PREAMBLE OF THE CONSTITUTION
PREAMBLE :
• The
American Constitution was the first to begin with a Preamble. Many countries,
including India, followed this practice.
• The term
‘preamble’ refers to the introduction or preface to the Constitution. It
contains the summary or essence of the Constitution.
• The
Preamble to the Indian Constitution is based on the ‘Objectives Resolution’,
drafted and moved by Pandit Nehru, and adopted by the Constituent Assembly. It
has been amended by the 42nd Constitutional
Amendment Act (1976), which added three new
words —socialist, secular and integrity.
TEXT
“We, THE
PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN
SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, Social, Economic and Political; LIBERTY of thought, expression,
belief, faith and worship; EQUALITY of
status and of opportunity; and to
promote among them FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the
unity and integrity of the Nation; IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this
twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO
OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION”
INGREDIENTS OF THE PREAMBLE :
The Preamble reveals four ingredients or components:
1. Source of
authority of the Constitution: The Preamble states that the Constitution
derives its authority from the people of India.
2. Nature
of Indian State: It declares India to be of a sovereign, socialist, secular
democratic and republican polity.
3. Objectives
of the Constitution: It specifies justice, liberty, equality and fraternity as
the objectives.
- Date of adoption of the Constitution:It stipulates November 26, 1949 as the date
KEYWORDS – SOVEREIGN :
• The word ‘sovereign’
implies that India is neither a dependency nor a dominion of any other nation,
but an independent state.
• There
is no authority above it, and it is free to conduct its own affairs (both
internal and external).
• United
Nations Organisation (UNO) also in no way constitutes a limitation on her
sovereignty
SOCIALIST :
• Even before
the term was added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976, the Constitution had a
socialist content in the form of certain Directive Principles of State Policy.
• In
other words, what was hitherto implicit in the Constitution has now been made
explicit. Notably, the Indian brand of socialism is a ‘democratic socialism’
and not a ‘communistic socialism’ (also known as ‘state socialism’) which
involves the nationalisation of all means of production and distribution and
the abolition of private property.
• Democratic
socialism, on the other hand, holds faith in a ‘mixed economy’ where both
public and private sectors co-exist side by side.Indian
socialism is a blend of Marxism and Gandhism,
leaning heavily towards Gandhian
socialism’.
• The new economic policy (1991) of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation has, however, diluted the socialist credentials of the Indian State.
SECULAR :
• The term
‘secular’ too was added by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976.
• The Indian
Constitution embodies the positive concept of secularism ie, all religions in
our country (irrespective of their strength) have the same status and support
from the state.
DEMOCRATIC :
• A
democratic11 polity, as stipulated in the Preamble, is based on the doctrine of
popular sovereignty, that is, possession of supreme power by the people.
• Democracy
is of two types—direct and indirect. In direct democracy, the people
exercise their supreme power directly as is the case in Switzerland.
• There are
four devices of direct democracy, namely, Referendum, Initiative, Recall and
Plebiscite. In indirect democracy, on the other hand, ther epresentatives
elected by the people exercise the supreme power.This type of democracy, also
known as representative democracy, is of two kinds— parliamentary and
presidential.
DEMOCRACY
“Political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base of
it social democracy. What does social democracy mean ? It means a way of life
which recognises liberty, equality and fraternity. The principles of liberty,
equality and fraternity are not to be treated as separate items in a trinity.
They form a union of trinity in the sense that to divorce one from the other is
to defeat the very purpose of democracy. Liberty cannot be divorced from
equality, equality cannot be divorced from liberty. Nor can liberty and
equality be divorced from fraternity. Without equality, liberty would produce
the supremacy of the few over the many. Equality without liberty, would kill
individual initiative”.
REPUBLIC :
• A
democratic polity can be classified into two categories— monarchy and republic. In a
monarchy, the head of the state (usually king or queen) enjoys a hereditary
position, that is, he comes into office through succession, eg, Britain.
• In a
republic, on the other hand, the head of the state is always elected directly
or indirectly for a fixed period, eg, USA.
• Therefore,
the term ‘republic’ in our Preamble indicates that India has an elected head
called the president. He is elected indirectly for a fixed period of five
years.
• A republic
also means two more things: one, vesting of political sovereignty in the people
and not in a single individual like a king; second, the absence of any
privileged class and hence all public offices being opened to every citizen
without any discrimination.
JUSTICE :
• The term
‘justice’ in the Preamble embraces three distinct forms—social, economic and
political, secured through various provisions of Fundamental Rights and
Directive Principles.
• Social justice denotes the
equal treatment of all citizens without any social distinction based on caste,
colour, race, religion, sex and so on. It means absence of privileges being
extended to any particular section of the society, and improvement in the
conditions of backward classes (SCs, STs and OBCs) and women.
• Economic justice denotes the
non-discrimination between people on the basis of economic factors. It involves
the elimination of glaring inequalities in wealth, income and property. A combination of
social justice and economic justice denotes what is known as ‘distributive justice’.
• Political justice implies that all citizens should have equal political rights, equal access to all political offices and equal voice in the government.
LIBERTY :
• The term
‘liberty’ means the absence of restraints on the activities of individuals, and
at the same time, providing opportunities for the development of individual
personalities.
• The
Preamble secures to all citizens of India liberty of thought, expression,
belief, faith and worship, through their Fundamental Rights, enforceable in
court of law, in case of violation.
• The ideals
of liberty, equality and fraternity in our Preamble have been taken from the
French Revolution (1789–1799).
EQUALITY :
• The
following provisions of the chapter on Fundamental Rights ensure civic
equality:
1. Equality
before the law (Article 14).
2. Prohibition
of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth
(Article 15).
3. Equality of opportunity in matters of public
employment (Article 16).
4. Abolition
of untouchability (Article 17).
5. Abolition of titles (Article 18).
FRATERNITY :
• Fraternity
means a sense of brotherhood. The Constitution promotes this feeling of
fraternity by the system of single citizenship. Also, the Fundamental Duties
(Article 51-A) say that it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to
promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of
India transcending religious, linguistic, regional or sectional diversities.
• The Preamble declares that fraternity has to assure two things—the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation. The word ‘integrity’ has been added to the preamble by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment (1976).
PREAMBLE AS PART OF THE CONSTITUTION :
• One of the
controversies about the Preamble is as to whether it is a part of the
Constitution or not.
• In the Berubari
Union16 case (1960), the Supreme Court said that the Preamble shows the
general purposes behind the several provisions in the Constitution, and is thus
a key to the minds of the makers of the Constitution.
• Despite
this recognition of the significance of the Preamble, the Supreme Court
specifically opined that Preamble is not a part of the Constitution.
• In the Kesavananda
Bharati case (1973), the Supreme Court rejected the earlier opinion and
held that Preamble is a part of the Constitution.
• It observed
that the Preamble is of extreme importance and the Constitution should be read
and interpreted in the light of the grand and noble vision expressed in the
Preamble.
• Like any
other part of the Constitution, the Preamble was also enacted by the
Constituent Assembly, but, after the rest of the Constitution was already
enacted.
AMENDABILITY OF THE PREAMBLE :
• The
question as to whether the Preamble can be amended under Article 368 of the
Constitution arose for the first time in the historic case of Kesavananda
Bharati (1973).
• It was
urged that the Preamble cannot be amended as it is not a part of
the Constitution. The petitioner contended that the amending power in Article
368 cannot be used to destroy or damage the basic elements or the fundamental
features of the Constitution, which are enshrined in the Preamble.
• The Supreme
Court, however, held that the Preamble is a part of the Constitution. The Court
stated that the opinion tendered by it in the Berubari Union (1960) in this
regard was wrong, and held that the Preamble can be amended, subject to the
condition that no amendment is done to the ‘basic
0 Comments