Preamble: Path to Constitution of India

Preamble:

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 all

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.

Introduction:

The Constitutional Assembly debated the Preamble on 17th October 1949. The preamble is an introductory statement in the Constitution that explains it's philosophy and objectives. In the Constitution, it presents the intention of its framers, the history behind its creation, and the core values and principles of the nation. The ideals behind the Preamble to India’s Constitution were laid down by Jawaharlal Nehru’s Objectives Resolution, adopted by the Constituent Assembly on January 22, 1947.

The Preamble does not grant any power but it gives a direction and purpose to the Constitution. It outlines the objectives of the whole Constitution. The preamble contains the fundamentals of the Constitution. It serves several important purposes as for example:

• It contain the enacting clause which brings Constitution into force.

• It declares the great rights and freedoms which the people of India intended to secure to all its citizens.

• It declares the basic type of government and policy which is sought to be established in the country.

• It throws light to the source of the Constitution, viz. the people of India.

Detail Discussion:

The word in the Preamble, “WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA… IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY…do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION”, propound the theory that the ‘sovereignty’ lies in the people, that the Constitution, emanates from them; that the ultimate source of the validity and the sanction behind the constitution is the will of the people; that the Constitution has not been imposed on them by any external authority, but is the handwork of the Indians themselves. Thus, the source of the Constitution are the people themselves from whom the Constitution derives its ultimate sanction. This assertion affirms the republican and democratic character of the political body who hold the ultimate power and who conduct the government of the country through their elected representatives.

The claim that the people of India have given themselves the Constitution is in the line with similar claims made in the several other democratic Constitutions, such as those of U.S.A., Ireland etc. As regards the nature of Indian Polity, the Preamble to the Constitution declares India to be a ‘Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic’. The term Sovereign denotes that India is subject to no external authority and that the state has power to legislate on any subject in conformity with constitutional limitations. The term democratic signifies that India has a parliamentary form of government and executive is accountable to an elected legislature. it is important to note that The Supreme Court in S.R. Bommai v. Union of India, declared ‘democracy’ as the basic feature of the Constitution. The term ‘Republic’ denotes that the head of the state is not the hereditary monarch, but an elected functionary.

As to the grant objectives and socio-economic goals to achieve which the India Polity has been established these are stated in the Preamble. These are: to secure to all its citizens social, economic and political justice; liberty of thoughts, expression, belief, faith and worship; equality of status and opportunity, and to promote among them fraternity so as to secure the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation.

Emphasizing upon the significance of the three concepts of liberty, equality and fraternity used in the Preamble, Dr. Ambedkar observed in his closing speech in the Constituent Assembly on Nov. 25, 1949: "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 equality and liberty be divorced from fraternity. Without equality liberty would produce the supremacy of the few over the many. Equality without liberty, would kill individual initiative".

The Supreme Court in Indra Sawhney v. Union of India, has emphasized that the words “fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual” have “a special relevance in the Indian context” because of the social backwardness of certain sections of the community who had in the past been looked down upon.

To give concrete shape to these aspirations, the Constitution have guaranteed certain rights to the people, such as, freedom of the person, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, etc. The Supreme Court in Samatha v. State of Andhra Pradesh, concluded “the Constitution envisions to establish an egalitarian social order rendering to every citizen, social, economic and political justice in a social and economic democracy of the Bharat Republic.” The Constitution thus ensures economic democracy along with political democracy.

The goals and objectives of the Indian Polity as stated in the Preamble are sought to be further clarified, strengthened and concretised through the Directive Principles of State Policy. Therefore, it is essential that the Preamble be read along with DPSPs which lay down certain goals for the government to achieve so as to maximize social welfare of the people. The Constitution is thus an instrument to achieve the goal of economic democracy along with political and social democracy.

Ordinarily, Preamble is not regarded as a part of the statute, and, therefore, at one time it was thought that the Preamble does not form part of the Constitution. But that view is no longer extant. The majority of the Judges constituting the Bench in KesavanandaBharti Case have laid down that the Preamble does form part of the Constitution. These judges have bestowed great respect on the Preamble of the Constitution. Sikri, C.J., stated "it seems to me that the Preamble of our Constitution 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."

Shelat and Grover, J.J., have observed in the same case: “our court has consistently looked to the Preamble for guidance and given it a transcendental position while interpreting the Constitution or other laws.” The Preamble of the Constitution is an integral part of the Constitution and the democratic form of government, federal structure, unity and integrity of the nation, secularism, socialism, social justice and judicial review and basic feature of the Constitution. The Supreme Court has referred to the Preamble several times while interpreting constitutional provisions. The Preamble lays emphasis on the principle of equality which is basic to the Indian Constitution. The principle of equality is a basic feature or structure of the Constitution which means that even a constitutional amendment offending the basic structure of the Constitution is ultra vires. A legislature cannot transgress this basic feature of the Constitution while making a law. Conclusion

The content of the Preamble not only embodies events which predate the adoption of the Constitution, but also incorporates the citizens' experiences in the unfolding of the Constitution over the past seventy years. The hopes and aspirations of the people enshrined in the Preamble have sustained due to years of practice, effort, and experience to make society work with those values. The recent events of claiming the Preamble and the Constitution by the citizens as their very own resemble a path towards the professed collective destiny of India.

References:

1. Preamble, The Constitution of India.

2. Constituent Assembly Debates.

3. Kesavananda Bharati v. UOI, (1973) 4 SCC 225.

4. Union of India v. Gajanan Chaubal, (1997) 2 SCC 332.

5. Re Kerala Education Bill, 1957, AIR 1958 SC 956.

6. S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994) 3 SCC 1.

7. Indra Sawhney v. Union of India AIR 1993 SC 477.

8. Samatha v. State of Andhra Pradesh (1997) 8 SCC 191.