Constitution Day

  • November 26, 2022
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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Constitution Day

Subject: Polity

Section: Important Days & Events

Context: November 26 is the Constitution Day and India’s Constitution has now endured for 73 years.

Background:

  • The Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Indian Constitution on November 26, 1949, and it came into effect on 26 January 1950.
  • India’s Constitution making project took about 3 years from 1946 to 1949.
  • The Government of India declared 26 November as Constitution Day in 2015 by a gazette notification.
  • 2015 was the 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar, who played a key role in the drafting of the constitution. Previously this day was celebrated as National Law Day.
  • Sources of Inspiration for our Constitution (as per Rohit De, Legal Historian) include:
    • Tilak’s Swaraj Bill of 1895: Right to Free Speech, Free Press, Equality before Law
    • Declaration of Rights of 1918: INC demanded that civil and political rights to include the Right to Life and Liberty, Freedom of Press and Association.
    • Fundamental Rights and Economic Changes, Karachi Session of INC, 1931: Political freedom must include economic freedom, ending of bonded and child labour, free primary education, labour welfare, protection of labour unions, women workers, minority rights, redistribution of resources etc.
  • Article 394 of the Constitution states that Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 60, 324, 367, 379 and 394 came into force since the adoption of the Constitution on 26th November 1949 and the rest of the provisions on 26th January 1950.

Constitution and Constitutionalism:

  • A constitution is a body of fundamental principles according to which a state is constituted or governed. It is the document or set of documents that has a set of rules and principles which as the basis of society is accepted by all. It reflects the ideals of a society shared by all and defines nature of social, legal and political system in a “STATE”.
What is a State?

The state is a territorial society, the people living on a particular tract of land organized under a common governing body which has, if not a complete at any rate, a very special degree of authority over people.

Components of State:

1.  Population

2.  Territory

3.  Government

4.  Sovereignty

  • On the other hand, the Constitutionalism is an idea. It is an idea which is traced generally to Political philosopher John Locke and it talks of government can and should be legally limited in its powers, and that its authority or legitimacy depends on it observing these limitations
  • The significant difference between the Constitution and Constitutionalism is that the limitation envisaged under the Constitutionalism is provided by the Constitution. This means the Constitution is just a document and it is the idea of Constitutionalism which enforces the true meaning, values of the Constitution.
  • Even an authoritarian state generally has some sort the Constitution. However, what is missing in these states is the Constitutionalism.

Fundamental Values of the Constitution:

The values expressed in the Preamble are expressed as objectives of the Constitution. These are: sovereignty, socialism, secularism, democracy, republican character of Indian State, justice, liberty, equality, fraternity, human dignity and the unity and integrity of the Nation. 

Constitution Day Polity