Indian Constitution: Salient Features

By- Shubham Sharma

The Constitution is the supreme law of the country and every citizen of our country has to
follow it. The Indian constitution is a very detailed constitution. The Constitution of India is one
of the finest-crafted Constitutions in the World. This Constitution is made by the Constituent
Assembly under the Cabinet mission plan. This Constituent Assembly started its work from 26
November 1946. That’s why every year we celebrate Constitution Day on 26 November. It took
2 years, 11 months and 17 days to complete our Constitution. It was on 26 th November 1949
that the Indian Constitution was finally adopted, after close to 3 years of intense debates and
discussions among the members of the Constituent Assembly, and it came into force on
26th January 1950. The Constitution of India is considered as a distinctive constitution around
the globe. It is the largest written liberal democratic constitution of the world. It offers for a
mixture of federalism and Unitarianism, and flexibility and with rigidity.
Salient features of the Indian constitution
Following are the salient features of the Indian constitution: –
1. Written and Detailed constitution: –
o The constitution is a fully written document incorporating the constitutional
law of India. It was enacted by the constituent assembly of India. The
assembly took 2 years, 11 months and 18 days to write and enact the
constitution.
o The Indian constitution is a very detailed constitution. It has 395
articles divided into 22 parts with 8 schedules. It originally consisted of
395 articles which have now increased to 448 articles after 105
amendments, as of August 2021. It is a constitution of both the centre and
the states of the Indian union. It is actually much larger than the US
Constitution, with only the articles of law and the French constitution itself.
There are 6 articles.
2. Self-made and enacted constitution: –
o The Indian constitution is the constitution of the people of India functioning
through their elected and representative body: – the constituent assembly
which was organized in December 1946. Its first session was held on
December 9, 1946. It passed the objective resolution on 22 January. 1947.
o Subsequently, it started the constitution-making process correctly and on 26
November 1949 was in a position to finally pass and adopt the constitution.
 The constitution became fully operational from 26 January 1950. We
celebrate this day as our Republic Day.
3. Preamble of the constitution: –
o The Preamble to the constitution of India is a well-written document that
states the philosophy of the constitution. The constitution declares India a
sovereign socialist secular democratic republic and a welfare state to secure
justice, liberty and equality for the people and to promote brotherhood, for
the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation.
o The Preamble is the key to the constitution. It is in essence committed to
securing the nature and the people of the Indian state.
4. India is a Democratic socialist state: –
o Although the Indian constitution fully reflected the spirit of democratic
socialism from the beginning, it was only in 1976 that the Preamble was
amended which included the term ‘socialism’. It is now considered a major
feature of the Indian state.
o India promotes social, economic and political justice with the intention to
end all forms of exploitation of all its people and securing equal distribution
of income, resources and wealth. It is to be secured by peaceful,
constitutional and democratic means.
5. India is a secular state: –
o India gives special status to no religion. There is no such thing as the official
religion of India
o Furthermore, Indian secularism guarantees equal freedom to all religions.
The constitution gives the right to religious freedom to all citizens.
6. India is a Democratic state: –
o The constitution of India provides for a democratic system. The authority of
the government rests on the sovereignty of the people. The public enjoys
equal political rights. On the basis of these rights, people freely participate in
the process of politics. They elect their government.
o There are free and regular elections for electing governments. The public can
change their government through elections. No government can remain in
power that does not enjoy the trust of the people.
7. India is a republic: –
o The preamble declares India a republic. India does not have the rule of an
emperor or a nominated chief. India has an elected head of state (the
President of India), who holds the office for a fixed period of 5 years. The
people of India indirectly elect their President, after every five years.
8. India is a union of states: –
o ‘The Term Union of State’ shows two important facts: –
  It is not the result of a voluntary agreement between the sovereign
states of the Indian Union, and
 States of India do not enjoy the right to secede (withdraw) from the
Union. The Indian centre now has 28 states and 8 union territories.
9. Mixture of Federalism and Unitarianism: –
o Describing India as a union of states, the constitution provides a federal
structure with a unitary spirit. Scholars have described India as co-quasi-
federation or as a federation with a unitary bias, or even as a unitary union.
o Like the Federation, the constitution of India provides for: –
 Division of powers between centre and states,
 A written, rigid and supreme constitution,
 Independent judiciary with power to decide centre-state disputes
and
 Dual administration i.e. central and state administration.
o India is a federation with few Unitarian facilities. This mixture of federalism-
unitism has been taken into account both due to the pluralistic nature of
society and the presence of regional variations, as well as the need to
preserve the unity and integrity of the nation.
10.Mixture of rigidity and flexibility: –
o The Constitution of India is somewhere rigid. Some of its provisions can be
amended in a difficult way while others can be amended very easily. In some
cases, the Central Parliament may amend parts of the Constitution by passing
a simple law.
o Article 368 of the Constitution provides two special methods of amendment :
–
 Most of the provisions of the constitution can be amended by the
Central Parliament, by passing the amendment bill by a majority of
the total membership and 2/3 majority of the members present and
voting in its two houses.
 For the modification of some specified parts, a very rigorous
method has been provided. Under this, first the central parliament
passes the amendment bill by a majority of the total membership
and 2/3 majority of the members.
 The amendment is passed only when it is approved by less than
half of the many states of the union.
o Thus the constitution of India is partly rigid and partly flexible.
11.Fundamental Rights: –
o Under its Part (III Articles, 12–35), the constitution of India guarantees
fundamental rights to its citizens. This is called the Indian rights bill.
 Initially, 7 fundamental rights were granted, but after the removal of the right
to property from the list of fundamental rights (44th amendment act 1979)
their number was reduced to six.
o The six fundamental rights are: –
 Right to equality: – this right provides equality before the law, its
object is to end of discrimination, equality of opportunity, abolition
of untouchability and abolition of titles.
 Right to freedom: – It consists of six fundamental freedoms-
speech and expression, freedom to form associations, freedom to
assemble peacefully without arms, freedom to move freely in India,
freedom of residence in any part, and any profession or freedom to
adopt a business or occupation. This ensures personal freedom and
protection in relation to punishment for certain crimes.
 Right against exploitation: – This fundamental right prohibits the
sale and purchase of human beings, forced labor (beggars) and the
employment of children in dangerous jobs and factories.
 Right to freedom of religion : – The grant of this right includes
freedom of conscience, religion and worship. Any person can
follow any religion. It gives freedom to all religions to establish
and maintain their religious institutions. No person can be obliged
to pay any tax for the promotion of any religion. The state cannot
levy tax for any religion and the constitution prohibits the
imposition of religious instructions in schools and colleges.
 Cultural and educational rights: – The constitution under this
category guarantees the rights of minorities to maintain and
develop their languages and cultures. It also confers the right to
establish, maintain and administer their educational institutions.
 Right to constitutional remedies (Art. 32): – This fundamental
right is the soul and heart of the entire Bill of Rights. This right
provides for the enforcement and protection of all fundamental
rights by the courts. It empowers the Supreme Court and the High
Courts to issue writ for the enforcement of these rights.
12.Fundamental Duties of the citizens: –
o The Constitution in its Part IVA ( Article 51A) describes the fundamental
duties of the following citizen: –
 Honoring the constitution, national flag and national anthem;
 To cherish the noble ideals of the freedom struggle;
 Maintaining and protecting the sovereignty, unity and integrity of
India;
  Protecting the country and providing national service when called;
 Promote the common brotherhood of all the people of India and
make any practice derogatory to the dignity of women;
 To preserve the rich heritage of the nation’s overall culture;
 Project the natural environment and have compassion for living
beings;
 To develop scientific temperament, humanism and spirit of inquiry
and reform;
 Protection of public property and preventing violence; and
 Strive for excellence in all individual and collective activity.
 It is the duty of a parent to send their children to schools to receive
education.
o Fundamental duties, however, are not enforceable by the courts.
13.Directive principles of state policy: –
o One of the most important features of the Indian constitution is to work with
the ‘Directive Principles of State Policy’ provided in part IV of the
constitution. The Directive Principles direct the state to achieve the
objectives of socio-economic development through its policies. These are to
be implemented by both the associations for the states.
o For example, the directive principles directed the state to ensure adequate
means of livelihood of the people, fair distribution of funds, equal pay for
equal work, protection of children, women, workers and youth, old age
pension, social security, protect the interests of the weaker sections of
society; promoting cottage industries, rural development, international and
peace friendship and cooperation with other states etc.
14.Bi-cameral union parliament: –
o The constitution provides for a bicameral legislature at the union level and
names it as the central parliament. It has two houses: Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha. The lok sabha is the lower, popular, directly elected house of
parliament. It represents the people of India.
o The lok sabha currently has 545 members.
o Members of the lok sabha are directly elected by the people of India. All
men and women 18 years of age and above, whose names are listed in the
voter lists, vote for the election of members of the lok sabha.
o Voters 25 years of age or older are eligible to contest in the lok sabha. The
term of the lok sabha is 5 years. But the President working under the advice
of the Prime Minister can dissolve it even earlier.
15.Parliamentary system: –
 o The constitution of India provides for a parliamentary system of government
in each state of the union as well as the center. The President of India is the
constitutional head with nominal powers. The Union council of ministers
headed by the Prime Minister is the de facto executive. Ministers are
essentially members of the central Parliament.
o The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible before the Lok Sabha for
all its policies and decisions. The Lok Sabha can remove the ministry by
passing a no-confidence motion. The cabinet, indeed the Prime Minister, has
the power to dissolve the Lok Sabha by the President. A parliamentary
government is also working in every state along the same lines.
16.Universal-Adult Franchise: –
o Another feature of the constitution is that it provides for universal adult
suffrage. All men and women have equal rights to vote. Every adult man and
woman over the age of 18 has the right to vote. All registered voters have the
opportunity to vote in elections.
17.Single integrated state with single citizenship: –
o India is a single, independent and sovereign unified state. It currently has 28
states and 8 union territories. All citizens enjoy equal citizenship. They are
entitled to equal rights and freedoms, and equal protection of the state.
18.Single Integrated Judiciary: –
o The Constitution provides for a single unified judicial system for the Union
and the States. The Supreme Court of India operates at the top level, the
High Court at the state level and other courts operate under the High Courts.
o The Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the land. It controls and runs the
judicial administration of India.
19.Independence of judiciary: –
o The Indian Constitution makes the judiciary truly independent. This is clear
from the following facts: –
 Judges are appointed by the President,
 Only persons with high legal qualifications and experience are
appointed as judges,
 Judges of the Supreme Court cannot be removed from office except
in an extremely difficult process of implementation.
 The salary of judges is very high,
 The Supreme Court has its own staff. The Indian judiciary has an
autonomous organization and status. It operates as an independent
and powerful judiciary.
20.Judicial review: –
 o The constitution is the supreme law of the land. The Supreme Court acts as
the custodian and interpreter of the constitution. It also works as the
protector of the fundamental rights of the citizen of India.
o It exercises the power of judicial review for this purpose. By this, the
Supreme Court determines the constitutional validity of all laws made by
legislatures. It can reject any law that is found to be unconstitutional.
21.Emergency provisions: –
o The Constitution of India has special provisions to deal with emergencies. It
identifies three types of potential emergencies: –
 National Emergency (Article 352); emergency arising from war
against India or external aggression or threat of external aggression
or armed rebellion within or any part of India;
 Constitutional Emergency in a State (Article 356); emergency
arising due to failure of constitutional machinery in a state; or some
states and
 Financial emergency (Article 360) is an emergency, which is a
threat to India’s financial stability.
o The President of India has been empowered to take appropriate steps to deal
with these emergencies. During the period of an emergency, the powers of
the President, in fact the PM and the Union Council of Ministers are a
tremendous increase. The President can take all steps necessary to meet an
emergency. These are called emergency powers of the President.
22.Special provisions relating to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes: –
o With a view to protect the interests of the scheduled castes and scheduled
tribes, the constitution advocates certain special provisions. It provides for
reservation of seats in the assemblies for the scheduled castes and scheduled
tribes.
o The President may nominate the Lok Sabha, in the event of the Anglo-Indian
community having no more than two members, he opines that the
community does not have adequate representation in the House.
23.Provisions regarding language: –
o The constitution makes special provisions for defining the language of the
Union, the regional languages and the language of the Supreme court and
High courts.
o It states that Hindi will be the official language of the Sangh in Devanagari
script. But at the same time, it also provides for the continuation of the
English language. A state legislature may adopt the language of the province
as its official language.
 o English remains the language of the Supreme Court and High Courts. The
constitution gives a directive to the Sangh to develop and popularize Hindi.
o In its eighth schedule, the constitution recognizes 22 modern Indian
languages: - Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri,
Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Nepali, Manipuri, Konkani, Sanskrit,
Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Dogri, Maithili and Santali.
24.A constitution drawn from several sources: –
o In framing the constitution of India, the founding fathers used many sources.
The values and ideals of the national movement guided his path.
o The national movement influenced him to adopt secularism as an ideal.
Some of the provisions of the Government of India Act 1935 were used by
them and many of the features of foreign structures influenced them, and
were adopted by them.