SALIENT
FEATURES OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
WRITTEN
CONSTITUTION: In a federation, there should be a written
Constitution. The written Constitution is very essential for a federal so that
whenever there is any dispute between the federal government and the federating
units, it can be used as an evidence.
LARGEST CONSTITUTION:
In sheer physical terms, the Constitution of India is
definitely the largest, bulkiest and most detailed Constitution in the world.
As originally passed, it contained 395 Articles and 8 Schedules. Presently, it
consists of a Preamble, about 395 Articles (divided into 22 Parts) and 12
Schedules.
SOVEREIGN, DEMOCRATIC AND REPUBLIC: A sovereign nation is initially supreme and
independent of any outside control. The word ‘socialist’ aims at the establishment
of an egalitarian society in India. The term ‘secular’ means a state which has
no official religion.
PARLIAMENTARY TYPE OF GOVERNMENT: In a parliamentary type of government, the head of the
state is nominal, whereas the Prime Minister who is the leader of the majority
in the Parliament is the real executive. The Indian Constitution establishes in
India a parliamentary type of government on the British model.
PARTLY RIGID
AND PARTLY FLEXIBLE: There are certain provisions which can be amended by a
simple majority in the Parliament. While there are certain provisions whose
amendment requires, not only a special majority in Parliament, but also
ratification by at least one-half of the State Legislature.
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS: Under Indian Constitution as originally enacted, the
citizen of India had been granted the seven Fundamental Rights (currently six).
These rights are mentioned in part 3 of the Constitution and are justiciable. Fundamental
rights are the claim of citizen against the state.
FUNDAMENTAL
DUTIES: The 42nd Constitutional Amendment added a
new part to the Constitution i.e. under the heading Fundamental Duties lays
down a code of ten currently (eleven) duties for all the citizens of India.
DIRECTIVE
PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY: The Directive Principle of State Policy concept has
been borrowed from the Constitution of Ireland. These principles are contained
in Part4 of the Indian Constitution. The aim of these principles is to
establish a welfare state in India on the socialistic pattern of society.
INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY: The Indian Constitution provides for an independent
judiciary. The Constitution made the Supreme Court as the custodian and
protector of the Constitution. The judgements of the Supreme Court are legally
binding and there is no appeal against the judgement of the Supreme Court.
A SECULAR
STATE: Under the 42nd Constitutional Amendment,
the word ‘Secular’ has been included in the Preamble of the Constitution. Thus,
India has been now officially become a secular state.
SINGLE CITIZENSHIP: The Constitution of India grants one citizenship to
all citizens. In a federation, sometimes a citizen gets double citizenship, one
for the Union and the other for the State in which a person lives.
UNIVERSAL
ADULT FRANCHISE: The Indian Constitution originally granted universal
adult franchise to all those men and women, who attained the age of 21 years. Under
the 61st Constitutional Amendment, the age of voting has been
reduced from 21 to 18 years.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF INDIA: A provision was made in our Constitution to declare
Hindi in the Devanagiri script as the official language of India (Article 343).
Till that time English was to continue as the official language.
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