Constituent Assembly of India


The Constituent Assembly of India was the legislature of the Dominion of India from its independence in August 1947 until 1950, when India became a republic. Best known for its creation of the Indian constitution, its members were mostly elected from the provinces of British India—with a third being nominated by princely states.
First formed in December 1946 as an advisory body aimed at drafting a constitution for a united and independent India eighteen months before the original June 1948 deadline for independence, it was given sovereign powers to legislate for the Dominion of India following partition and independence on 15 August 1947 and the abolition of the Imperial Legislative Council under the provisions of the Indian Independence Act 1947.
Its members continued as part of the provisional unicameral Parliament of India from the adoption of the Indian constitution in 1950 until the first bicameral Parliament convened following elections in May 1952.

Description of the constituent assembly

The Constituent Assembly of India, consisting of indirectly elected representatives, was established to draft a constitution for India. It existed for approximately three years, the first legislature of India after independence in 1947. The Assembly was not elected based on complete universal adult suffrage, and Muslims and Sikhs received special representation as minorities. The Muslim League boycotted the Assembly, although 28 of its members out of 73 ended up joining India's Constituent Assembly. A large part of the Constituent Assembly was drawn from the Indian National Congress Party, and included a wide diversity of ideologies and opinions—from conservatives and progressives to Marxists, liberals, and Hindu revivalists. In his classic history of the Indian Constitution, the historian Granville Austin describes the Constituent Assembly as "India in microcosm." Austin shows that although the Constituent Assembly was a one-party body in an essentially one-party country, it was representative of India and the "Indian Constitution expresses the will of the many rather than the needs of the few."
Further, as Achyut Chetan has shown in his book Founding Mothers of the Indian Republic, the women members of the Constituent Assembly "formed a distinct group in that august body, spoke in a distinct feminist parlance, and shared a constitutional vision of justice to such an extent that they can collectively be called the ‘mothers’ of the Indian Constitution." Female members were initially Begum Aizaz Rasul, Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz, Begum Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah, Ammu Swaminathan, Dakshayani Velayaudhan, G. Durgabai, Sucheta Kripalani, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Purnima Banerji, Kamala Chaudhri, Sarojini Naidu, Hansa Mehta, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Leela Roy, and Malati Choudhury. Renuka Ray and Annie Mascarene were later elected as well, and by 1948 the assembly had 17 female members.
The Assembly met for the first time in New Delhi on 9 December 1946, and its last session was held on 24 January 1950. The hope of the Assembly was expressed by Jawaharlal Nehru:

Background and election

The Indian National Congress held its session at Lucknow in April 1936 presided by Jawaharlal Nehru. The official demand for a Constituent Assembly was raised and the Government of India Act, 1935 was rejected as it was an imposition on the people of India. C. Rajagopalachari again voiced the demand for a Constituent Assembly on 15 November 1939 based on adult franchise, and was accepted by the British in August 1940.
On 8 August 1940, a statement was made by Viceroy Lord Linlithgow about the expansion of the Governor-General's Executive Council and the establishment of a War Advisory Council. This offer, known as the August Offer, included giving full weight to minority opinions and allowing Indians to draft their own constitution. Under the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946, elections were held for the first time for the Constituent Assembly. The Constitution of India was drafted by the Constituent Assembly, and it was implemented under the Cabinet Mission Plan on 16 May 1946. The members of the Constituent Assembly of India were elected by the Provincial Assemblies by a single, transferable-vote system of Proportional representation. The total membership of the Constituent Assembly was 389 of which 292 were representatives of the provinces, 93 represented the princely states and 4 were from the chief commissioner provinces of Delhi, Ajmer-Merwara, Coorg and British Baluchistan.
Unlike previous elections under British Raj where voting was restricted by property and educational qualifications, the elections of 1946, which would further elect representatives to the Assembly, saw the voting franchise extended to a much greater portion of the Indian adult population.
The elections for the 296 seats assigned to the British Indian provinces were completed by August 1946. Indian National Congress won 208 seats, and the Muslim League 73. After this election, the Muslim League refused to cooperate with the Congress and the political situation deteriorated. Hindu-Muslim riots began, and the Muslim League demanded a separate constituent assembly for Muslims in India. On 3 June 1947 Lord Mountbatten, the last British Governor-General of India, announced his intention to scrap the Cabinet Mission Plan; this culminated in the Indian Independence Act 1947 and the separate nations of India and Pakistan. The Indian Independence Act was passed on 18 July 1947 and, although it was earlier declared that India would become independent in June 1948, this event led to independence on 15 August 1947. The Constituent Assembly met for the first time on 9 December 1946, reassembling on 14 August 1947 as a sovereign body and successor to the British parliament's authority in India.
As a result of the partition, under the Mountbatten plan, a separate Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was established on 3 June 1947. The representatives of the areas incorporated into Pakistan ceased to be members of the Constituent Assembly of India. New elections were held for the West Punjab and East Bengal ; the membership of the Constituent Assembly of India was 299 after the reorganization, and it met on 31 December 1947.
The constitution was drafted by 299 delegates from different castes, regions, religions, gender etc. These delegates sat over 114 days spread over 3 years and discussed what the constitution should contain and what laws should be included. The Drafting Committee of the Constitution was chaired by B. R. Ambedkar.

Constitution and elections

At 11 AM on 9 December 1946, the Assembly began its first session, with 207 members attending. The Assembly approved the draft constitution on 26 November 1949. On 26 January 1950, the constitution took effect, and the Constituent Assembly became the Provisional Parliament of India. The members of the Constituent Assembly became the members of the Provisional Parliament from 1950 to 1952.

Organization

Rajendra Prasad was elected as the president and Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, a Christian from Bengal and former vice-chancellor of Calcutta University, was vice-president. Mookerjee, additionally to chairing the assembly's Minorities Committee, was appointed governor of West Bengal after India became a republic. Jurist B. N. Rau was appointed constitutional adviser to the assembly; Rau prepared the original draft of the constitution and was later appointed a judge in the Permanent Court of International Justice in The Hague.
The assembly's work had five stages:
  • Committees presented reports on issues.
  • B. N. Rau prepared an initial draft based on the reports and his research into the constitutions of other nations.
  • The drafting committee, chaired by B. R. Ambedkar, presented a detailed draft constitution which was published for public discussion.
  • The draft constitution was discussed, and amendments were proposed and enacted.
  • The constitution was adopted, with a committee of experts led by the Congress Party played a pivotal role.

    Timeline of Formation of the Constitution of India

  • 16 May 1946: The Cabinet Mission Plan lays down the composition and structure of the Constituent Assembly
  • July 1946: Completion of elections to the Constituent Assembly; 296 members from British India and 93 members from 20 independent Indian states elected.
  • 11 July 1946: B N Rau appointed adviser to Constituent Assembly
  • 9 December 1946: Formation of the Constituent Assembly
  • 11 December 1946: President Appointed – ⁣Rajendra Prasad, vice-chairman Harendra Coomar Mookerjee and constitutional legal adviser B. N. Rau
  • 13 December 1946: An 'Objective Resolution' was presented by Jawaharlal Nehru, laying down the underlying principles of the constitution, which later became the Preamble of the constitution.
  • 22 January 1947: Objective resolution unanimously adopted.
  • 27 February 1947: First meeting of the Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights. This sub-committee has 12 members of which two are women – Hansa Mehta and Amrit Kaur.
  • 16 April 1947: Report of the Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights submitted to the Advisory Committee
  • 16–19 April 1947: The Sub-Committee on Minorities examines the Report on Fundamental Rights and gives its recommendations
  • 21–22 April 1947: Vigorous debates in the Advisory Committee on the reports of the two sub-committees
  • 23 April 1947: The Advisory Committee submits its report; directive principles not yet finalized
  • 22 July 1947: National flag adopted.
  • 15 August 1947: Achieved independence. India split into Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan.
  • 29 August 1947: Drafting Committee appointed, with Dr. B. R. Ambedkar as the chairman. Other 6 members of the committee were: K.M.Munshi, Muhammed Saadulah, Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, Gopala Swami Ayyangar, N. Madhava Rao, T. T. Krishnamachari.
  • 16 July 1948: Along with Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, V. T. Krishnamachari was also elected as the second vice-president of the Constituent Assembly.
  • 26 November 1949: 'Constitution of India' passed and adopted by the assembly.
  • 24 January 1950: Last meeting of the Constituent Assembly. 'The Constitution of India' was signed and accepted by all.
  • 26 January 1950: The 'Constitution of India' came into force after 2 years, 11 months, and 18 Days, at a total expenditure of ₹64 lakhs to finish.