As we all
know that constitution is a body of fundamental principles or established
precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to
be governed. And, Indian Constitution is the World's lengthiest written
constitution had 395 articles in 22 parts and 8 schedules at the time of
commencement. Now the Constitution of India has 448 articles in 25 parts and 12
schedules. There are 103 amendments have been made in the Indian constitution
so far.
The
Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework
defining fundamental political principles, establishes the structure,
procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out
fundamental rights, directive principles and the duties of citizens.
Rigidity and Flexibility
The Indian
constitution is a combination of rigidity and flexibility, which means some
parts of it can be amended by the Parliament by a simple majority, whereas some
parts require a two-thirds majority as well as not less than one-half of the
state legislatures.
Parliamentary System of Government
The Indian
constitution provides for a parliamentary system of government, i.e., the real
executive power rests with the council of ministers and the President is only a
nominal ruler (Article 74).
Federal System with a Unitary Bias
The Indian
constitution described India as a 'Union of States' (Article 1), which implies
that Indian federation is not the result of any agreement among the units and
the units cannot secede from it.
Fundamental Rights and Fundamental Duties
The Indian
constitution provides an elaborate list of Fundamental Rights to the citizens
of India, which cannot be taken away or abridged by any law made by the states
(Article 12–35). Similarly, the constitution also provides a list of 11 duties
of the citizens, known as the Fundamental Duties (Article 51A).
Directive Principles of State Policy
The Indian
constitution mentions certain Directive Principles of State Policy(Article
36–51) which that government has to keep in mind while formulating a new
policy.
Secularism
The
constitution makes India a secular state by detaching from religious dogmas
(Forty-second Amendment).
Independent
judiciary
The
constitution provides an independent judiciary (Article 76) which ensures that
the government is carried on in accordance with the provisions of the
constitution and acts as a guardian of the liberties and fundamental rights of
the citizens.
Single Citizenship
The Indian
constitution provides single citizenship for all the people residing in
different parts of the country and there is no separate citizenship for the
states (Article 5–11).
Bicameral Legislatures
The Indian
constitution provides bicameral legislatures at center consisting of Rajya
Sabha (Council of States) and Lok Sabha (House of the People)(Article 79).
Emergency Powers
The
constitution vests extraordinary powers, known as Emergency Powers in the
President during emergencies out of armed rebellion or external aggression or
due to failure of constitutional machinery in the state (Article 352–360).
Special Provisions for Minorities
The
constitution makes special provisions for minorities, Scheduled caste,
Scheduled Tribes, etc. by granting them certain special rights and provisions.
Basically,
those are some of the interesting features of the Indian constitution.
Moreover, the constitution also has many other features such as, Panchayati
Raj, Rule of Law, Provisions for Independent Bodies, etc. which are very unique
in nature.
