Understanding Historical Background Of Constitution Of India

The Government of India Act (1935) was superseded as India’s governing document on January 26, 1950, by the Constitution of India. After decades of British control, the Constitution established our nation as a fully autonomous republic in the Commonwealth of Nations, with the President of India as the titular leader of the Indian Union. Even though the constitution went into force in 1950, the Indian Constituent Assembly accepted it on November 26, 1949.

The supreme law of the nation is the constitution. The text establishes the foundation for democratizing the fundamental political code, structure, methods, powers, and duties of governmental institutions, as well as fundamental rights, directive principles, and citizen responsibilities. It is the world’s longest written constitution.

Following India’s independence on August 29, 1947, the Constituent Assembly established a drafting committee by resolution to review the draft text of the Constitution of India provided by the Constitutional Advisor. This gave effect to the Assembly’s previous resolutions and “contained any issues which are supplementary thereto or which must be covered in such a constitution.” They were also supposed to deliver to the Assembly the text of the constitutional draft as updated by the committee.

Parliament and the East India Company

The East India Company, which founded profitable commercial stations on the Indian coast at Surat, Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta in the 17th century, is credited with the establishment of the British Empire in India.

Parliament had to decide how to deal with this private trade corporation when it gained territorial and political dominance in India as a result of its military victories at Plassey (1757) and Buxar (1764), which gave it control of the income of the Indian states of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa.

The corporation was poorly run, with corruption among senior officials in the United Kingdom and India.

It was enveloped by a financial crisis in 1772, forcing the British government to intervene. Parliament has previously formed several committees to investigate the Company’s operations and the behaviour of its personnel in India.

Several of the committee’s recommendations criticized the East India Company, and its concerns were examined in Parliament in 1773. Lord North, the Prime Minister, felt that Company territory would be “better handled by the Crown than by Director’s incapable of administering it.”

The East Indian Firm Loan Act and the East India Company Regulating Act that resulted allowed the government to grant a loan to the company in exchange for acknowledgement of the British state’s ultimate sovereignty over the Indian colonies.

In exchange for £40,000 payment every two years, it leased the Company’s continuous political authority of its Indian holdings. It also established the position of the governor-general, who would have overall power over the Company’s territory with the help of a council of four members.

The India Act of 1784, signed by Prime Minister William Pitt, increased government power. This established the Board of Control, a group of six government appointees tasked with monitoring and directing the Company’s policies.

The government would also have the last say on the Company’s nominees for officials in India. This, together with a new statute established in 1786, considerably enhanced the governor-influence general’s over other Company officials.

Historical Background of the Indian Constitution

Before 1947, India was divided into two primary entities: British India, which consisted of 11 provinces, and the Princely states, which were administered by Indian princes under a subsidiary alliance strategy. The two nations combined to establish the Indian Union, although many of the legacy systems of British India are still in use today.

Many Regulations and Acts established before Indian Independence may be traced back to the historical roots and growth of the constitution, including:

• Regulating Act of 1773
• Government of India Act, 1858
• Indian Councils Act, 1861
• The Indian Councils Act, 1892
• The Indian Councils Act, 1909
• Government of Indian Act, 1935
• Indian Independence Act, 1947

 1948 Constitutional Process

The 4th of November 1948 was a watershed moment in India’s constitutional-making process: B.R. Ambedkar, Chairman of the Drafting Committee, publicly introduced the Draft Constitution in the Constituent Assembly. This ‘mighty’ document, which had 315 Articles and 8 Schedules, was the climax of the Assembly’s work, notably that of its committees, which began on December 9, 1946. From then on, all of the Assembly’s debates—114 out of 165 sittings—were centred on this Draft. These disputes are the most heated in India’s constitution-making process.

Ambedkar delivered a lengthy and thorough speech while introducing the Draft that would become renowned in post-independence India. In the days after the Draft’s presentation, Assembly members conveyed their initial thoughts on the text and discussed Ambedkar’s address. While some were generally pleased, others were not.

One component of the Draft and Ambedkar’s speech sparked much debate and conflict: the position of “villages” in India’s administrative and political structure. Some members were dissatisfied with the Draft’s lack of emphasis on or incorporation of provisions based on village panchayats—or villages in general. Ambedkar replied to this criticism in his speech by unleashing a scathing attack: 

In the days that followed, members of the Assembly took turns rebuking Ambedkar. Shibban Lal Saxena said that Ambedkar’s opinions were incorrect based on his experience working in communities. He often referred to the Soviet village republics, which he saw as models of healthy self-government. Others, such as H. V. Kamath believed that Ambedkar’s thoughts regarding villages were a result of his lack of participation in the independence movement, which placed the village at the centre of its battle.

After around ten days of broad debates on the Draft, the Assembly started a more concentrated exercise of discussing and evaluating revisions to each Article of the Draft Constitution on November 15, 1948, a process that would last until October 17, 1948. On November 26, 1949, the legislature ultimately accepted the Constitution.

 Conclusion

Before 1947, India was divided into two major entities: British India, which consisted of 11 provinces, and the Princely states, which were administered by Indian princes under the subsidiary alliance strategy. The two nations combined to establish the Indian Union, although many of the legacy structures of British India are still in place. Many rules and actions issued before Indian independence may be traced back to the historical roots and growth of the Indian Constitution.