BharatNotes Cross-paper relevance
- GS1 — Modern Indian history: the demand for a Constituent Assembly from 1934 onwards, the Cabinet Mission, partition and the Assembly's changed composition
- GS2 — Core: the Assembly as the source of the Constitution's authority, the Objective Resolution as the ancestor of the Preamble, the committee structure, and why the Assembly's own record still settles interpretive questions
- Essay — Recurring themes: "The Constitution as a document of social revolution"; "Consensus and dissent in the making of modern India"
The Constitution was not written by a committee of seven in a single room, and the Drafting Committee did not draft it from scratch. Both of those beliefs are common and both are wrong, and the Assembly's own record says so in plain words.
This chapter is built on that record: the Constituent Assembly Debates published by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, and the Secretariat's own account of the Assembly's composition and working. Where the record differs from the figures usually printed, the difference is set out below rather than smoothed over.
The demand, and where the Assembly came from
The idea of a body of Indians framing their own constitution ran through the national movement from the 1930s. It became a concrete institution only under the Cabinet Mission of 1946, which set out the scheme on which the Assembly was actually constituted.
Members were not directly elected. They were chosen by indirect election by the members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies, using proportional representation by a single transferable vote. The seats were allotted like this:
| Category | Seats |
|---|---|
| Elected through the Provincial Legislative Assemblies | 292 |
| Representing the Indian Princely States | 93 |
| Representing the Chief Commissioners' Provinces | 4 |
| Total | 389 |
Source: Lok Sabha Secretariat, Constituent Assembly of India, "Some Facts about Constituent Assembly".
This is the place a small confusion usually starts. Many summaries give the split as 296 for British India and 93 for the states. That is the same 389 counted differently: 292 from the provinces plus the 4 from the Chief Commissioners' Provinces makes the 296. Both figures are defensible, and knowing that they are the same total prevents the trap.
After partition, the members from the areas that went to Pakistan withdrew, and the effective strength of the Assembly fell to roughly 299.
The first sitting, 9 December 1946
The record of the first day is worth reading rather than summarising, because the language everyone repeats is not the language the Assembly used.
The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of India took place in Constitution Hall, New Delhi, on Monday, the 9th December 1946, at Eleven of the Clock.
Acharya J.B. Kripalani rose and invited Dr Sachchidananda Sinha to take the chair. The heading in the official report is "ELECTION OF TEMPORARY CHAIRMAN", and Kripalani's words were "to be the temporary Chairman of this Assembly". Sinha was chosen because he was, in Kripalani's description, not only the oldest among the members but the oldest parliamentarian in India, having sat in the Imperial Legislative Council from 1910 to 1920 and entered the Central Legislative Assembly in 1921 as its Deputy President.
The office was "temporary Chairman." Much study material calls him the "provisional President" or "interim President" of the Assembly. The Assembly's own report does not use those words.
Constitution Hall is the building we now call the Central Hall of Parliament House.
On 11 December 1946, the Assembly elected Dr Rajendra Prasad as its permanent President, and he presided for the rest of its life.
Source: Constituent Assembly Debates, Volume I, 9 December 1946, read directly.
The Objective Resolution
On 13 December 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru moved the Objective Resolution, setting out the principles on which the Constitution was to be built: India as an independent sovereign republic, a union of territories, with power derived from the people, and with justice, equality and freedom guaranteed and safeguards secured for minorities and depressed classes. The Assembly adopted it on 22 January 1947.
The Resolution is the direct ancestor of the Preamble, and the Preamble's structure follows it closely. It is treated in full in the Preamble chapter.
The committees
The Assembly did its work through committees, and it had far more of them than the eight or thirteen usually listed. The Lok Sabha Secretariat's own page sets out these as the important committees and their chairmen:
| Committee | Chairman |
|---|---|
| Committee on the Rules of Procedure | Rajendra Prasad |
| Steering Committee | Rajendra Prasad |
| Finance and Staff Committee | Rajendra Prasad |
| Credential Committee | Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar |
| House Committee | B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya |
| Order of Business Committee | K.M. Munsi |
| Ad hoc Committee on the National Flag | Rajendra Prasad |
| Committee on the Functions of the Constituent Assembly | G.V. Mavalankar |
Source: Lok Sabha Secretariat, Constituent Assembly of India, "Important Committees of Constituent Assembly and Their Chairmen".
Alongside these ran the substantive committees that produced the constitutional content: the Union Powers Committee and the Union Constitution Committee, both chaired by Nehru; the Provincial Constitution Committee under Sardar Patel; and the Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas, also under Patel, which worked through sub-committees, the Fundamental Rights sub-committee under J.B. Kripalani, the Minorities sub-committee under H.C. Mookherjee, the North-East Frontier Tribal Areas sub-committee under Gopinath Bardoloi, and the Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas sub-committee under A.V. Thakkar.
Three names carry most of the Prelims weight and are worth separating: Rajendra Prasad chaired the procedural and housekeeping committees and the flag committee, Nehru chaired the two committees about the Union's powers and structure, and Patel chaired the provincial and the rights and minorities work.
The Drafting Committee: what the resolution actually said
This is the part most worth reading in the original, because the resolution is short and it settles three things at once.
On 29 August 1947, under the heading "Committee to Scrutinise Draft Constitution", Shri Satyanarayan Sinha moved:
This Assembly resolves that a Committee consisting of (1) Shri Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, (2) Shri N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, (3) The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, (4) Shri K. M. Munshi, (5) Saiyid Mohd. Saadulla, (6) Sir B. L. Mitter, (7) Shri D. P. Khaitan, be appointed to scrutinise and to suggest necessary amendment to the draft Constitution of India prepared in the Office of the Assembly on the basis of the decisions taken in the Assembly.
Three things follow, and each is regularly got wrong.
First, the Committee scrutinised an existing draft. The words are "the draft Constitution of India prepared in the Office of the Assembly". That office was run by the Constitutional Adviser, B.N. Rau, whose draft was the document the Committee worked on. The Drafting Committee shaped, corrected and gave legal form to a text; it did not begin from a blank page.
Second, the resolution named no Chairman. Seven members were named and nothing was said about who would preside. Dr Ambedkar was elected Chairman by the Committee itself at its first meeting, on 30 August 1947, which is why his chairmanship is a decision of the Committee rather than of the Assembly.
Third, Satyanarayan Sinha described it as "purely an expert committee", and moving the resolution he told the House it was being appointed "to give proper shape to the decisions which we have taken in this House". The Committee's authority was technical. The political decisions were the Assembly's.
The record also preserves a small drama. H.V. Kamath rose on a point of order that Saiyid Mohd. Saadulla, having been unseated after the Sylhet Referendum and only recently re-elected, had not yet signed the Roll of Members and so was not eligible. The President noted that Saadulla was in any case not keeping well and might be unable to serve, and took the House's leave to fill any vacancy that arose. The original list was then adopted.
Source: Constituent Assembly Debates, Volume V, 29 August 1947, read directly.
The Committee did not stay as it was appointed
Two of the seven never saw the work finished. Sir B.L. Mitter resigned on grounds of health and N. Madhava Rau took his place. D.P. Khaitan died while the Assembly was still sitting, and T.T. Krishnamachari replaced him. Khaitan's death is on the Assembly's own record: on 4 November 1948, opening the session at which Ambedkar moved the Draft Constitution for consideration, the President asked members to stand in silence for "Shri Debi Prasad Khaitan and Shri Damber Singh Gurung", the two members who had died since the Assembly began its constitution-making work.
Source for the obituary reference: Constituent Assembly Debates, Volume VII, 4 November 1948, read directly. The two replacements are consistently reported, but the appointment of Madhava Rau and Krishnamachari is not recorded in the volumes checked for this page.
How long it took, and how the time was spent
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Time from first sitting to adoption | 2 years, 11 months and 17 days |
| Sessions | 11 |
| Total sitting days | 165 |
| Of which, days spent on the Draft Constitution | 114 |
Source: Lok Sabha Secretariat, Constituent Assembly of India.
A correction worth carrying. Almost every textbook and coaching source prints "2 years, 11 months and 18 days". The Lok Sabha Secretariat's own page says 17, and the arithmetic agrees with it: two years from 9 December 1946 is 9 December 1948, eleven months more is 9 November 1949, and seventeen days more is 26 November 1949. If a question asks for the figure, the Secretariat's number is the one with a source behind it.
Adoption and commencement
The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949, which is why that date is now observed as Constitution Day. It came into force on 26 January 1950, chosen deliberately because 26 January 1930 had been observed as Purna Swaraj day.
Some provisions did not wait. The articles on citizenship, elections, provisional Parliament and a few transitional matters came into force on 26 November 1949 itself, so that the machinery to bring the rest into operation would exist. The Constitution therefore has two commencement dates, and the second one is the one everybody remembers.
Criticisms the Assembly faced, and the answers
| Criticism | The substance of it | The answer usually given |
|---|---|---|
| Not a representative body | Members were indirectly elected by provincial assemblies chosen on a limited franchise, not by universal adult suffrage | The Assembly contained members of every major party, community and region, and its debates show sustained disagreement rather than a single voice |
| Not a sovereign body | It was constituted under a British proposal, the Cabinet Mission scheme | After the Indian Independence Act, 1947 it functioned as a fully sovereign body, and also served as the provisional Parliament |
| Dominated by one party | The Congress held a large majority | The Assembly's own record shows the Congress accommodating figures outside it, Ambedkar among them, in its most important technical role |
| Took too long | Nearly three years | The comparison usually drawn is with constitutions written faster and amended or replaced sooner |
| A "lawyer's paradise" | Legalistic language and great length | The length follows from writing a single document for a federation with enormous diversity, and from spelling out what other constitutions leave to convention |
Confusion pairs
| Often confused | The distinction |
|---|---|
| Temporary Chairman vs President of the Assembly | Sachchidananda Sinha was temporary Chairman, in the chair for the first sittings only. Rajendra Prasad was elected President on 11 December 1946 and held the office throughout |
| B.N. Rau vs B.R. Ambedkar | Rau was Constitutional Adviser and prepared the draft in the Office of the Assembly. Ambedkar chaired the committee that scrutinised and reshaped it |
| Objective Resolution vs Preamble | The Resolution was moved 13 December 1946 and adopted 22 January 1947. The Preamble is the Constitution's own opening, drawn from it |
| 26 November 1949 vs 26 January 1950 | Adopted on the first date, in force on the second. A handful of articles commenced on the first |
| Drafting Committee vs Union Constitution Committee | The Drafting Committee was technical and chaired by Ambedkar. The Union Constitution Committee was substantive and chaired by Nehru |
| Nehru vs Patel committees | Nehru chaired Union Powers and Union Constitution. Patel chaired Provincial Constitution and the Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights and Minorities |
Prelims quick-fire facts
- First sitting: 9 December 1946, Constitution Hall, now the Central Hall of Parliament House.
- Sachchidananda Sinha, temporary Chairman, chosen as the oldest member and oldest parliamentarian in India.
- Rajendra Prasad elected President on 11 December 1946.
- Composition under the Cabinet Mission scheme: 292 + 93 + 4 = 389; about 299 after partition.
- Objective Resolution moved 13 December 1946, adopted 22 January 1947.
- Drafting Committee constituted 29 August 1947, seven members, appointed to scrutinise a draft prepared in the Office of the Assembly. The resolution named no chairman; Ambedkar was elected chairman by the committee on 30 August 1947.
- B.L. Mitter replaced by N. Madhava Rau; D.P. Khaitan, who died, replaced by T.T. Krishnamachari.
- 11 sessions, 165 days, of which 114 on the Draft Constitution.
- Adopted 26 November 1949, in force 26 January 1950.
Exam strategy
For Prelims the yield sits in the dates, the committee-to-chairman pairs, and the composition arithmetic. Learn the chairmen in the three clusters given above rather than as a list of thirteen, and the pairs stop blurring.
For Mains the Assembly is rarely the question itself. It is the evidence. An answer on the basic structure doctrine, on secularism, on federalism or on reservation is stronger when it can say what the Assembly actually decided and why, and the Debates are the source that lets it. The most useful habit is to treat the Assembly's record as a live interpretive authority rather than as history: the Supreme Court still reads it, in Kesavananda Bharati and long afterwards, when the text alone does not settle a question.
Sources
- Lok Sabha Secretariat, Constituent Assembly of India, for the composition, the committees and their chairmen, and the sessions and sitting days. sansad.in
- Constituent Assembly Debates, Volume I, 9 December 1946, for the first meeting and the election of the temporary Chairman. sansad.in
- Constituent Assembly Debates, Volume V, 29 August 1947, for the resolution constituting the Drafting Committee, its seven members and its terms. sansad.in
- Constituent Assembly Debates, Volume VII, 4 November 1948, for the obituary reference to D.P. Khaitan. sansad.in
