Grazing Into The Preamble Of The Indian Constitution: 20 Hidden Facts You May Or May Not Have Known About It

Coverage of this Article

KEY TAKEAWAYS

-Berubari Union Advisory Opinion Case (1960): Preamble of the Indian Constitution too cannot be treated as a part of the Constitution.

INTRODUCTION

-In today’s article we will be looking into the history and magnificent facts about our Preamble.

20 HIDDEN FACTS YOU MIGHT HAVE NOT KNOWN ABOUT THE INDIAN PREAMBLE

-We all may know hidden facts about the Constitution such as, the original Constitution of India was handwritten by Prem Behari Narain Raizada in a flowing italic style with beautiful calligraphy.

IMPORTANT CASES RELATED TO THE PREAMBLE

-Berubari Union Advisory Opinion Case (1960): In this case the Court ruled that even though the preamble forms as a key to the mind of the makers of the constitution, and strictly talks about India being a sovereign yet it cannot restrain the legislation from its functions, nor can it be used for deciding ambiguous part of our constitution, indicating that the Preamble of the Indian Constitution too cannot be treated as a part of the Constitution.

CONCLUSION

-These are some of facts I have found in regards to the Preamble to the Indian Constitution. Let me know in the comments below what do you think about these facts, also feel free to mention any facts I missed out!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Berubari Union Advisory Opinion Case (1960): Preamble of the Indian Constitution too cannot be treated as a part of the Constitution.
• Kesavananda Bharati vs State of Kerala Case (1973): the Supreme Court reversed the opinion and pronounced that the Preamble is the part of the Constitution.
• Preamble: introduction letter of the Indian Constitution.

INTRODUCTION

In today’s article we will be looking into the history and magnificent facts about our Preamble. Let me begin by saying the Preamble is called the introduction letter of the Indian Constitution. Furthermore, the preamble was amended by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act in 1976, in which three new words Socialist, Secular, and Integrity were added which now are an integral part of our Country. The Preamble presents the intention of its framers, the history behind its creation, and the core values and principles of the nation as a whole. The Preamble basically gives a gist about the source of the Constitution, nature of Indian States, statement of its objectives and date of its adoption. As most of us are already aware that the Preamble to India’s Constitution were laid down by Jawaharlal Nehru’s Objectives Resolution, adopted by the Constituent Assembly on January 22, 1947. Let us have a look, shall we?

20 HIDDEN FACTS YOU MIGHT HAVE NOT KNOWN ABOUT THE INDIAN PREAMBLE

We all may know hidden facts about the Constitution such as, the original Constitution of India was handwritten by Prem Behari Narain Raizada in a flowing italic style with beautiful calligraphy. In regards to each page, we know it was beautified and decorated by artists from Shantiniketan. In addition to that, both the versions of the Constitution, Hindi and English, were handwritten. The most famous one being that it is one the longest handwritten constitution of any country in the world. In regards to the storage, the original copies of the Indian Constitution, written in Hindi and English, are kept in special helium-filled cases in the Library of the Parliament of India. In regards to the English copy there are a total of 117,369 words in the English version of the Constitution of India which contains 444 articles in 22 parts, 12 schedules and 115 amendments. But let us look at the hidden facts about the Preamble to the Indian Constitution:

1. The ideals mainly of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity in our Preamble have been taken from the French Revolution, which is also is a part of the French motto.

2. The Preamble to our Constitution was inspired by the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America, which also starts with "We the people".

3. It terms of amendments: Using Article 368, the Preamble can be amended Provided that the basic structure of the Constitution found in the Preamble is not destroyed.

4. The Preamble of Indian constitution of India has been amended only once so far in 1976 by 42nd Amendment act 1976. In this amendment it added three new words SOCIALIST, SECULAR, INTEGRITY.

5. The amendments made to the Preamble, were recommended by the Swaran Singh Committee.

6. The Idea of the Preamble in Indian Constitution is taken from Constitution of United States of America (USA).

7. The Preamble is also called Identity Card or the I-Card of Indian Constitution, said by NA Palkhivala an Eminent Jurist.

8. The Objective Resolution, which was initially proposed by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and passed by the Constituent Assembly, which ultimately became the Preamble to the Constitution of India.

9. The 42nd Amendment 1976 of Indian Constitution is also called Mini Constitution.

10. The date originally mentioned in the Preamble when it was adopted is November 26, 1949.

11. Before 1947, India was divided into two main parts, namely, the 11 provinces that were ruled by the Britishers and Princely states ruled by Indian princes under the command of Britishers. Combining these two units formed the Union of India. The preamble is based on the principles written by the Constituent Assembly.

12. The Preamble of the Indian Constitution is primarily based on the ‘Objective Resolution’ written by Jawaharlal Nehru. He introduced his objective resolution on December 13, 1946, but later it was accepted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 January 1947.

13. The Preamble can also be called the soul of the constitution as it has everything about the constitution. It was further adopted on 26th November 1949 and it was started from 26th January 1950 also known as the Republic Day.

14. In the Preamble it shows that the people of India are the source of authority. It reiterates that it means power lies with the citizens to elect their representatives and they also have the right to criticize their representatives.

15. The page of the Preamble of the India Constituton along with all the other pages of the Constitution were designed and decorated by the renowned painter Beohar Rammanohar Sinha of Jabalpur.

16. The Preamble of the Constitution of India is one of the best preambles ever drafted, not only in ideas but expressions as well. It contains the purpose of the constitution, to build an independent nation that protects justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity which are the objectives of the Constitution.

17. Controversial facts in regards to the Preamble, Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi re-introduced the two words for political reasons in the 42nd Constitution Amendment of 1976. Constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap said: “The word ‘socialist’ was added to send a message politically that she stood for the poor. The word ‘secular’ was obviously meant for the minorities in the context of the birth control programmes of the emergency period. It was not as if the Constitution was not secular or socialist before the words were added. India has been secular before the 42nd Amendment and continues to be secular after it.” “It was merely playing politics,” Mr. Kashyap said. He said the present controversy over the government advertisement was “innocuous.” “The advertisement only shows the Preamble originally signed by the Constituent Assembly members with the calligraphy of the famous artist, Nandalal Bose.”

18. The Preamble came to be known as an adaptation of the Objectives Resolution as mentioned above, here Nehru had proposed and successfully passed it in the Assembly. While Ambedkar enjoyed being the 'Father of the Constitution', the Preamble's authorship was primarily attributed to Nehru.

19. The main Preamble-page, along with other pages of the original Constitution of India, was designed and decorated by the renowned painter Beohar Rammanohar Sinha of Jabalpur who was at Shantiniketan with Acharya Nandalal Bose at that time as mentioned in the introduction.

20. The single most important part of the Preamble is the first three words, “We the people” which point out where our government receives its authority from, the people that are governed.

IMPORTANT CASES RELATED TO THE PREAMBLE

• Berubari Union Advisory Opinion Case (1960): In this case the Court ruled that even though the preamble forms as a key to the mind of the makers of the constitution, and strictly talks about India being a sovereign yet it cannot restrain the legislation from its functions, nor can it be used for deciding ambiguous part of our constitution, indicating that the Preamble of the Indian Constitution too cannot be treated as a part of the Constitution.
• Kesavananda Bharati vs State of Kerala Case (1973): a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of India that outlined the basic structure doctrine of the Indian Constitution, the Supreme Court reversed the opinion and pronounced that the Preamble is the part of the Constitution.
• LIC of India Case 1995: The Supreme Court again held that Preamble is an Integral Part of the Constitution. It contains the enacting clause which brings into force, the Constitution which makes it an act of the people, for the people and by the people.

CONCLUSION

These are some of facts I have found in regards to the Preamble to the Indian Constitution. Let me know in the comments below what do you think about these facts, also feel free to mention any facts I missed out!