INTRODUCTION
“Identity card of the Constitution”- N.A. Palkhiwala
Preamble is derived from the Latin word 'Praembulus' which means introduction.
Preamble is a introductory statement to any act or legislation, which explains the purpose, objective and philosophy. Preamble is like the blue print of any law, it concisely summarize the law’s main objective and intentions.
Preamble of constitution of India acts like a introduction which shows the core value and intentions of the framers. Simply we can say that preamble is like a summary at the beginning of the Constitution of India, which shows the objectives and aid of the Constitution. Just like trailer of any movie or series that gives a sneak peek about the movie before we watch.
Do you know about the history of the making of the preamble or how the preamble was made and adopted? Let’s know it together.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE PREAMBLE
On 13th December, 1946, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru presented the ‘Objective Resolution’ in the Constituent Assembly for the preamble, and it was adopted by the constituent assembly on 22nd January 1947.
The preamble of the constitution of India was amended 'once' by the 42nd Amendment in 1976, in which 3 words were added - socialist, secular and integrity.
INGREDIENTS OF THE PREAMBLE
SOURCE - ''We the people of India''
NATURE - Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic and Republic
OBJECTIVE - Justice, Equality, Liberty, Fraternity
DATE OF ITS ADOPTION - 26 November, 1949
KEY POINTS OF THE PREAMBLE
SOVEREIGN
The word sovereign implies that India is an independent state , which means there is no authority above it and it is free to conduct it’s external and internal affairs .
Being a member of the Commonwealth of the nation and UNO does not affect the sovereignty of India in any manner. As a sovereign state, India can either acquire a foreign territory or cede a part of its territory in favour of the foreign state.
Socialist
The term socialist was added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976.
India adopted democratic socialism rather than communist socialism ( also known as state socialism), which involves the nationalization of all means of production and distribution and abolition of private properties. On the other hand, democratic democracy believes in a mixed economy in which both public and private sectors exist.
SECULAR
In many countries, the word secular is defined as anti-religion or opposed to religion, just like in France, where no one is permissible to practice religion. But in India, the secular word is used positively as a positive secularism, which derives that the state has no religion, but the individual has the freedom to practice, profess and propagate any religion and also manage their religious institution. And all the religions in our country 'irrespective of their strengths' have the same support from the state.
DEMOCRACY
Democracy means government by the people, which simply means that government will form 'by the will of the people'. There are two types of democracy - 'direct' and 'indirect'. India adopts indirect democracy, which is also known as a representative form of democracy. In which people elect their representative for the government.
REPUBLIC
Republic is a form of government where the head of the state is always elected directly or indirectly by the people for a fixed time; therefore, the term ‘Republic’ in our preamble indicates that India has an elected head called the president. He is elected indirectly for a fixed period of five years.
JUSTICE
The term justice signifies that all the citizens of India should be treated equally. And there are 3 elements of justice :
Social justice: it ensures the equal treatment of all citizens without any social distinction based on caste, colour, creed, race, religion, sex, etc.
Economic justice: it ensures that people should not be discriminated by their economic status.
Political justice: everyone have equal political rights.
EQUALITY
The term equality simply means that no special privileges should be given to any special section of the state. Every one have have equal opportunity without any discrimination. Every citizen is equal in the eyes of law.
FRATERNITY
Fraternity means the feeling of brotherhood and attachment to the country and all the people. It also helps to promote integrity and unity in the nation. The Preamble declares that fraternity has to assure two things– The dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation. The word ‘integrity’ has been added to the preamble by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment (1976).
There are two questions arises that is preamble is a part of the Constitution and another one is can preamble be amended. Let’s discuss about these in below.
STATUS OF PREAMBLE
Status of preamble is a very debatable topic. There are several cases about the status of the preamble, where some case are discussed below:
Re Berubari case
In this case court held that ‘Preamble is the key to open the mind of the makers’ but it is not the part of the Constitution.
If there is any terms in an article which is ambiguous or can be understood in multiple ways, the objectives outlined in the Preamble can provide guidance for interpretation.
In this case court held that preamble is a part of the Constitution and it can be amended but the amendment should not interfere the basis features of the Constitution. So in this case made it lear that preamble can be amend.
AMENDMENT OF THE PREAMBLE
Preamble of the Indian Constitution is amended once in 1976 by the 42nd Amendment Act by the recommendation of Swaran singh committee. In which, three new words were added socialist secular and integrity
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PREAMBLE
KM Munshi- 'Political horoscope of the Indian constitution'.
Thakurdas Bhargav - 'The soul of the constitution'.
Golakhnath v. State of Punjab, 1967 SC -'The preamble in a nutshell, contains idea and aspirations of the people'.
Re Berubari Union 1960 S.C. - 'It is the key to open the mind of the constitution'.
M Hidayatullah- 'Preamble resembles the Declaration of Independence of USA but it is more than a declaration it is the soul of our constitution'.
CONCLUSION
The Preamble of the Indian Constitution known as a foundational document and guiding light that outlines the objectives of the whole Constitution. It does not grant any power, but it does provide direction and purpose to the state.
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