Facts to remember about Indian Constitutions

Indian Constitution

Facts to remember

The constituent assembly was formed on the recommendation of the Cabinet Mission

which visited India in 1946.

The Constituent Assembly met for the first time in New Delhi on 9 December, 1946 in the Constitution Hall which is now known as the Central Hall of Parliament House.

Mr. Sachchidanand Sinha was elected provisional chairman of the assembly.

Dr Rajendra Prasad later became the permanent chairman of the constituent assembly.

On 13 December, 1946, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution which resolved to proclaim India as an Independent Sovereign Republic and to draw up for her future governance a Constitution.

The Constituent Assembly took almost three years (two years, eleven months and seventeen days to be precise) to complete its historic task of drafting the Constitution for Independent India.

The Constituent Assembly held eleven sessions covering a total of 165 days.

India is governed in terms of the Constitution, which was adopted on 26 November, 1949, which was the last day of the Eleventh session of the Constituent Assembly.

This date finds mention in the Preamble to the Indian Constitution thus IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.

The honourable members appended their signatures to the constitution on 24 January, 1950.

The Constitution of India came into force on 26 January, 1950. On that day, the Constituent Assembly ceased to exist, transforming itself into the Provisional Parliament of India until a new Parliament was constituted in 1952

Important Dates - Constituent Assembly to Constitution
Constituent Assembly met for the first time	Objectives Resolution moved	Constitution adopted	Signed by members	Constitution came into force and Constituent Assembly ceased to exist
09 Dec 1946	13 Dec 1946	26 Nov 1949	24 Jan 1950	26 Jan 1950

Chairmen of various committees in the Constituent Assembly

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
States Committee	Jawaharlal Nehru
Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas	Vallabhbhai Patel
Minorities Sub-Committee	H.C. Mookherjee
Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee	J.B. Kripalani
North-East Frontier Tribal Areas and Assam Exluded & Partially Excluded Areas Sub-Committee	Gopinath Bardoloi
Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas (Other than those in Assam) Sub-Committee	A.V. Thakkar
Union Powers Committee	Jawaharlal Nehru
Union Constitution Committee	Jawaharlal Nehru
Drafting Committee	B.R. Ambedkar

Indian Constitution

Indian constitution contains 395 articles in Parts I to XXII and 12 schedules.

Parts of Indian Constitution

Part	Subject	Articles
Part I	The Union and its territory	Art. 1 to 4
Part II	Citizenship	Art. 5 to 11
Part III	Fundamental Rights	Art. 12 to 35
Part IV	Directive Principles	Art. 36 to 51
Part IVA	Fundamental Duties	Art. 51A
Part V	The Union	Art. 52 to 151
Part VI	The States	Art. 152 to 237
Part VII	Repealed by Const. (7th Amendment) Act, 1956
Part VIII	The Union Territories	Art. 239 to 242
Part IX	The Panchayats	Art. 243 to 243O
Part IXA	The Muncipalities	Art. 243P to 243ZG
Part IXB	The Co-operative Societies	Art. 243ZH to 243ZT
Part X	The Scheduled and Tribal Areas	Art. 244 to 244A
Part XI	Relations between the Union and the States	Art. 245 to 263
Part XII	Finance, Property, Contracts and Suits	Art. 264 to 300A
Part XIII	Trade, Commerce and Intercourse within the Territory of India	Art. 301 to 307
Part XIV	Services under the Union and the States	Art. 308 to 323
Part XIVA	Tribunals	Art. 323A to 323B
Part XV	Elections	Art. 324 to 329A
Part XVI	Special provisions relating to certain classes	Art. 330 to 342
Part XVII	Official Language	Art. 343 to 351
Part XVIII	Emergency Provisions	Art. 352 to 360
Part XIX	Miscellaneous	Art. 361 to 367
Part XX	Amendment of the Constitution	Art. 368
Part XXI	Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions	Art. 369 to 392
Part XXII	Short title, commencement, authoritative text in Hindi and repeals	Art. 393 to 395

Important Articles of Indian Constitution

Article	Importance
Article 12 –35	Specify the Fundamental Rights available
Article 36-51	Specify the Directive Principles of state policy
Article 51A	Specifies the Fundamental Duties of every citizen
Article 80	Specifies the number of seats for the Rajya Sabha
Article 81	Specifies the number of seats for the Lok Sabha
Article 343	Hindi as official language
Article 356	Imposition of President’s Rule in states
Article 368	Amendment to the Constitution
Article 370	Special status to Kashmir
Article 395	Repeals India Independence Act and Government of India Act, 1935

Schedules to Indian Constitution

Schedules 1 to 12
First schedule contains the list of states and union territories and their territories
Second schedule contains provisions as to the President, Governors of States, Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of the People and the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Council of States and the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council of a State, the Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts and the Comptroller and Auditor-General of Indiathe list of states and union territories and their territories
Third Schedule contains the Forms of Oaths or Affirmations.
Fourth Schedule contains provisions as to the allocation of seats in the Council of States.
Fifth Schedule contains provisions as to the Administration and Control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes.
Sixth Schedule contains provisions as to the Administration of Tribal Areas in the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
Seventh Schedule contains the Union list, State list and the concurrent list.
Eighth Schedule contains the list of recognised languages.
Ninth Schedule contains provisions as to validation of certain Acts and Regulations.
Tenth Schedule contains provisions as to disqualification on ground of defection.
Eleventh Schedule contains the powers, authority and responsibilities of Panchayats.
Twelfth Schedule contains the powers, authority and responsibilities of Municipalities.

Indian Constitution - Age Limits, Durations.

Important Age Limits in Indian Constitution

Description	Age Limit
Minimum age for election to the post of President/Vice-President/Governor	35 years
Minimum age for election as MP (Lok Sabha)/MLA	25 years
Minimum age for election as MP (Rajya Sabha)/MLC	30 years
Upper age limit for appointment as a judge of Supreme Court, Attorney General, Comptroller General, member of Public Service Commission	65 years
Upper age limit for appointment as a judge of High court/ Advocate General/member of State Commission	62 years
Minimum age limit for employment in a factory	14 years
Age between which education has been made a fundamental right	6 to 14 years
Minimum marriageable age for a male	21 years
Minimum marriageable age for a female	18 years.

Important Time Limits in Indian Constitution

Condition	Duration
Maximum interval between two sessions of Parliament/State Assembly	Six months
Maximum life of Presidential Ordinance	Six months + Six weeks*
Maximum period within which an election is to be held to fill a vacancy created by the death, resignation or removal, or otherwise of a President	Six months
Maximum duration for which President’s rule can be imposed in a state	Six months extendable upto a maximum of three years
Time after which money bill passed by Lok Sabha is deemed to have been passed by Rajya Sabha when no action is taken by it	14 days
Maximum duration for which a President/Vice-President/Governor may hold his office from the date on which he enters his office	5 years
Maximum duration for which a Lok Sabha/State Legislature may function from the date appointed for its first meeting	5 years
Maximum period for which the term of a Lok Sabha/State Legislature may be extended while a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation	1 year at a time
Where the term of a Lok Sabha/State Legislature has been extended while a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation, the maximum period for which he Lok Sabha/State Legislature may continue to function after the Proclamation of Emergency has ceased to operate	Six months
Maximum duration for which a Union Minister/State Minister may hold his office without being a member of either of the houses of the Parliament/State Legislature	Six months
Maximum duration for which a member of either House of Parliament may be absent without permission, before his seat is declared is vacant	60 days
Maximum period within which a person who is arrested and detained in custody shall be produced before the nearest magistrate	24 hours
Maximum duration for which a Panchayat/Municipality shall function from the date appointed for its first meeting	5 years
Maximum duration for which a member of a Public Service Commission may hold his office subject to his not attaining the age of sixty-five years	6 years
Maximum duration for which a member of a State Commission may hold his office subject to his not attaining the age of sixty-two years	6 years
Time within which a candidate elected from more than one seat in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha or either House of the Legislature of a State must resign from all but one of such seats	14 days
* Six months being the maximum interval between two sessions of the Parliament and six weeks being the time allowed for the Parliament to approve/disapprove the ordinance after its reassembly.