of
a state. It has two aspects- external and internal. External sovereignty means
the independence of a state of the will of other states, in her conduct with
other states in the committee of nations. The external sovereignty of India
means that it can acquire foreign territory and also cede any part of the
Indian territory, subject to limitations (if any) imposed by the constitution.
On the other hand, internal sovereignty refers to the relationship between the
states and the individuals within its territory. Internal sovereignty relates
to internal and domestic affairs, and is divided into four organs, namely, the
executive, the legislature, the judiciary and the administrative.
Socialist
Before the term was added by the 42nd Amendment
in 1976, the
Constitution had socialist content in the form of certain Directive Principles of State
Policy. The term socialist used here
refers to social democracy, i.e. achievement of socialist goals through democratic,
evolutionary and non-violent means. Essentially, it means that (since wealth is
generated socially) wealth should be shared equally by society through distributive justice, not concentrated in the hands of few, and that the
government should regulate the ownership of land and industry to reduce
socio-economic inequalities.
Secular
Secular means that the relationship between the government and religious
groups are determined according to constitution and law. It separates the power
of the state and religion. By the 42nd Amendment on December 18, 1976, the term
"Secular" was also incorporated in the Preamble. There is no
difference of religion i.e. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Christianity and Islam are equally respected and moreover, there is no state religion. All the citizens of India are allowed to profess,
practice and propagate their religions. Explaining the meaning of secularism as
adopted by India, Alexander Owics has written, "Secularism is a part of
the basic structure of the Indian Constitution and it means equal freedom and
respect for all religions stated."
Democratic
The people of India elect their governments by a system
of universal adult franchise, popularly known as "one person one
vote". This representative form of government is suitable for governing
the country because of its huge and diverse population. Every citizen of India
18 years of age or older and not otherwise debarred by law is entitled to vote.
NOW TALKING ABOUT THE case of Mohan Lal Tripathi vs District Magistrate, the
term "Democracy" was discussed and it was held that:
"Democracy is a
concept of political philosophy, an ideal which is practiced by many nations
that are culturally advanced and politically mature via resorting to governance
by representative of people directly or indirectly."
The word democratic refers not only to
political democracy but also to social and economic democracy. The main reason
to incorporate democracy is to provide freedom to the people to choose their
own representative and to save them from tyrant rulers.
Republic
In a republican form of government, the head of state is elected and not a hereditary
monarch. Thus, this word denotes a government where no one holds public power
as a proprietary right. As opposed to a monarchy, in which the head of state is
appointed on a hereditary basis for life or until abdication, a democratic
republic is an entity in which the head of state is elected, directly or
indirectly, for a fixed tenure. Thus, India has a president who is indirectly
elected and has a fixed term of office. There is an absence of a privileged
class and all public offices are open to every citizen without discrimination.
Justice
Justice stands for rule of law, absence of arbitrariness
and a system of equal rights, freedom and opportunities for all in a society.
India seeks social, economic
and political justice to ensure equality to its citizens.
(i) Social Justice:
Social Justice means the absence of socially privileged
classes in the society and no discrimination against any citizen on grounds of
caste, creed, color, religion, gender or place of birth. India stands for
eliminating all forms of exploitations from the society.
(ii) Economic Justice:
Economic Justice means no discrimination between man and
woman on the basis of income, wealth and economic status. It stands for
equitable distribution of wealth, economic equalities, the end of monopolistic
control over means of production and distribution, decentralization of economic
resources, and the securing of adequate opportunities to all for earning their
living.
(iii) Political Justice:
Political justice means equal, free and fair
opportunities to the people for participation in the political process. It
stands for the grant of equal political rights to all the people without discrimination.
The Constitution of India provides for a liberal democracy in which all the
people have the right
and freedom to participate.
Liberty
The idea of Liberty refers to the freedom on the activities of Indian nationals. This
establishes that there are no unreasonable restrictions on Indian citizens in
term of what they think, their manner of expressions and the way they wish to
follow up their thoughts in action. However, liberty does not mean freedom to
do anything, and it must be exercised within the constitutional limits.
Equality
The term 'equality' means the absence of special
privilege to any section of society, and the provision of adequate opportunity
of all the individuals without any discrimination.
Fraternity
This refers to feeling of oneness and a sense of
belonging with the country among its people.
The word "Fraternity" is derived from French word which declares that it has to assure two things—the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation. The word 'integrity' has been added to the Preamble by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment (1976).
Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021
During the 2021 winter session of parliament, a private
member sought to introduce a bill to amend the preamble.
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