Demand for Constituent Assembly

The idea of forming a Constituent Assembly in India was first mooted in the year 1934 by M.N. Roy was a prominent leader of the leftist movement in India. In 1935, the Indian National Congress officially demanded the formation of a Constituent Assembly to frame the Constitution of India. In 1938, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, on behalf of the Indian National Congress, announced that independent The Constitution of India will be framed by the Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of adult suffrage and there will be no outside interference

This demand of Nehru was finally accepted in principle by the British Government, it is known as the 'August Offer' of 1940. In 1942 Sir Stafford Cripps, a member of the British cabinet, came to India with a draft proposal to the British government for the creation of an independent constitution. This constitution was to be adopted after the Second World War. The Cripps proposal was rejected by the Muslim League. The Muslim League demanded that India be divided into two autonomous parts with their own Constituent Assemblies. Ultimately, a Cabinet Mission was sent to India. The mission rejected the demand for two Constituent Assemblies but

He put forward a plan for the formation of such a Constituent Assembly, which satisfied the Muslim League to a great extent.

formation of the Constituent Assembly

The Constituent Assembly was formed in November 1946 under the proposals suggested by the Cabinet Mission Plan. The features of the plan were:

1. The total number of members of the Constituent Assembly was to be 389. Of these, 296 seats were to be allotted to British India and 93 to the princely states. Of the 296 seats allotted to British India, 292 members were to be selected from 11 Governor's Provinces and four from Chief Commissioner's Provinces (one from each).

2. Each province and princely state (or group of states in the case of small states) was to be allotted seats in proportion to their population. Broadly speaking, one seat was to be allotted for every one million people.

3. The seats allotted to each British province were to be determined in proportion to their population among the three major communities – Muslims, Sikhs and General (excluding Muslims and Sikhs).

4The representatives of each community were to be elected in the Provincial Assembly by the members of that community and voted in the manner of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote

5. The representatives of the princely states were to be selected by the heads of the princely states, so it was clear that the Constituent Assembly was partially elected.

and was a partially nominated body. In addition, the members were to be selected indirectly by the members of the provincial legislature, who were elected on the basis of a limited franchise.

Elections for the Constituent Assembly were held in July-August 1946 (for the 296 seats allotted to British India). In this election, the Indian National Congress got 208, Muslim League 73 and small groups and independent members got 15 seats, although the princely states were allotted 93 seats. The seats could not be filled as they decided to keep themselves away from the Constituent Assembly.

Although the Constituent Assembly was not directly elected by the adult electorate of India, representatives of every community - Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Parsi, Anglo-Indian, Indian Christian, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe got place in it. Women were also involved in this, except for the exception of Mahatma Gandhi, all the big personalities of India were included in the meeting at that time.

functioning of the Constituent Assembly

The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly was held on 9 December 1946. The Muslim League boycotted the meeting and insisted on the demand for a separate Pakistan. Hence only 211 members took part in the meeting. Like France, Dr. Sachchidanand Sinha, the senior most member of this assembly, was elected as the temporary president of the assembly.

Later Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected the President of the Constituent Assembly, similarly Dr. H.C. Mukherjee and V. T. Krishnamachari were elected Vice-Presidents of the Assembly. In other words, the Constituent Assembly had two deputy

objective resolution

On December 13, 1946, Pandit Nehru introduced the historic 'Objective Resolution' in the assembly. It had a glimpse of the framework and philosophy of the constitutional structure. It said:

1. This Constituent Assembly declares India to be an independent, sovereign republic and announces the creation of a constitution to run its future administration

2. All territories included in British India, all territories included in the Indian States, and all such territories outside India and such other territories as they may wish to join, shall form part of the Indian Union; And

3. All the areas mentioned above and their boundaries will be determined by the Constituent Assembly and for this, according to the rules made after this, if they want, their residuary powers will be vested in them and also all those powers for the conduct of the administration, except those that are shall be vested in the Union, shall be received by these States;

4. All powers and authority of sovereign independent India, integral parts and organs of the Government thereof, shall all originate in the people of India;

5. Justice for all the people of India, social, economic and political freedom and security, equality of opportunity Equality before law, thought and expression, faith, Freedom of travel, organization etc. and public morality Establishment of will be ensured;

6. People from minorities, backward classes and tribal areas shall be provided with adequate security; 

7. The unity of the Union will be maintained intact and its land, sea and air space will be protected according to the justice and law of a civilized country; And

8. This ancient land will be given its right and proper place in the world and its contribution towards promoting world peace and human welfare will be ensured. Will be done This proposal was accepted unanimously on January 22, 1946. It influenced the form of the constitution to a great extent, its changed form became the preamble of the constitution. 

change by independence act 

Representatives of the princely states, who had kept themselves away from the Constituent Assembly, gradually began to join it. On April 28, 1947, representatives of six states became members of the assembly.

After acceptance, most of the representatives of other princely states took their seats in the assembly. Members of the Indian part of the Muslim League also joined the meeting.

The Indian Independence Act, 1947 made the following three changes in the status of the Assembly:

1. The assembly was made a completely sovereign body, which could voluntarily make any constitution. This act gave the assembly the right to repeal or replace any law made by the British Parliament in relation to India.

2 The Constituent Assembly also became a legislature. In other words, two different tasks were assigned to the assembly. The second was to implement common law for the country, both of these tasks were to be done on different days. In this way, the Constituent Assembly became the first Parliament of independent India. Whenever the meeting was held as a Constituent Assembly, it was presided over by Dr. Rajendra Prasad and when the meeting was held as a legislature, it was presided over by G. The Constituent Assembly continued to work in both these forms till November 26, 1949, by V. Mavalankar, by which time the work of constitution making was completed.

3. Members of the Muslim League (affiliated with areas that had acceded to Pakistan) broke away from the Constituent Assembly of India. Because of this, the total number of members fixed under the Mountbatten Plan in 1946 came down to 299 instead of 389 seats. The number of Indian provinces (formerly British provinces) was reduced from 296 to 229 and princely states from 93 to 70. The state-wise membership as on 31 December 1947 is presented in Table No. 2.4 at the end of the chapter.

other work 

Apart from framing the constitution and enacting common laws, the Constituent Assembly also performed the following functions:

1. It ratified India's membership of the Commonwealth of Nations in May 1949.

2. It adopted the national flag on July 22, 1947.

3. It adopted the national anthem on January 24, 1950

4. It adopted the national anthem on January 24, 1950

5. It elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as the first President of India on January 24, 1950.

A total of 11 meetings of the Constituent Assembly were held in 2 years, 11 months and 18 days. The framers of the constitution observed the constitutions of about 60 countries and considered its draft for 114 days. A total of Rs 64 lakh was spent on the making of the constitution.

The last meeting of the Constituent Assembly took place on January 24, 1950. Thereafter, the Assembly served as the Provisional Parliament of India from 26 January 1950 until the formation of a new Parliament after the general elections held in 1951–52.

Constituent Assembly Committees

The Constituent Assembly constituted several committees to perform various tasks related to the making of the constitution, out of which there were 8 major committees and other small committees and the names of their presidents are as follows:

large committees

1. Union Power Committee - Jawaharlal Nehru

2 Federal Constitution Committee - Jawaharlal Nehru

3. Provincial Constitution Committee — Sardar Patel

4 Drafting Committee - Dr.B. R. Ambedkar

5. Advisory Committee (Consultative Committee) for fundamental rights, minorities and tribes and excluded areas - Sardar Patel. This committee had the following five sub-committees:

(a) Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights - J. B. kriplani

(b) Minorities Sub-Committee - H.C. Mukherjee

(c) Sub-Committee Gopinath Bardoi for North-East Frontier Tribal Areas excluding Assam and partially excluded areas

(d) Sub-Committee for abandoned and partially abandoned areas (other than irrigated areas in Assam) - A.V. Thakkar.

(m) North-West Frontier Tribal Area Sub-Committee 6 Rules of Procedure Committee - Dr. Rajendra Prasad

7. Committee for the states (negotiating with the states)  Jawaharlal Nehru 

8. Steering Committee - Dr. Rajendra Prasad

small committees

1 Finance and Staff Committee Dr. Rajendra Prasad -

2. Credential Committee - Alladi Krishnaswami Iyer

3. House Committee- B. Pattabhi Sitaramaiah

4. Work Steering Committee Dr. K. M. Munshi

5. Ad-hoc Committee on National Flag Dr. Rajendra Prasad 6. Committee for the work of Constituent Assembly G.V. Mavalankar

7. Ad-hoc Committee for the Supreme Court (who were not members of the House) S. well-wisher

8.Committee for the provinces of Chief Commissioners Bipattabhisitaramayya -

9. Committee on Financial Provisions of the Federal Constitution Nalini Ranjan Sarkar (who was not a member of the House)

10. Linguistic Province Commission S.K. Dar (who was not a member of the Special Committee to examine the 11th Draft Constitution of the Assembly) Jawaharlal Nehru

12. Press Gallery Committee -- Usha Nath Sen

13. Ad-hoc Committee on Citizenship S.K. Varadachari - Drafting Committee

The most important of all the committees of the Constituent Assembly was the Drafting Committee. It was formed on August 29, 1947. It was this committee that was entrusted with the responsibility of drafting the new constitution. It had seven members, whose names are as follows:

1. Dr. BR Ambedkar (Chairman)

2. N. Gopalaswamy Iyengar

3. Alladi Krishnaswami Iyer

4. Dr KM Munshi

5.Syed Mohammad Sadullah

6. N. Madhav Rao (replaced B.L. Mitra, who had resigned due to health reasons)

7. T.T. Krishnamachari (he replaced D.P. Khaitan after his death in 1948)

After considering the proposals of various committees, the Drafting Committee prepared the first draft of the Constitution of India, which was published in February 1948. The people of India were given 8 months to discuss the draft and propose amendments. In view of the complaints, criticisms and suggestions of the people, the Drafting Committee prepared the second draft, which was published in October 1948.

The Drafting Committee took less than six months to prepare its draft, during which it held a total of 141 meetings.

constitution coming into force

dr. R. Ambedkar presented the final draft of the constitution in the assembly on November 4, 1948. This time the constitution was read for the first time. There was a general discussion on it for five days (till November 9, 1949) in the assembly.

The consideration of the constitution started for the second time from 15th November, 1948. In this, the constitution was considered section-wise. This work lasted till October 17, 1949. At least 7653 amendment proposals were received during this period, out of which only 2473 were actually discussed in the House.

The consideration of the constitution started for the third time from 14 November 1949. dr. R. Ambedkar presented the proposal 'The Constitution as settled by the Assembly to be passed'. This proposal presented on the draft of the constitution was declared passed on November 26, 1949 and the signatures of the president and members were taken. Only 284 members out of a total of 299 members were present in the assembly that day, which signed the constitution did and handed over the constitution to himself

The Constitution, adopted on November 26, 1949, had a Preamble, 395 Articles and 8 Schedules. The preamble was enacted after the entire constitution was enacted

New Law Minister Dr.B. R. Ambedkar placed the draft of the constitution in the assembly He actively participated in the proceedings of the assembly He was known for his reasoned and persuasive arguments He was known as the 'Father of the Constitution of India' is recognized in This great writer, constitutional expert, undisputed leader of the Scheduled Castes and chief architect of the Constitution of India is also known as modern Manu.

Allocation of seats in the Constituent Assembly of India (1946)

Table 2.1