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The journey of Indian Constitution Quiz 4 – How Constitution formed?

Nupur Shivangi — Sat, 09 Sep 2017 05:30:18 +0000

The journey of Indian Constitution Quiz – How Constitution formed?

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Journey of Indian Constitutional system: Pre-Independence Developments V

Anupam Shukla — Thu, 07 Sep 2017 05:30:16 +0000

In continuation from here

The chaos which arose due to the denial of the Muslim League to join the Constituent Assembly forced the British Government to make a change. Lord Mountbatten was sent to India in March 1947 as Governor-General in place of Lord Wavell. The Government then fixed a time limit (15^th August 1947) to fasten the transfer of power.

Mountbatten Plan and Partition of India: Lord Mountbatten proposed for the partition of the two problem Provinces of Punjab and Bengal and brought the Congress and league to an agreement. The question of the partition of the two Provinces was left to the vote of members of the Legislative Assembly of those two Provinces according to the Mountbatten Plan declared on 3^rd June 1947. A referendum in North West Frontier Province and the Muslim majority district of Sylhet was also proposed as to whether they would join which Country. West Punjab and East Bengal voted for Partition and to form a new Constituent Assembly while N.W.F. and Sylhet opted for Pakistan. On 26^th July 1947, the Governor-General declared the decision for partition of the territory and formation of a separate Constituent Assembly for Pakistan.

The Indian Independence Act, 1947: The Bill was introduced in Parliament on 4^th July and it got Royal Assent on 18^th July 1947 which was to have effect from 15^th August 1947 as referred in the Act as ‘the appointed day.’ While the other Acts (Acts from 1858 to 1935) intended to provide a constitutional mechanism for administration, this Act only set up two independent dominions – India and Pakistan by the division of British India and authorized the Constituent Assembly of both Dominion to frame Constitution which would supersede the Indian Independence Act. Section 7 of the Act provided that “with the setting up of the two Dominions, the responsibility of the Crown for the government of the erstwhile British India would cease and its suzerainty over the Indian States would lapse. It also directed that the Constituent Assembly which met on 9^th December 1946 to be the Constituent Assembly of India and Pakistan would have a separate Constituent Assembly. The Indian Constituent Assembly re-assembled on the midnight of the 14^th August 1947 as the Sovereign Constituent Assembly for India.

Objective Resolution: Introduced on 13^th December 1946 and adopted on 22^nd January 1947, the historic Objective Resolution of Jawaharlal Nehru was:

“(1)This Constituent Assembly declares its firm and solemn resolve to proclaim India as an Independent Sovereign Republic and to draw up for her future governance a Constitution;

(2)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 British India and the States as well as such other territories as are willing to be constituted into the Independent Sovereign India, shall be a Union of them all; and

(3) 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

(4) WHEREIN all power and authority of the Sovereign Independent India, its constituent parts and organs of government, are derived from the people; and (5)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

(6)WHEREIN adequate safeguards shall be provided for minorities, backward and tribal areas, and depressed and other backward classes; and

(7)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 civilised nations, and

(8)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.”[i]

Draft Constitution, Passing and Commencement of Constitution: The Constituent Assembly after consideration of various principles appointed the Drafting Committee on 19^th August 1947. The Drafting Committee embodied all the principles and prepared a Draft Constitution which was published in February 1948. Unlike the Objective Resolution, the Draft Constitution suggested that the residuary powers to be vested in the Union Government. It was presented on 4^th November 1948 before the Assembly (may be called as the first reading of the Draft). The second reading commenced on 15^th November & ended on 17^th November 1948.

On 14^th November 1949, the third reading started which was finished on 26^th November 1949 and also received the signature of the President and was declared as passed.

Finally, the Constitution came into force on the 26^th January 1950 referred as ‘the commencement of this Constitution’ and India became a Sovereign Democratic Republic.

[i] http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/vol1p5.htm

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The journey of Indian Constitution Quiz 3 – How Constitution formed?

Nupur Shivangi — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 11:30:10 +0000

The journey of Indian Constitution Quiz – How Constitution formed?

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The journey of Indian Constitution Quiz 2 – How Constitution formed?

Nupur Shivangi — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 11:30:56 +0000

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Journey of Indian Constitution Quiz – How Constitution formed?

Nupur Shivangi — Mon, 04 Sep 2017 05:30:16 +0000

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Journey of Indian Constitutional System: Pre-Independence Developments IV

Anupam Shukla — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 05:30:18 +0000

Read Previous Part Here

The demand for Self-Governance was getting stronger. The Nehru Report(August 1928) was rejected in 1933 by the Joint Parliamentary Committee stating –

“a specific grant of constituent powers to authority in India is not at the moment a practicable proposition.”

But the Congress kept agitating for transfer of power. On the outbreak of Second World War, Congress got the opportunity to weaken the British rule in the country and new proposals and plans were made for Indian political system.

August Offer, 1940: A statement regarding the new constitutional policy was made by Lord Linlithgo, the Governor-General, on 8^th August 1940 which is known as August Offer. The main features were:

The offer of Dominion Status was repeated which was made in October 1939.
The Constitution was to be framed by Indians, by a body representing Indian national life, after the war.
A War Advisory Council consisting of representatives of British India and the Indian States was to be established.
Promise to secure the interests of religious and political minorities was made.
Transfer of was to be made after the war, not in between.

However, all the Offers made by it were outrightly rejected by the Indian political groups which led to some subsequent proposals and plans.

The Cripps Proposals, 1942: The Coalition Government in Britain felt the need of Indians to have a Constitution of their own and sent Sir Stafford Cripps in March 1942 with a Draft Declaration of the proposals of the British Government which was to be adopted after the end of the War. The main proposals were:

The future Constitution was to be framed by an elected Constituent Assembly including the Indian States as well.
The Constitution was for giving India a Dominion Status.
It proposed for the One Indian Union including whole British India and the Indian States.

But the Congress and the Muslim League failed to reach consensus and the League urged for two autonomous States on Communal lines, and some provinces should form an independent Muslim State to be known as Pakistan. And there must be two separate Constituent Assembly for both Countries.

Wavell Plan: Failure of Cripps Proposals brought into the Wavell Plan of 1945. It proposed:

The Indians were to frame their own Constitution as a Dominion State.
The Viceroy’s Executive Council which consisted the Viceroy, the Commander-in-Chief and other members were to have all Indians except the Viceroy.
The unreasonable use of Veto power was not to be used again.
A conference was convened by the Viceroy from 25^th June to 14^th July 1945 which failed due to the difference among political parties mainly between Congress and the Muslim League.

Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946: The Mission consisted three Cabinet ministers- Lord Pethick Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps and A.V. Alexander arrived in New Delhi on 24^th March 1946. By doing several discussions with Indian leaders and studying the alternative schemes to make a consensus between the Congress and the League, it presented a Plan known as ‘Cabinet Mission Plan’ of 1946. The main features of the Plan were:

Constitutional Set up-

The unification of the territory was proposed as the Union of India embodying British India and the States. The Union was to deal with foreign affairs, defense, communication and financial issues.
The union was to have an executive and legislature constituted from both British Indian and States’ representative.
Residuary powers were to vest in Provinces.
The Constitution of the Union was to have a provision where any Province could re-determine the terms of the Constitution by a majority vote of its Legislature after an initial duration of 10 years and at every interval of the same period.

Constituent Assembly-

A Constituent Assembly was proposed having 389 members- 93 from States; 4 from Chief Commissioner’s Province and the remaining 292 from British India.
The allocation of seats in the Provinces was to further allocated to the main community of the state in proportion to their strength. Every province was sent representative according to the proportion of the population in a ratio of One to a million.
The Representatives were to be elected by members of that community in Legislative Assembly.
The Mission recognized three types of electorates- General, Muslim, and Sikhs. General was to include Hindus, Parsees, and Anglo-Indians.
After the election, the Assembly was to meet in New Delhi as a body and to elect a Chairperson. The Provincial Legislature was divided into three sections as follows:

Section A: Madras, Bombay, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Central Province and Orissa.

Section B: Punjab, North-West Frontier, and Sind.

Section C: Bengal and Assam.

The Provinces had the power to withdraw from one Section and join another, by a decision of their new Legislature after the commencement of new Union Constitution.

Interim Government:

Till the Constitution was framed, the administration was to be governed by an interim government headed by Indians. Both the parties, Congress and the League, accepted the Plan hoping their own benefits as Congress wished for a united democratic Nation while the League was satisfied because the Plan gave a weak Centre and there was some scope for separate provinces in Muslim dominated territories like Punjab and Bengal.

The election took place in July 1946, Congress got a clear majority that disappointed the Muslim League. The Interim Government was announced on 24^th August 1946. Jawaharlal Nehru was designated as the Vice-President and his Eleven colleagues took the oath of office on September 2, 1946.

Muslim League rejected the Constituent Assembly election and then, for the first time acknowledged the possibility of two Constituent Assembly.

The result was that the Muslim League members did not attend the first meeting of Constituent Assembly held on 9^th December 1946, and the Assembly started functioning with non-Muslim members. The British Government made a statement on 20^th February 1947 stating that the British rule in India would end by June 1948. The League kept on pressing for another Constituent Assembly for ‘Muslim India’ and did not join the elected Assembly.

to be continued….

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Journey of Indian Constitutional System: Pre-Independence Developments III

Anupam Shukla — Thu, 31 Aug 2017 05:30:16 +0000

Continued from here

With the enactment of Indian Councils Act, 1909, the clear intention of the Government showed up i.e. to create differences among the political groups of the country through reservation of constituencies. Though the administration got better, what followed that later was even worse. Two statutes, to assist the previous one was passed.

The Government of India Acts, 1912 and 1915: To consolidate and amend the Act of 1909, the Government of India Acts were passed in 1912 and 1915 without doing any substantial improvement. The Act of 1912 cancelled the Partition of Bengal and Bihar and Orissa were made a new province. In Bengal, a separate Governor was appointed with the similar designation to those of Madras and Bombay. The Act of 1915 merely consolidated the provisions of preceding Acts and made no change in the constitutional structure.

Government Of India Act, 1919 (Montague-Chelmsford Reports): Failure of Morley-Minto Reforms, Heavy losses in the First World War, Home-Rule Movements by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Annie Besant and the reunion of the two wings of Congress in 1916 in Lucknow pressurized the British government to make a landmark substantial development. The then Secretary of State for India, A.Montague, made an announcement about the ‘goal of British Policy’ in India in the House of Commons. On the proposals made by the Secretary of State and Governor-General (Lord Chelmsford), the Government of India Act, 1919 was passed. The features of the Act were:

The payment to the Secretary of State was now to be done by the British Exchequer which was earlier made out of the Indian revenues.
Post of High Commission was established.
The strength of India Council was reduced and their term was reduced to 5 years which was 7 years before.
Bicameral Legislature was introduced through the Act, i.e., Council of States, consisting of 60 members (34 elected members) and holding office for 5 years, and Central Legislative Assembly, consisting of 143 members (104 elected members) and holding their office for a term of 3 years. The powers of both the Houses were same except the power to vote, it was exclusively given to the Legislative Assembly.
Diarchy system was established. The subjects were divided into two categories- Central and Provincial subjects.

The Reforms of 1919 were only showcasing, it further developed the Morley-Minto device of the arrangement of communal and sectional electorates. It failed the aspirations of Indians. Under the leadership of M.K.Gandhi, Congress again started agitation.

Simon Commission: The Act of 1919 provided for the appointment of a Royal Commission after 10 years to assess the achievements of the Act, but the political situation in India, as well as Britain, led to the appointment 2 years before the said period. In November 1927, Royal Commission headed by John Simon was appointed. In Allahabad, an all-party conference was held on 11^th December 1927 in which they condemned the Commission on non-inclusion of any Indian in it. The Commission published its report it. It stated that:

Dyarchy should not be ended.
Federal form of government should be developed in the country.
The communal representation system was bad but there was no alternative to it then.
The suffrage and legislatures should be extended gradually.

According to Coupland,

the Simon report was “The most complete study of the Indian Problem that had yet been made.”

The new Government in Britain did not pay attention to the Report and the Indian leaders outrightly rejected it. However, it later became the basis for the Government of India Act, 1935.

Government of India Act, 1935: Rejection of Dominion Status led to the Lahore Session of Congress where resolution on Purna Swaraj For Constitutional reforms, the Government help three Round Table Conferences which followed the publishing of White Paper in March 1933 containing an outline of a new Constitution. On the report of a Joint Committee, constituted to examine Government’s scheme, submitted its report in November 1934. A Bill, on the submitted report, was introduced on 19 December 1934 which after passing became the Government of India Act, 1935. The important features of the Act were:

It consisted 321 Sections and 10 Schedules.
It established a federal form of government in the country consisting the British India, Provinces and Princely States.
Division of powers between the Centre and Provinces was made through three lists- the Federal list, Provincial List, and Concurrent List.
A system of diarchy was introduced at the Centre. Federal subjects were divided into two categories- reserved and transferred.
The Provinces were made autonomous units to use legislative powers and the status of delegates of the Central Government was abolished. The Governor of the Province had to act on behalf of the Crown and was not subordinate of the Governor-General anymore.
The feature of a bicameral legislature at the Centre was introduced through the establishment of Federal Assembly (375 members) and Council of States (260 members). All the powers were same for both the Houses except the powers related to the money bill, which could originate only in Federal Assembly, and the Council of State had to amend or reject it.
A Federal Court, consisting a Chief Justice and six other judges, was established, with original as well as appellate jurisdiction. The appeal of its decision was to be made before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Burma was separated from India and new provinces Orissa and Sind were created.
Separate electorates to provide representation in federal and Provincial Legislature for different communities were provided.
Public Service Commission for Federal Government and each Province was provided.

Despite bitter criticism, the Act of 1935 had the most significant effect on the Indian Political System. Though it went another step forward perpetuating the communal cleavage between Muslim and non-Muslim communities, Indians got an opportunity to for assuming some responsibility in running the administration. It all lasted for a short duration till the outbreak of the Second World War when all the Congress Ministries resigned in 1939 in protest to India being made a party to the War without the popular consent.

to be continued…..

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Journey of Indian Constitutional System: Pre-Independence Developments II

Anupam Shukla — Wed, 30 Aug 2017 11:30:41 +0000

Developments of Indian Constitution

Pre – Independence Developments Part I

Crown Rule:

With the outbreak of war in 1857, Indian masses threatened the British authorities, it was a disastrous failure of Company’s administration. Thus, the British government decided to take direct control and to provide a new shape to the political system of India. It all started with the Royal assent to the Act of 1858 on 2^nd August 1858 and the Queen proclaiming some principles for the future government of India, which were later followed so many reformative Acts.

The government of India Act, 1858 (Queen’s Proclamation): The Act transferred the country’s governance to the British Government and ended the Company’s regime. Post of the Secretary of State was established at the place of Board of Directors and Board of Control. The Secretary was to be assisted by a body of 15 members, 8 of which were to be appointed by the Crown and rest to be elected by the Court of Directors. The Secretary of State got absolute control over administration through Governor-General in whom all civil and military, executive and military authority vested. The entire system became bureaucratic irrespective of public opinion.

India Councils Act, 1861 and 1892: It was the first step through the Act of 1861 to associate Indians with legislative works. The Council of Governor-General was enlarged by minimum 6 to maximum 12 additional members of which at least half to be non-official members and barring them to hold any office for two years. The Legislative Council was given the power to make laws for all persons, places and things except the prior permission of Governor-General, who had veto power, for the matters related with public debt/revenue, religion, military. The Act also provided for the powers to the Presidency Government of Bombay and Madras to enact laws for the benefit of provinces.

An amendment to ratify the shortcomings of the Indian Councils Act,1861 was passed known as the Indian Councils Act, 1892. The Act increased the numbers of additional members in the councils. In Central Council, the minimum number was raised to 10 and maximum was made 16. For Bombay and Madras, the numbers were raised to 8 and 20. For UP and Bengal, the maximum limit was fixed to 15 and 20 respectively. The members were given the right to raise questions related to domestic issues, discuss the Budget. The Provincial Legislative Council got the power to make, amend or repeal laws with the prior permission of Governor-General. The Act empowered the council to put interpellation on the matters of public interest.

The Act of 1892 basically laid the foundation for representative government, which was actually attempted by Morley-Minto Reforms later on.

Indian Councils Act, 1909 (Morley-Minto Reforms): Extremism, revolutionary nationalism and the public pressure on the administration led to the Morley-Minto (the then Secretary of State, Lord Morley and the Viceroy, Lord Minto) Reforms. To appease the Congress leaders and to repress the extremism was the intention of the authorities behind the reform. The features of the Act of 1909 were:
It enlarged the Central as well as Provincial Councils. Viceroy’s Executive Council was raised from 16 to 60. Madras, Bombay, and Bengal were increased to have 60 members, While the Provincial Legislature of UP was increased to 50 and Punjab, Assam and Verma to have 30 members each.
The most important part of the Act was to provide the separate communal Electorates, which sowed the seed of separatism. In the words of Nehru, “ It can hardly be overlooked that this idea of separate electorates for the synchronous with the formation of the Muslim League as a political party(1906).”[i]

The Moderate Congressmen were satisfied with the improvements made by the enactment and welcomed it but it was not like that in reality, actually, it retrograded the system. The biggest drawback in the Reform was the reservation of seats in the Councils for special interests like Muslims, Chamber of Commerce, Zamindars, etc. This act paved way for separatism in Indian Politics which later resulted in the partition of the country.

to be continued……

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[i] Nehru, Discovery of India, 1956, p.155

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Journey of Indian Constitutional System: Pre-Independence Developments I

Anupam Shukla — Sun, 27 Aug 2017 11:30:42 +0000

Read first part here

Company Rule:

With the fall of Nawab of Bengal in 1757, the British Empire got established in India. Till 1762, there existed the double government of the company and the Nawabs. The servants of the company exploited the natives and took over their fields and property. The arrival of Warren Hastings as the new Governor of Bengal and insolvency of the company in same year provided an opportunity to the British Government to bring the Company under parliamentary control. It resulted in the passing of the Regulating Act of 1773. And various enactments followed one after another till 1853, which are as follows:

Regulating Act of 1773: It was the first attempt made by the British Government to regulate the affairs of the company rule in India. The reason behind it was that the company irrespective of the Charter provided to it to do trade only, acquired territory and became a ruling authority. It was presumed that the Company did that all on behalf of the Crown, therefore, the administration was controlled by the Crown.

Lord North, on 18^th May 1773 presented a Bill in the Parliament which later became the Regulating Act of 1773. The main Provisions were:

Before the Act, a shareholder having the stock of £500 or more became a member of Court of Proprietors. The act increased the value to £1000 for better organization and accountability.
The Board of Directors which was elected every year for no fixed terms was now to be elected by the Court of Proprietors every 4 years, the limit of the Board was fixed to 24, 6 retiring every year.
The Governor of Bengal became The Governor-General of Bengal, superior to the Governors of other provinces. He was to be assisted by a Council of 4 English members. The Governor got the casting vote and the decisions were to be taken by majority vote. Warren Hastings was appointed as the first Governor-General and Richard Barwell, General Clavering, Phillip Francis and Colonel Monson were four Councillors. The Governor-General and Council i.e. Supreme Council was authorized to make rules, regulations, and ordinances for good governance.
A Supreme Court at Fort William, Calcutta (now Kolkata) was established with Lord Chief Justice and three judges. Sir Elijah Impey was appointed as the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. It had jurisdiction over British subjects and Company’s servants.
Private trade and accepting of presents were prohibited for the persons holding any civil or military office.

The Act, for the first time, tried to centralize the administration of the whole territory of India. The Governor-General was made answerable to the Directors. The drawbacks (mainly related to the Supreme Court) of the Act was removed by the Act of Settlement, 1781 also known as Amending Act of 1781.

Pitt’s India Act of 1784: To ratify the defects to the previous Act, Mr. Fox introduced a Bill (known as Fox’s East India Bill), which firstly moved by Henry Dundas, a member of the opposition, in the Parliament in 1783. Though succeeded by a majority of 208 to 102 in the House of Commons, it was defeated in the House of Lord. Therefore, another Bill called Pitt’s India Bill was passed. Its main provisions were:

The Act made a clear difference between the commercial and political function of the company. Court of Directors were assigned to manage the commercial affairs while a new authority named Board of Control, consisting six members, appointed by the King, was set up for political affairs. The Board (also known as Board of Commissioners) consisted the Secretary of State, the Chancellor of Exchequer and four members of Privy Council, was given enormous powers to superintend, direct and control all acts relating to civil and military issues and to collect revenues.
Governor-General-in-Council was to superintend, direct and control the administration of presidencies.
The Governor General’s Executive Council was reduced to three members and Commander-in-Chief was to be one of them.
The Act directed the company to lower down its expenditure by means of retrenchment. The servants were required to give a declaration on oath of their property they had brought from India.

The Pitt’s India Act of 1784, though having defects, was the first effective substitution to Parliamentary control over the Company through Board of Controls. The amendment to this Act was made by the Act of 1786. The amendment provided veto power to Governor-General over his Council when Lord Cornwallis made the demand. The offices of the Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief was unified in the same person by the amendment.

Charter Act of 1793: The special veto power provided to Cornwallis was extended to all future Governor-General and Governor of Presidencies. Power to appoint a Vice-President (from the civilian members of his council), to act on his behalf during his absence, was given to Governor-General. The first named Commissioner of the Board was to be the President of Board of Control. The members were to be paid salaries in future out of the Indian revenues and not of the State exchequer.

Charter Act of 1813: With the view of territorial expansionism, the Act provided the Company’s Government to make laws for natives. The Act ended the Company’s monopoly over Indian market and it was made open for all British merchants. License to them was to be provided by the Directors. The powers of the Board was enlarged. Tax imposition and punishment was made the subject of local government. An amount of 1,00,000 was set apart for religious and educational learning of Indians. This Act was like a nail in the coffin for the Company’s monopoly.

Charter Act of 1833: The Charter of 1813 was to be reviewed after 20 years, so the Act of 1833 was passed. It further allowed the Company (for 20 years) for territorial expansion. The company was deprived of his all commercial privileges. The Governor-General became Governor-General of India. A new member known as the Law member (to participate in the deliberations of the Council only for legislative purposes) was added to the Council who was not the servant of Company. Macaulay was appointed as the first Law member. Most significantly, The Act provided for the appointment of the Law Commission for India.

Charter Act of 1853: Like the previous instance, the Act of 1833 was to be reviewed after 20 years. Punjab and Sind were annexed by the Company. In the ambiance of frustration among Indians, Act of 1853 was passed. The Act reduced the strength the Court of Directors from 24 to 18 out of which six members were to be appointed by the Crown. Provisions for competitive examination for administrative services were provided. The Act created a separate legislative machinery, it enlarged the Council of Governor-General by adding six members. It now became a body of 12 members. The Governor-General-in-Council could veto any Bill passed by the Legislative Council. Separate Governor-General was appointed for Bengal to reduce the burden. Thus, it was the first instance when legislation as a special function of the government was considered.

The Outbreak of 1857, referred as the First War of Independence shocked British authorities. The revolt was suppressed, British authority again got control over Delhi on 20^th September 1857. Here, a new development in the Political System of India was waiting and it all started with the Queen’s Proclamation on 1^st November 1958.

to be continued…

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