This Article is written by Minam Mohammad Shamsi & this article disscuss the concepts of Indian Constituent Assembly: Features and its Committees

Table Of Contents

• Introduction
•  Indian Constituent Assembly
  • Demand
  • composition
• Working of the Constituent Assembly
• Committees of the Constituent Assembly
• Conclusion
• Notes & References

Introduction

On December 9, 1946, the Constituent Assembly convened for the first time in New Delhi at the Constitution Hall, now known as the Central Hall of Parliament House. The Chamber was beautifully adorned for the occasion, featuring bright lamps suspended from the ceilings and brackets on the walls. The esteemed members, filled with joy and excitement, occupied semi-circular rows facing the Presidential dias. The desks, equipped with electric warming, were arranged on sloping green-carpeted terraces. Among those in the front row were prominent figures like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Acharya J.B. Kripalani

1 Indian Constituent Assembly

1.1 Demand

In 1934 M. N. Roy put the idea of a

constituent assembly later in 1935 the Indian national Congress (INC), officially demanded a constituent assembly for the formation of Indian constitution. Jawaharlal Nehru on the other hand declared that constitution must be framed without outside interference thus a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of adult franchise.

August offer 1940, demand was finally accepted by the British government. A cabinet Mission¹ was sent to India with the rejection of idea of two constituent assemblies, which was earlier demanded by the Muslim league when Sir Stafford Cripps came to India to frame an independent constitution, it put forth a scheme for the Constituent Assembly which more or less satisfied the Muslim League.

1.2 Composition

The constituent Assembly was constituted in November 1946 under the scheme formulated by the Cabinet Mission Plan.

The scheme hold some features:

• 389 was to be the strength of constitution assembly, 296 of which were allotted to British India and 93 to the princely States. Out of 296, 292 were the members of eleven governors’ provinces² and four from the Chief Commissioners’ provinces³.
• Seats to each province and princely state were allotted in proportion to their respective population.
• Allocation of seats to the British province divided into three communities- Muslim, Sikhs, and General, in proportion to their population .
• Members of the particular community elected their own representative by the method of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote.
• The representative of princely states was to be nominated by the heads of princely states.

Hence, constituent assembly was the partly elected and partly nominated body. Moreover, the members were to be indirectly elected by the members of provincial assemblies, who themselves were elected on a limited franchise⁴.

In the July-August 1946 elections for the Constituent Assembly’s 296 seats in British Indian Provinces, the Indian National Congress secured 208 seats, the Muslim League 73, and small groups and independents claimed the remaining 15. However, the 93 seats designated for princely states remained vacant as they abstained. While the Constituent Assembly wasn’t directly elected through adult franchise, it encompassed representatives from diverse sections of Indian society, including Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Parsis, Anglo-Indians, Indian Christians, SCs, STs, and women. Notably, Mahatma Gandhi was an exception among the influential personalities present in the Assembly.

2 Working of The Constituent Assembly

9 December 1949, on this day held the first meeting of constituent assembly. Meeting was boycotted by the Muslim League with the demand of a separate state. Thus, only 211 members attended the meeting. Dr. Sachidanand Sinha was elected as the temporary president of assembly.

Later Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the President of the Assembly. The assembly has the vice president- H.C. Mukherjee & V.T. Krishnamachari.

Objective Resolution

Jawaharlal Nehru in December 1946 moved the historic Objective Resolution in the Assembly. It read:

• The constituent assembly declares India as sovereign republic and to draw up for her future governance a constitution.
• Wherein the territories that now comprise British India, the territories that now form the Indian States and such other parts of India as are outside India and the States as well as other territories as are willing to be constituted into the independent sovereign India, shall be a Union of them all; and
• wherein the said territories, whether with their present boundaries or with such others as may be determined by the Constituent Assembly and thereafter according to the law of the Constitution, shall possess and retain the status of autonomous units together with residuary powers and exercise all powers and functions of Government and administration save and except such powers and functions as are vested in or assigned to the Union or as are inherent or implied in the Union or resulting therefrom; and
• wherein all power and authority of the sovereign independent India, its constituent parts and organs of government are derived from the people; and
• wherein shall be guaranteed and secured to all the people of India justice, social, economic and political; equality of status of opportunity, and before the law; freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation, association and action, subject to law and public morality; and
• wherein adequate safeguards shall be provided for minorities, backward and tribal areas, and depressed and other backward classes; and
• whereby shall be maintained the integrity of the territory of the Republic and its sovereign rights on land, sea and air according to justice and the law of civilized nations; and
• This ancient land attains its rightful and honoured place in the world and makes its full and willing contribution to the promotion of world peace and the welfare of mankind.”

3 Committees of The Constituent Assembly

All the task of the constituent assembly were performed with the help of different committees. The name of the committees and their chairman are:

Major committees

• Union Powers Committee- Jawaharlal Nehru
• Union Constitution Committee- Jawaharlal Nehru
• Provincial Constitution Committee- Sardar Patel
• Drafting Committee- Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
• Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas- Sardar Patel. This committee had the following sub committees:
• Fundamental Rights Sub-committee- J.B. Kriplani
• Minorities Sub-committee- H.C. Mukherjee
• North-East Frontier Tribal Areas and Assam Excluded & Partially Excluded Areas- Sub-committee – Gopinath Bardoli
• Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas (other than those in Assam) Sub-Committee – A.V. Thakkar
• North-West Frontier Tribal Areas Sub-Committee
• Rules of Procedure Committee- Dr. Rajendra Prasad
• States Committee- Jawaharlal Nehru
• Steering Committee- Dr. Rajendra Prasad

Minor Committees

• Finance and Staff Committee- Dr. Rajendra Prasad
• Credentials Committee- Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar
• House Committee – B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya
• Ad-hoc Committee on National Flag – Dr. Rajendra Prasad
• Order of Buisness Committee- Dr. K.M. Munshi
• Ad-hoc Committee on the Supreme Court- S. Varadachari
• Committee on the function of the Constitution Assembly- G.V. Mavlankar
• Committee on Chief Commissioners’ Provinces- B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya
• Expert Committee on the Financial Provision of the Union Constitution- Nalini Ranjan Sarkar
• Linguistic Provinces Commission- S.K. Dar
• Special Committee to Examine the Draft Constitution- Jawaharlal Nehru
• Press Gallery Committee- Usha Nath Sen
• Ad-hoc Committee on Citizenship- S. Varadachari

Drafting Committee

Set up on August 29, 1947, was one of the most important committees of the Constituent Assembly It was this committee that was entrusted with the task of preparing a draft of the new Constitution. Members were:

• Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
• N. Gopalswamy Ayyangar
• Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar
• Dr. K.M. Munshi
• Syed Mohammad Saadullah
• B.L. Mitter later replaced by N. Madhava Rau
• D.P. Khaitan later replaced by T.T. Krishnamachari

First draft of the constitution published in February 1948 after taking into consideration the proposals of various committees. 8 months were given for the further discussion. In the light of public comments, criticisms and suggestions, the Drafting Committee prepared a second draft, which was published in October 1948.

The Drafting Committee took less than six months to prepare its draft. In all it sat only for 141 days.

4 Conclusion

The British came the India as traders in 1600s, to establish East India company, through which they enjoyed exclusive right of trading in India under a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth.

In 1765 company obtained the ‘diwani’ (i.e. rights over revenue and civil justice) of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.

In 1858 in the wake up of ‘sepoy mutiny’ the British Crown assumed direct responsibility for the governance of India. This rule continued till independence.

With the independence came the need for a constitution. Hence a constitution assembly came into existence in 1946 and on January 26, 1950, constitution came into existence that is why 26 January every year celebrated as Republic Day. There are certain events in the British rule that laid down the legal framework for the organisation and functioning of government and administration in British India. These events have greatly influenced our constitution and polity.

5 Notes & References

• The cabinet Mission consisting of three members (Lord Penthick Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps and A.V. Alexander) arrived in India on March 24, 1946. The Cabinet Mission published its plan on May 16, 1946.
• These include Madras, Bombay, UP, Bihar, Central Provinces, Orissa, Punjab, NWFP, Sindh, Bengal and Assam
• These include Delhi, Ajmer-Merwara, Coorg and British Baluchistan
• The Government of India Act of 1935 granted limited franchise based on tax, property and education.
• M LAXMIKANTH, INDIAN POLITY, (6th Edition, Mc Graw Hill, 2020)