Salient Features & Preamble

The story behind it

The drafters chose a written, detailed Constitution because they distrusted unchecked power. They had seen a colonial government rule by ordinance and emergency. That is the core of constitutionalism: government limited by a higher law. UPSC’s 2023 question on the “chief purpose” of a constitution tests exactly this.

India’s version of that idea is not British. Britain has parliamentary sovereignty, with no written constitution above Parliament. India borrowed Britain’s cabinet system but put a written Constitution, and the courts, above Parliament.

How UPSC asks it

1. UPSC 2023 In essence, what does 'Due Process of Law' mean?
   1. The principle of natural justice
   2. The procedure established by law
   3. Fair application of law
   4. Equality before law
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   (a) The principle of natural justice. Due process lets courts ask whether a law and its procedure are just, fair and follow natural justice. (b) is the narrower Japanese doctrine. (c) was argued by many as also right, but UPSC’s key is (a).
2. UPSC 2023 Which one of the following statements best reflects the Chief purpose of the 'Constitution' of a country?
   1. It determines the objective for the making of necessary laws.
   2. It enables the creation of political offices and a government.
   3. It defines and limits the powers of government.
   4. It secures social justice, social equality and social security.
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   (c) It defines and limits the powers of government. The core idea of constitutionalism is limited government: a constitution defines and limits power. (b) and (d) are functions, not the chief purpose.
3. UPSC 2021 Which one of the following best defines the term 'State'?
   1. A community of persons permanently occupying a definite territory independent of external control and possessing an organised government
   2. A politically organised people of a definite territory and possessing an authority to govern them, maintain law and order, protect their natural rights and safeguard their means of sustenance
   3. A number of persons who have been living in a definite territory for a very long time with their own culture, tradition and government
   4. A society permanently living in a definite territory with a central authority, an executive responsible to the central authority and an independent judiciary
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   (a) A community of persons permanently occupying a definite territory independent of external control and possessing an organised government. (a) covers all four elements: population, territory, government and sovereignty (independence from external control). The others miss sovereignty.
4. UPSC 2021 Which one of the following factors constitutes the best safeguard of liberty in a liberal democracy?
   1. A committed judiciary
   2. Centralization of powers
   3. Elected government
   4. Separation of powers
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   (d) Separation of powers. Separation of powers stops any one organ from concentrating power (Montesquieu). A ‘committed’ judiciary is the opposite of an independent one.
5. UPSC 2020 One common agreement between Gandhism and Marxism is
   1. the final goal of a stateless society
   2. class struggle
   3. abolition of private property
   4. economic determinism
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   (a) the final goal of a stateless society. Both see a stateless society as the final goal: Marx through withering away of the State, Gandhi through enlightened anarchy. Gandhi rejected class struggle and violent abolition of property.
6. UPSC 2020 In the context of India, which one of the following is the characteristic appropriate for bureaucracy?
   1. An agency for widening the scope of parliamentary democracy
   2. An agency for strengthening the structure of federalism
   3. An agency for facilitating political stability and economic growth
   4. An Agency for the implementation of public policy
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   (d) An Agency for the implementation of public policy. The permanent executive (bureaucracy) implements policies made by the political executive and legislature.
7. UPSC 2019 In the context of any country, which one of the following would be considered as part of its social capital?
   1. The proportion of literates in the population
   2. The stock of its buildings, other infrastructure and machines
   3. The size of population in the working age group
   4. The level of mutual trust and harmony in the society
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   (d) The level of mutual trust and harmony in the society. Social capital is the network of trust, norms and cooperation in a society. (a) and (c) relate to human capital; (b) to physical capital.
8. UPSC 2019 In the context of polity, which one of the following would you accept as the most appropriate definition of liberty?
   1. Protection against the tyranny of political rulers
   2. Absence of restraint
   3. Opportunity to do whatever one likes
   4. Opportunity to develop oneself fully
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   (d) Opportunity to develop oneself fully. Liberty in the positive sense means conditions in which a person can develop fully. Absence of restraint or doing whatever one likes is licence, not liberty.
9. UPSC 2018 Which of the following are regarded as the main features of the "Rule of Law"?
   1. Limitation of Powers
   2. Equality before law
   3. People's responsibility to the Government
   4. Liberty and civil rights
   1. 1 and 3 only
   2. 2 and 4 only
   3. 1, 2 and 4 only
   4. 1, 2, 3 and 4
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   (c) 1, 2 and 4 only. Dicey’s Rule of Law: no arbitrary power, equality before law, rights protected. “People’s responsibility to Government” is not a feature.
10. UPSC 2018 Which one of the following reflects the most appropriate relationship between law and liberty?
    1. If there are more laws, there is less liberty.
    2. If there are no laws, there is no liberty.
    3. If there is liberty, laws have to be made by the people.
    4. If laws are changed too often, liberty is in danger.
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    (b) If there are no laws, there is no liberty. Laws protect each person’s liberty from interference by others. Without law there would be the rule of the strong, and no real liberty.
11. UPSC 2011 Karl Marx explained the process of class struggle with the help of which one of the following theories?
    1. Empirical liberalism
    2. Existentialism
    3. Darwin's theory of evolution
    4. Dialectical materialism
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    (d) Dialectical materialism. Marx’s theory of history (historical/dialectical materialism) sees change driven by conflict between classes over material conditions.

The story behind it: is voting a right?

Students find this confusing because courts have used different labels. The principle of adult suffrage is constitutional: it is in Article 326, so Parliament cannot take it away by ordinary law. But the actual right to vote in a given election, and to contest it, is worked out by the Representation of the People Acts. The Supreme Court has repeatedly called it a statutory right, for example in Jyoti Basu (1982) and Kuldip Nayar (2006). It is not a Fundamental Right, though the act of voting, the expression of choice, is protected as free expression under Article 19(1)(a) (PUCL, 2003).

Universal adult suffrage from the very first election (1951–52) was itself remarkable. Britain had given women equal voting rights only in 1928. India granted it at once to a mostly unlettered population, a decision the Constituent Assembly took deliberately.

How UPSC asks it

1. UPSC 2017 Right to vote and to be elected in India is a
   1. Fundamental Right
   2. Natural Right
   3. Constitutional Right
   4. Legal Right
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   (c) Constitutional Right. The right to vote flows from Article 326 (adult suffrage), so UPSC treats it as a constitutional right. It is not in Part III.

The story behind it

In 1951 the Patna High Court struck down Bihar’s land reform law in the Kameshwar Singh case for violating the right to equality. Zamindari abolition was a core promise of the freedom movement. Nehru’s government responded within months with the 1st Amendment (1951), which added Articles 31A and 31B and the Ninth Schedule, with 13 laws in it. UPSC’s 2019 question asked under which Prime Minister it came: Nehru.

Over the years the Schedule grew to well over 280 laws, including some with little to do with land reform. In I.R. Coelho (2007) the Supreme Court held that laws added after 24 April 1973 can be tested against the basic structure.

Reading the numbering

Why does the Constitution still end at Article 395, though it now has over 450 Articles? New Articles are slotted in with letters (21A, 31B, 243ZT) and new Parts likewise (IVA, IXA, IXB, XIVA), so existing numbers never change. Laws, judgments and textbooks citing an Article stay valid. Omitted Articles, such as 31 (property) or Part VII, leave their number empty rather than renumbering the rest.

How UPSC asks it

1. UPSC 2024 Which of the following statements are correct about the Constitution of India?
   1. Powers of the Municipalities are given in Part IX A of the Constitution.
   2. Emergency provisions are given in Part XVIII of the Constitution.
   3. Provisions related to the amendment of the Constitution are given in Part XX of the Constitution.
   1. 1 and 2 only
   2. 2 and 3 only
   3. 1 and 3 only
   4. 1, 2 and 3
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   (d) 1, 2 and 3. Part IXA (Municipalities), Part XVIII (Emergency) and Part XX (Amendment) are all correct.
2. UPSC 2019 The Ninth Schedule was introduced in the Constitution of India during the prime ministership of:
   1. Jawaharlal Nehru
   2. Lal Bahadur Shastri
   3. Indira Gandhi
   4. Morarji Desai
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   (a) Jawaharlal Nehru. The First Amendment Act, 1951, under Nehru, added the Ninth Schedule to protect land reform laws.
3. UPSC 2005 Consider the following statements:
   1. The Constitution of India has 20 parts.
   2. There are 390 Articles in the Constitution of India in all.
   3. Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Schedules were added to the Constitution of India by the Constitution (Amendment) Acts.
   Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
   1. 1 and 2
   2. 2 only
   3. 3 only
   4. 1, 2 and 3
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   (c) 3 only. The Constitution had 22 Parts and 395 Articles originally (more now), so 1 and 2 are wrong. Schedules 9–12 were all added by amendments (1st, 52nd, 73rd, 74th).

How UPSC asks it

1. UPSC 2021 What was the exact constitutional status of India on 26th January, 1950?
   1. A Democratic Republic
   2. A Sovereign Democratic Republic
   3. A Sovereign Secular Democratic Republic
   4. A Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic
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   (b) A Sovereign Democratic Republic. The original Preamble said “Sovereign Democratic Republic”. Socialist and Secular were added in 1976.
2. UPSC 2017 Which one of the following objectives is not embodied in the Preamble to the Constitution of India?
   1. Liberty of thought
   2. Economic liberty
   3. Liberty of expression
   4. Liberty of belief
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   (b) Economic liberty. The Preamble lists liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. Economic liberty is not mentioned (economic justice is).
3. UPSC 2013 'Economic Justice' as one of the objectives of the Indian Constitution has been provided in:
   1. the Preamble and the Fundamental Rights
   2. the Preamble and the Directive Principles of State Policy
   3. the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy
   4. None of the above
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   (b) the Preamble and the Directive Principles of State Policy. The Preamble states economic justice; the Directive Principles (e.g., Article 38, 39) are the means to achieve it.
4. UPSC 1997 In the following quotation, "WE THE PEOPLE OF INDIA … In our Constituent Assembly this 'X' do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution." 'X' stands for:
   1. twenty-sixth day of January, 1950
   2. twenty-sixth day of November, 1949
   3. twenty-sixth day of January, 1949
   4. None of the above
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   (b) twenty-sixth day of November, 1949. The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949; it came into force on 26 January 1950.

The story behind it: words the Assembly chose, and refused

• The Preamble was adopted last, on 17 October 1949, after the rest of the draft had been debated. The Assembly wanted it to sum up a Constitution already settled, not to bind the debate in advance.
• “In the name of God” was voted down. H.V. Kamath moved that the Preamble begin with an invocation of God. The Assembly rejected it, 68 votes to 41, keeping the Preamble’s authority in “We, the people” alone.
• “Socialist” was refused in 1948. When K.T. Shah moved to describe India as “secular, federal, socialist”, Ambedkar opposed it. His argument: the Constitution should not fix an economic system and bind future generations; that choice belongs to the people at each election.
• Added in 1976 anyway. The 42nd Amendment inserted “socialist” and “secular” during the Emergency. The Supreme Court has since read “socialist” as democratic socialism with a mixed economy, and has held secularism to be part of the basic structure (S.R. Bommai, 1994).

How courts actually use the Preamble

The Preamble is part of the Constitution but cannot be enforced on its own. Courts use it in two ways. First, to choose between two readings of an unclear provision, preferring the one closer to the Preamble’s aims. Second, as the main textual base of the basic structure: in Kesavananda Bharati (1973), several judges drew the list of basic features straight from its words.

How UPSC asks it

1. UPSC 2020 The Preamble to the Constitution of India is:
   1. a part of the Constitution but has no legal effect
   2. not a part of the Constitution and has no legal effect either
   3. a part of the Constitution and has the same legal effect as any other part
   4. a part of the Constitution but has no legal effect independently of other parts
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   (d) a part of the Constitution but has no legal effect independently of other parts. It is a part (Kesavananda, LIC) but is non-justiciable; it works only together with other provisions, e.g., to interpret them.
2. UPSC 2017 The mind of the makers of the Constitution of India is reflected in which of the following?
   1. The Preamble
   2. The Fundamental Rights
   3. The Directive Principles of State Policy
   4. The Fundamental Duties
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   (a) The Preamble. The Supreme Court called the Preamble the key to the minds of the makers; it came from Nehru’s Objectives Resolution.