Monday, August 23, 2010

The Constitution of India: Highlights.

Thousands of people have been sacrificing their lives since centuries to make us see a dawn when we may respire in emancipation. Whether it was the pre British era or during the English Rule, India was always ruled by foreign invaders and the locals could control only small parts of the nation. Moreover, there existed dominance in contrast due to which the country remained divided into princely states. Frankly speaking, it happened first time during the British rule that the whole country united and the world saw the power of ‘India’ and Indians. India is now known worldwide for its policies of secularism, socialism and unity in diversity. On 15th August, 1947 finally the day came when India became India in true sense and was able to push out invaders altogether. The first and foremost need that was felt by the leaders then was framing of laws. Many laws which were already in force were kept in force. Such laws are still in use and include major statutes like the Indian Penal Code, the Codes of civil and criminal procedure etc. Finally the newly formed legislature under the name of the Constituent Assembly under the leadership of Late Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, started framing the most important law for the country which was to be regarded as the law of the land, The ‘Constitution of India’.
The Constitution of India was adopted and enacted on 26th November, 1949, however it was enforced from 26th January, 1950 and thus we celebrate 26th January as the Republic Day.
The Indian Constitution is the world’s lengthiest written constitution.
The Constitution starts with a preamble which is in the form of a pledge taken by all Indian citizens collectively.
The preamble to our constitution 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. 

The preamble is followed by 22 parts containing around 444 articles and 12 schedules.
The constitution deals with concepts of citizenship; fundamental rights; Directive principles of State Policy; fundamental duties, functioning of the parliament, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary; the formation and working of Panchayats, Municipalities; provisions for Scheduled castes and tribes; emergency provisions and such other miscellaneous provisions.
For common people, the concepts of fundamental rights and duties are the most important one.
Lets us now go into depth of these concepts.
Fundamental Rights as they sound are the very basic rights that all the citizens must have these. Rather it is ensured by the government itself that no citizen is deprived of these rights.
There are 6 major fundamental rights ensured under the Constitution viz.
1.  Right to equality: under the head of Right to equality, the following rights are granted:
    I.    Equality before Law- Article 14, talks about equality before law. This means that law is equal for all citizens of the nation and no one shall be discriminated in the courts of law. Article 14 reads as “The state shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of laws within the territory of India”.
    II.    Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
   III.    Equal opportunity for all in matters of public employment.
    IV.    Abolition of the Evil of Untouchability; and
     V.    Abolition of Titles given by British Rule on the basis of works of different types
2.  Right to freedom: Under the head of Right to freedom, the rights like freedom of speech, protection of life and personal liberty, right to education etc. are bundled. These rights are although not absolute. E.g. Right to speech is not unbound, and has to be enjoyed within boundaries. Any person cannot speak anything he wishes without verification. Whatever one speaks must not be harming any other persons reputation. Right to life is a very dense right and under its ambit covers right to livelihood, right to clean environment and facilities like clean water and food.
3.  Right against exploitation: This right prevents trafficking of human beings and forced labour. It states that immoral trafficking in Human beings and beggar and similar other forms, is an offence and is punishable under law.
4.  Right to freedom of religion: India being a secular country respects all religions and ensures that anybody can embrace any religion as per wish and there shall be no discrimination on grounds of religion.
5.  Cultural and educational rights: Right to follow one’s own culture and right to Education are essential features of a developing country. The constitution envisages such rights to be most important rights for development of the nation. It is ensured by law that no one shall be denied admission in any educational institution on the basis of discrimination of caste, creed, sex, religion or language. It further states that every person has a right to preserve his/her distinct language, script etc. this is the reason why despite of Hindi being the national Official Language there are 20 other constitutionally recognized languages in India, viz.
I.    Assamese.
II.   Bengali.
III.  Dogri.
IV.   Gujarati.
V.    Hindi.
VI.   Kannada.
VII.  Kashmiri.
VIII. Konkani.
IX.   Maithili.
X.    Malayalam.
XI.   Manipuri.
XII.  Marathi.
XIII. Nepali.
XIV.  Oriya.
XV.   Punjabi.
XVI.  Sanskrit.
XVII. Santhali.
XVIII.Sindhi.
XIX.  Tamil.
XX.   Telugu.
XXI.  Urdu

6.  Rights to Constitutional remedies: Article 32 states that the Supreme court shall have the power to undertake proceedings for enforcement of rights. It has the power to issue directions or orders or writs for enforcement of fundamental rights.
A new concept of Public Interest Litigation also has been incorporated in the constitution which means that any person for the common interest of public can file a suit in the Supreme Court for seeking universal relief from any infringement of right. In present days many environmental hazards have been cropped by using this mechanism.

Now that we have talked of rights let us know our duties.
The Constitution of India says that It shall be the duty of every citizens of India-
a.    to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem;
b.    to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom;
c.    to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;
d.    to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so;
e.    to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women;
f. to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;
g. to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures;
h. to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform;
i. to safeguard public property and to abjure violence;
j. to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement.
 
Other than these fundamental rights and duties the constitution also deals with the provisions for formation of the government and its working mechanism.

To conclude, I would say that our constitution is well build but due to ever changing needs of the country the statute is getting amended very often and thus we need to keep ourselves updated regarding changing facets of law.
 
-Krishanu Ray

2 comments:

  1. The Constitution of India have 22 Part even oldest constitution of World United Kingdom Constitution adopted in 1246 have seven parts even US constitution have seven parts

    ReplyDelete
  2. The United Kingdom Seven Article The Crown 1 Govt 2 legislature 3 Judiciary 4 Administration geography 5 Devolution 6 Election 7 Foreign Polices
    US Constitutions have also seven parts 1 Federal Govt 2 Legislature 3 Executive 4 Judiciary 5 Election 6 Political Party 7 Federalism

    But the Constitution of India have 22 parts

    ReplyDelete