Indian Polity & Constitution

The constitution was drafted by the Constituent Assembly, which was elected by elected members of the provincial assemblies. The 389-member assembly (reduced to 299 after the partition of India) took almost three years to draft the constitution holding eleven sessions over a 165-day period.

• The Indian constitution was drawn from a number of sources, mainly the Government of India Act 1935 which was significantly drafted by Samuel Hoare.
• Mindful of India’s needs and conditions, its framers borrowed features of previous legislation such as the Government of India Act 1858, the Indian Councils Acts of 1861, 1892 and 1909, the Government of India Acts 1919 and 1935, and the Indian Independence Act 1947.
• 6 December 1946: Formation of the Constitution Assembly (in accordance with French practice).
• 9 December 1946: The first meeting was held in the constitution hall (now the Central Hall of Parliament House). The 1st person to address was J. B. Kripalani, Sachchidananda Sinha became temporary president. (Demanding a separate state, the Muslim League boycotted the meeting.)
• 11 December 1946: The Assembly appointed Rajendra Prasad as its president, H. C. Mukherjee as its vice-president and, B. N. Rau as constitutional legal adviser. (There were initially 389 members in total, which declined to 299 after partition, out of the 389 members, 292 were from government provinces, four from chief commissioner provinces and 93 from princely states.)
• 13 December 1946: An “Objective Resolution” was presented by Jawaharlal Nehru, laying down the underlying principles of the constitution. This later became the Preamble of the Constitution.
• 22 January 1947: Objective resolution unanimously adopted.
• 22 July 1947: National flag adopted.
• 15 August 1947: Achieved independence. India split into the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan.
• 29 August 1947: Drafting Committee appointed with B. R. Ambedkar as its chairman. The other six members of committee were K.M. Munshi, Muhammed Sadulla, Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, Devi Prasad Khaitan and BL Mitter.