THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION

Salient Feature

1.	The Constituent Assembly was formed by the order of The Cabinet Mission in 1946.
2.	Sachida Prasad Sinha was the temporary President of the Constituent Assembly.
3.	Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the permanent President of the Constituent Assembly.
4.	Dr. B.R. Ambedker was the chairman of the Drafting Committee.
5.	B.N. Rao was the legal advisor of the Constituent Assembly.
6.	The Constituent Assembly took 2 years 11 months and 18 days to prepare the largest written constitution in the World.
7.	Rs. 64 lakhs were spent on the making of the Constitution.
8.	The original Constitution consisted of 22 parts, 395 articles but at present it has 22 parts, 444 articles and 12 schedules.
9.	It was adopted by the Government of India on the 26th of November, 1949.
10.	It was enforced by the Government of India on the 26th of January, 1950.

Structure of the Indian Constitution

The constitution of India consists of :
1.	The Preamble
2..	Parts I to XXII, covering over 449 Articles
3.	Schedules 1 – 12
4.	An Appendix

Fundamental Rights

1.	Part III (Articles 12 - 35) of the Constitution deals with Fundamental Rights.
2.	Originally, seven Fundamental Rights were listed, but after the 44th Amendment, only six Fundamental Rights exist. These are
	a.	Right to Equality (14 - 18)
	b.	Right to freedom of speech (19)
	c.	Right against Exploitation (23-24)
	d.	Right to freedom of Religion (25-28)
	e.	Culture and Educational Right (29-30)
	f.	Right to Constitutional Remedies (32-33)
3.	Right to Property used to be a Fundamental Right but after the 44th Amendment it became a legal right.

Fundamental Duties

Article (51-A) included in the Constitution in the 42nd Amendment, lays down 11 Fundamental Duties that citizens have towards the state. These are:
a)	To abide by the Constitution, show respect to the National Flag and the National Anthem.
b)	To follow the noble ideas of the freedom struggle.
c)	To protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.
d)	To defend one’s country.
e)	To promote common brotherhood and establish dignity of women.
f)	To preserve our heritage and culture.
g)	To protect the natural environment.
h)	To develop a scientific temper.
i)	To safeguard public property.
j)	To strive for excellence in all spheres of activity.
k)	Every citizen who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or as the case may be ward between the age of 6 & 14 years.

Union Executive

•	Part V (Articles 52-78) describe the functioning of the president, Vice president and the parliament.
•	The president is elected by the member of an electoral college consisting of the elected members of both House of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States and the Union Territory of Delhi and Puducherry.
•	Article 55 describes how President is elected. The election is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation through secret ballot.
•	Every elected member of the Legislative Assembly of a State shall have as many votes as there are multiply of 1000 in the quotient obtained by dividing the pupulation of the State by the total number of the elected members of Assembly.
•	The term of the president is 5 years (Article 56 but can serve for any number of terms).
•	The qualifications of the president are laid down in Article 58. To be eligible, a person must be:
	a)	a citizen of India,
	b)	has minimum age of thirty-five years,
	c)	is qualified for election as a member of the Lok Sabha
•	A person is not eligible for election as President if he holds any office of profit under
	a)	central government
	b)	state government
	c)	any local or other authority.
•	The monthly salary of the president is Rs. 1,00,000 per month.
•	There is no limit as to how many times a person can become President.
•	Article 61 lays down the procedure for impeachment of the President.
•	Article 63-68 lays down the procedure for the Vice-President of India. The Vice-president is ex-officio chairman of the council of states (Rajaya Sabha) and shall not hold any other office of profit.
•	If the president is temporarily unable to discharge his duties, the vice-president discharge his functions.
•	The procedure of election of the Vice-president is laid down in Article 66 and is similar to that of the president. The Vice-president is elected by the members of electoral college consisting of the members of both House of Parliament in accordance with the system of proportional representation. The basic qualifications are the same as that of the president.
•	The term of office of Vice-president is five years.
•	Any disputes in connection with the election of a president or Vice-president are to be decided by the Supreme Court. (Article 71)
•	The president has a power to grant pardons, reprieves, respires of remissions of punishment of commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence (Article 72).
•	Under Article 74, the Council of ministers with the prime minister as the head, is to aid and advice the president who shall, in the exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advice.
•	Article 76 - the appointment of Attorney General of India, who gives advice to the government of India upon legal matters.
•	Article 77 says that all executives action of the government of India is to be taken in the name of the president. In this regard, it is the duty of the prime minister to inform the president about the decision of the Council of Ministers (Article 78), and to furnish information relating of the Union as the president may call for.

Kinds of Bills

i	Ordinary Bill - An ordinary bill can be introduced in either of the Houses and can be passed by a simple majority in both the Houses. In case of a deadlock a joint sitting of both the houses is possible.
ii	Money Bill (Article 110) – A money bill is concerned with taxation and government spending. It can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha after prior recommendation of the President. Speaker of the Lok Sabha is the deciding authority whether the introduced bill is a Money bill or not.
iii	Financial Bill - A bill which is related with revenue and expenditure of the government is a financial bill.
iv	Constitutional Amendment Bill (Article 368) - This bill can be introduced in either of the Houses of the Parliament. It can be passed only by a special majority.

For more information visit the following websites:

indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/welcome.html

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_India

india.gov.in/govt/constitutions_india.php