Constituent Assembly: Stages in the Drafting ...

Constituent Assembly: Stages in the Drafting of Constitution of India

Author Name : K. Sudarshan Reddy

ABSTRACT

The Constituent Assembly was brought into being to draft a constitution for India. The Constituent Assembly met for the first time on 9^th Dec 1946. Sri Rajendra Prasad was elected as President of the Assembly on 11^th Dec 1946. The Constitution was drafted from Dec 1946 to Nov 1949.  Drafting of the Constitution had taken place in five stages viz.,1) Objectives Resolution and reports of the Committees; 2) First Draft of Constitution of India prepared by Sri B.N. Rau, Constitutional Advisor of Constituent Assembly; 3) Revised Draft prepared by Drafting Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar; 4) Debates on the Revised Draft Constitution and Amendments to this Draft Constitution, in the Constituent Assembly; and 5) Adoption of Constitution of India.      

It started with the “Objectives Resolution” drafted by Jawaharlal Nehru and it was moved by him in the Constituent Assembly on 13^th Dec 1946. It laid down the underlying principles of the Constitution. It was debated and unanimously adopted in the Assembly on 22^nd Jan 1947. Later, this Objectives Resolution constituted the Preamble of the Constitution of India.  Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities, etc., was appointed on 24^th Jan 1947 and subsequently other committees were formed to submit the reports on different aspects of the Constitution. Based on the reports submitted by these committees to the Constituent Assembly, B.N. Rau, Constitutional Advisor of the Constituent Assembly prepared the First Draft containing 243 Articles and 13 Schedules. On 29^th Aug 1947 a 7-Member Drafting Committee was appointed to scrutinize the Draft Constitution prepared by B.N. Rau, Constitutional Advisor. The Drafting Committee with Dr. B R. Ambedkar as its Chairman, prepared a revised draft containing 315 Articles and 8 Schedules. This Draft was published on 26^th Feb 1948 by Constituent Assembly for public discussion, comments and suggestions. The Draft Constitution had been before the public for 8 months. The Draft Constitution containing 315 articles and 8 Schedules was moved on 4^th Nov 1948 in the Assembly for Consideration. From 4^th Nov 1948 debates took place and Amendments to the Draft were moved by the members in the Assembly. The final Draft with 395 articles and 8 Schedules was adopted in the Constituent Assembly on 26^th Nov 1949.

Keywords: Constituent Assembly, Objectives Resolution, First Draft, Revised Draft, Amendments, Articles & Schedules