1
Constituent Assembly S. ARULSELVAN, 29 JULY
2024
389 Members 2
Thetotal membership of the Constituent
Assembly was 389 of which
292 were representatives of the provinces
93 represented the princely states and
four were from the chief commissioner
provinces of Delhi, Ajmer-Merwara, Coorg
and British Baluchistan.
Introduction 3
The Constituent Assembly sat for
the first time on 9th December 1946.
Over the next 2 years and 11
months, the Assembly sat for a total
of 165 days to frame the Indian
Constitution.
Facts related to the 4
Constituent Assembly Debates
Clause by clause discussion was done for about 101
days where the members discussed the text of the
Constitution.
Altogether, women members contributed to about 2%
of the discussions.
About 36 lakh words were spoken in all and Dr. B R
Ambedkar had the distinction of having spoken the most
number of words.
Fundamental rights, included in Part III, was debated for
about 16 days, i.e., about 14% of the clause by clause
discussion.
The Directive Principles of State Policy (included in Part IV)
was discussed for about 6 days (about 4%).
HOW IT WAS DONE? 5
Preliminary stage (9/12/1946 to 27/01/1948): The guiding
principles of the Constitution were outlined in reports
submitted by certain committees such as the
Fundamental Rights and Minorities Committee, Union
Powers Committees, etc. Also, the Drafting
Committee was formed to draft the Constitution.
First reading (4/11/1948 to 9/11/1948):
Introduction of the draft constitution in the Assembly.
Second reading (15/11/1948 to 17/10/1949):
The draft was discussed clause by clause.
Third reading (14/11/1949 to 26/11/1949): The
third reading of the Constitution was completed and
it was enacted on 26th November.
6
(263) The Making of India's Constitution - YouTube
Members 7
Themembers of the Constituent
Assembly were not elected on the
basis of universal franchise.
Inthe winter of 1945-46 provincial
elections were held in India. The
Provincial Legislatures then
chose the representatives to the
Constituent Assembly.
8
The Constituent Assembly that
came into being was
dominated by one party: the
Congress.
The Congress swept the
general seats in the provincial
elections, and the Muslim
League captured most of the
reserved Muslim seats.
9
But the League chose to
boycott the Constituent
Assembly, pressing its
demand for Pakistan with a
separate constitution.
10
The Socialists too were initially
unwilling to join, for they believed
the Constituent Assembly was a
creation of the British, and
therefore incapable of being truly
autonomous. In effect, therefore, 82
per cent of the members of the
Constituent Assembly were also
members of the Congress.
The discussions within the 11
Constituent Assembly were also
influenced by the opinions
expressed by the public.
As the deliberations continued, the
arguments were reported in
newspapers, and the proposals
were publicly debated.
Criticisms and counter-criticisms 12
in the press in turn shaped the
nature of the consensus that was
ultimately reached on specific
issues. In order to create a sense of
collective participation the public was
also asked to send in their views on
what needed to be done.
Many of the linguistic minorities wanted
13
the protection of their mother tongue,
religious minorities asked for special
safeguards, while dalits demanded an end
to all caste oppression and reservation of
seats in government bodies. Important
issues of cultural rights and social
justice raised in these public
discussions were debated on the floor
of the Assembly.
The dominant voices
The 1
Constituent Assembly had 389 members. Of
4
these, six members played particularly important
roles. Three were representatives of the
Congress, namely, Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabh
Bhai Patel and Rajendra Prasad. It was Nehru who
moved the crucial “Objectives Resolution”, as well as
the resolution proposing that the National Flag of India
be a “horizontal tricolour of saffron, white and dark
green in equal proportion”, with a wheel in navy blue
at the centre.
The dominant voices
Patel,
1
on the other hand, worked mostly
5
behind the scenes, playing a key role in
the drafting of several reports, and working
to reconcile opposing points of view
RajendraPrasad’s role was as President of
the Assembly, where he had to steer the
discussion along constructive lines while
making sure all members had a chance to
speak.
Besides this Congress trio, a very important16
member of the Assembly was the lawyer and
economist B.R. Ambedkar. During the period
of British rule, Ambedkar had been a
political opponent of the Congress; but,
on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi, he was
asked at Independence to join the Union
Cabinet as law minister. In this capacity, he
served as Chairman of the Drafting Committee
of the Constitution.
Why Constituent Assembly 17
debates matter
That debates of the constituent assembly were
held to discuss the rationale behind each of the
clause of the draft constitution that was made
under the guidance of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
These debates helped in making amendment in
the clauses of the draft constitution with the help
of these debates more than 2000 amendments
were made in the draft constitution.
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Serving with him were two other lawyers, K.M.
Munshi from Gujarat and Alladi Krishnaswamy
Aiyar from Madras, both of whom gave crucial
inputs in the drafting of the Constitution.
These six members were given vital assistance by
two civil servants. One was B. N. Rau,
Constitutional Advisor to the Government of
India, who prepared a series of background
papers based on a close study of the political
systems obtaining in other countries.
19
The other was the Chief
Draughtsman, S. N.
Mukherjee, who had
the ability to put
complex proposals in
clear legal language.
The Vision of The 20
Constitution:
On 13 December 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru
introduced the “Objectives Resolution” in
the Constituent Assembly. It was a
momentous resolution that outlined
the defining ideals of the
Constitution of Independent India,
and provided the framework within
which the work of constitution-
making was to proceed.
Nehru added: Governments do not come
into being by State Papers. Governments 21
are, in fact the expression of the will of the
people. We have met here today because of
the strength of the people behind us and
we shall go as far as the people – not of any
party or group but the people as a whole –
shall wish us to go. We should, therefore,
always keep in mind the passions that lie in
the hearts of the masses of the Indian
people and try to fulfil them.
The powers of the State:
One of the topics most vigorously
22
debated in the Constituent Assembly
was the respective rights of the
Central Government and the states.
Among those arguing for a strong Centre
was Jawaharlal Nehru. As he put it in a
letter to the President of the Constituent
Assembly,
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“Now that partition is a settled fact,
… it would be injurious to the
interests of the country to provide
for a weak central authority which
would be incapable of ensuring
peace, of coordinating vital matters
of common concern and of speaking
effectively for the whole country in
the international sphere”.
The Draft Constitution provided for 24
three
lists of subjects:
Union,
State, and
Concurrent.
Thesubjects in the first list were to be
the preserve of the Central Government,
while
those in the second list were
vested with the states.
Asfor the third list, here Centre and
state shared responsibility.
Besides, Article 356 gave
25
the Centre the powers to
take over a state
administration on the
recommendation of the
Governor .
In the case of some taxes (for
26
instance, customs duties and
Company taxes) the Centre
retained all the proceeds; in
other cases (such as income
tax and excise duties) it
shared them with the
states;
in still other cases (for 27
instance, estate duties) it
assigned them wholly to the
states.
The states, meanwhile, could
levy and collect certain taxes
on their own: these included
land and property taxes, sales
tax, and the hugely profitable
tax on bottled liquor .
The Constitution of India28
thus emerged through a
process of intense debate
and discussion
. Many of its provisions
were arrived at through a
process of give-and-take,
by forging a middle ground
between two opposed
positions.
However, on one central feature of the
29
Constitution there was substantial
agreement. This was on the granting
of the vote to every adult Indian.
Thiswas an unprecedented act of faith,
for in other democracies the vote
had been granted slowly, and in
stages. In countries such as the
United States and the United
Kingdom, only men of property were
first granted the vote; then, men
with education were also allowed
into the charmed circle.
After a long and bitter30
struggle, men of
working-class or
peasant background
were also given the
right to vote. An even
longer struggle was
required to grant this right
to women.
A second important feature of the31
Constitution was its emphasis on
secularism. There was no ringing
pronouncement of secularism in the
Preamble, but operationally, its key
features as understood in Indian contexts
were spelled out in an exemplary manner.
This was done through the carefully
drafted series of Fundamental Rights
to “freedom of religion” (Articles 25-
28), “cultural and educational rights”
(Articles 29, 30), and “rights to
equality” (Articles 14, 16, 17).
All religions were 32
guaranteed equal
treatment by the State
and given the right to
maintain charitable
institutions.
The State also sought to33
distance itself from
religious communities,
banning compulsory
religious instructions in
State-run schools and
colleges, and declaring
religious discrimination in
employment to be illegal.
SIGNIFICANT DEBATES 34
The key Constituent Assembly
debates
Constituent Assembly Debate on
Untouchability: The Constituent
Assembly Debate on Draft Article 11
(Article 17) started on 29th
November 1948. Draft Article 11 was
about the removal of Untouchability.
The then Article 11 is Article 17 of
the present Indian Constitution.
SIGNIFICANT DEBATES 35
Constituent Assembly Debate
on Uniform Civil Code:
Mohammad Ismail from
Madras moved the following
provision for addition to
Article 33 which provided that
‘any group, section or
community of people shall not
be obliged to give up its own
personal laws.
36
SIGNIFICANT DEBATES
Constituent Assembly Debate on
Faderalism: Mr. N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar
proclaimed that one of the essential
principles of a Federal Constitution is that it
must provide for a method of dividing
sovereign powers so that the Government at
the Centre and the Governments in the
Units are each within a defined sphere, co-
ordinate and independent.
Dr. Ambedkar made it clear that only the
President can exercise the power under
Articles 250, 352 and 353 of the Constitution
and this exercise requires the approval of
both Houses of the Indian Parliament.
SIGNIFICANT DEBATES 3
According to Article 1 of the Constitution, India7is a
Union of States. As the Chairman of the Drafting
Committee, Dr. Ambedkar was responsible for the
word UNION being substituted for FEDERATION.
Constituent Assembly Debate on Preamble: Prof K T
Shah proposed inserting the words, “Secular,
Federal, Socialist”.
According to Ambedkar, this proposal was rejected
because “What should be the policy of the State.
Mr. H.V. Kamath also opposed the amendment
proposed by Mr. K.T. Shah.
Shri Gopi Krishna Vijayavargiya told that Sovereignty
is specifically mentioned in the Chinese Constitution
as it is an important power.
A few members in the Constituent Assembly wanted
to include ‘In the name of God’.
SIGNIFICANT DEBATES
38
Constituent Assembly Debate on Abolition of Death
Penalty: Between 1947 and 1949, the Constituent
Assembly debated the Death Penalty. The question
was asked because of its judge-centric nature,
possible uncertainty in its enforcement, its
discriminatory impact on the poor and the
marginalised sections, and the possibility of error in
the final judgment.
Mr. Z.H. Lari proposed for the insertion of Article 11-B in which
he proposed the abolition of capital punishment except for
sedition involving the use of violence. Shr. K. Hanumanthaiya
expressed that instead of capital punishment, life
imprisonment must be given to the convict.
SIGNIFICANT DEBATES
39
Constituent Assembly Debate on
Right to Equality and Prohibition of
Discrimination: Article 14 of the
Indian Constitution is –
equality before law and Article
15 is – prohibition of
discrimination on grounds of
religion, race, caste, sex or
place of birth.
ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUION • 40
On 26 November 1949 the
constitution was finally approved
and signed the member of the
constituent assembly. • It took 3 years
and costed Rs 6.4 crores. • The new
constitution came into effect on 26
January 1950. • C. Rajagopalachari
took over from Lord Mountbatten and
became the first Governor General of
India. • India became a republic and Dr.
Rajendra Prasad was the first President.
In December 1929 the congress had passed
the resolution of “Purna Swaraj”. 4
On 26th January 1930 the first 1
Independence Day was celebrated by
hoisting the tri colour
Although the constitution as a document was
ready in November 1949 our leaders decided
to wait till 26th January 1950 to adopt the
Constitution
42
Watchout the 2nd episode of
Samvidhan
From 37” to 43”.
At52” the Constituent Assembly
presented the national anthem to
the country.
43
VitalStats
Analysis of the
Constituent Assembly
Debates
[Link]
constituent-assembly-debates
44
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