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Salient features of the Constituent Assembly

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The Constituent Assembly of India sat for the first time on December 9, 1946, deciding on its national flag, national insignia, national anthem; and ultimately adoption of the Constitution which made our country a democratic republic.

 

Important Features of Indian Constituent Assembly

• The Constituent Assembly of India came into existence as per the provisions of Cabinet Mission Plan of May 1946, to formulate the Constitution of India for facilitating appropriate transfer of sovereign power from British authorities to Indian hands.
• The Assembly was to have proportional representation from existing provincial legislatures and from various princely states.
• The Assembly was to have three sections: Punjab & North-West, Bengal-Assam and Rest of India. The Constitutions were to be formulated for Indian Union, each Section and for each of the Provinces therein. The Muslim League won most of the 80 Muslim seats and dominated two smaller Sections, chose not to participate so the Assembly never convened separately in sections.
• The Constituent Assembly held 12 sessions, or rounds of sittings:

1. December 9-23, 1946,
2. January 20- 25, 1947,
3. April 28- May 2, 1947,
4. July 14- 31, 1947,
5. August 14- 30, 1947,
6. January 27, 1948,
7. November 4, 1948-January 8, 1949,
8. May 16- June 16, 1949,
9. July 30-September 18, 1949,
10. October 6-17, 1949,
11. November 4-26, 1949,
12. January 24, 1950.

• Biggest change in membership was caused by the declaration of Partition of India. Certain members like Dr. Ambedkar, who were elected from territories assigned to Dominion of Pakistan, lost their seats. After initial disinterest, the princely states started negotiating with a committee of the Assembly for their representation. Over a period, hundreds of princely states were grouped into larger associations and provisions were made for them to elect their representatives to the Assembly. Hyderabad did not send any representative till the end. Maximum membership towards the end of tenure of Assembly was 307.

 

Some of the important Organisational Committees are

1. Rules of Procedure Committee (appointed on December 11, 1946. 15 members, Chairperson- Rajendra Prasad, ex-officio. Worked till 20 Dec. 1946)
2. Steering Committee (appointed on January 21, 1947. 19 members, Chairperson- Rajendra Prasad, ex-officio)
3. Staff and Finance Committee (appointed on December 23, 1946. 11 members, Chairperson- Rajendra Prasad, ex-officio)
4. Credentials Committee (appointed on December 23, 1946. 5 members, Chairperson- A.K. Ayyar.
5. Order of Business Committee (appointed on January 25, 1947. 3 members, Chairperson- K.M. Munshi)
6. States (Negotiating) Committee (appointed on December 21, 1946. 6 members, Chairperson- J.L. Nehru)
7. Flag Committee (appointed on June 23, 1947. 12 members, Chairperson- Rajendra Prasad, ex-officio)
8. Committee on Functions of Constituent Assembly, under the Indian Independence Act (appointed on August 20, 1947. 7 members, Chairperson- G.V. Mavlankar)

Principal Committees and their sub-committees

• Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities, Tribal Areas and Excluded Areas (appointed on 24 Jan. 1947. 57 members, Chairperson- Sardar Patel)
• Union Powers Committee (appointed on 25 Jan, 1947. 12 members, Chairperson- J.L. Nehru)
• Union Constitution Committee (appointed on 4 May. 1947. 12 members, Chairperson- J.L. Nehru)
• Provincial Constitution Committee (appointed on 4 May. 1947. 21 members, Chairperson- Sardar Patel)
• Drafting Committee (appointed on 29 Aug. 1947. 8 members, Chairperson- Dr. Ambedkar)

 

Other Sectoral Committees

• Ad-hoc Committee on Citizenship (appointed on 30 April, 1947. 7 members, Chairperson- S. Varadachariar)
• Committee on Chief Commissioner’s Provinces (appointed on 31 July, 1947. 7 members, Chairperson- N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar)
• Experts Committee on Financial Provisions of Constitution (appointed in Nov. 1947. 3 members, Chairperson- N.R. Sarkar)
• Sub-Committee on Minority safeguards for West Bengal and East Punjab (appointed on 24 Feb. 1948. 5 members, Chairperson- Sardar Patel)

Rajendra Prasad was the elected President of Constituent Assembly while VT Krishnamachari and HC Mookerji served as Vice-Presidents.

HVR Iyengar was the secretary general of the Assembly, and SN Mukherji was the Chief Draftsman.

After authentication of copies of the Constitution, the Constituent Assembly got naturally dissolved with its Chairperson having been elected the President of India.

The Assembly continued functioning as provisional Parliament of India till first general elections were held. The first amendment to the Constitution of India was made by this provisional Parliament in the summer of 1951.

 

Preparation of Memorandum

1. Dissemination of Constitutional Advisor’s Brief & Questionnaire (September 1946-November 1947)

B N Rau was appointed Constitutional Advisor by the-then Viceroy Lord Wavell to head the Constituent Assembly Secretariat sometime in late July 1946. He had retired from civil service in January 1944 but remained active. He offered his honorary services to the Viceroy, which was accepted most probably due to his stint in Reforms Office soon after the enactment of Govt. of India Act, 1935.

2. Preparation of Memorandum by the Advisor based on responses; Submission of notes by certain members (February-November 1947)

Based on responses to his briefs and questionnaire, Rau prepared his Memorandum which included blueprints of probable provisions of impending constitution.

3. Deliberations in Principal Committees, including joint and sub-committees, and their Reports (February-August 1947)

In the second session of Assembly, its Chairman constituted four principal committees: Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal Areas & Excluded Areas, Provincial Constitution Committee, Union Constitution Committee and Union Powers Committee. Of these committees, first two were chaired by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel while the latter two were chaired by Nehru. Most of these committees appointed their sub-committees for more focused work on particular segment. Two or three of these committees also sat jointly to consider matters lying in overlapping zones of consideration.

4. Working of Constituent Assembly, including nomination of acting President, election of regular President and formation of operational committees was decided by an unofficial Experts’ Committee of Congress in July-August 1946. It was this committee which prepared the draft of Objective Resolution which was moved in the first session by Nehru.

5. Discussion on Reports in Constituent Assembly and adoption of principles (April-Aug. 1947)

The Assembly discussed the reports of principal committees in detail and adopted the principles therein.

 

Objective Resolution

• Objectives Resolution was introduced by Jawahar Lal Nehru on 13th December 1946 in the Constituent Assembly. This Resolution was unanimously adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 January 1947 as the Preamble to the Indian Constitution.
• It laid down the fundamentals and philosophy of the constitutional structure. It provided the foundation for India’s Constitution, which institutionalized the essential values of equality, liberty, democracy, sovereignty, and cosmopolitan identity.
• The Objective Resolution forms the basis of the Preamble to the Indian Constitution. Preamble declares India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic. 
• The objective of the Preamble  is to secure justice, liberty, equality to all citizens and promote fraternity to maintain unity and integrity of the nation.

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