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THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
395 Articles, organised into 25 Parts and 12 Schedules, make up the Constitution of India

PARTS
Each Part collates Articles on specific themes. E.g. Fundamental Rights in Part III.

SCHEDULES
Each Schedule contains provisions necessary to apply related Articles.

Original Manuscript

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HISTORICAL CONSTITUTIONS
The Constitution of India 1950 was preceded by British authored framework legislation to govern India, and proto-constitutional drafts by several Indian individuals and groups. These Historical Constitutions are archived here.

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The Constitution of India 1950 was drafted by a Constituent Assembly. 167 days of plenary assembly debates from 9 December 1946 to 24 January 1950 are archived here.

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COMMITTEE REPORTS
Documents prepared by smaller groups of Constituent Assembly members which conducted preliminary research and advanced recommendations on specific constitutional topics.
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A stage-by-stage overview of the drafting of the Constitution of India 1950. Begin with our popular video on the making of the Indian Constitution.
INSTITUTIONS
The Constitution of India 1950 was drafted by the collective work of the following institutions:

CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY
A 389-member body responsible for drafting India’s Constitution.

COMMITTEES
Committees were created by the Constituent Assembly comprising smaller groups of members delegated with various responsibilities.

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An unofficial forum consisting of Assembly members belonging to the Indian National Congress that met on the side-lines of the Assembly.
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Part V

Article 52

The President of India

There shall be a President of India.

Version 1

Article 41, Draft Constitution of India 1948

There shall be a President of India.

Version 2

Article 52, Constitution of India 1950

There shall be a President of India.

Summary

Draft Article 41, the opening provision of Part V – The Union, was discussed in the Constituent Assembly on 10 December 1948. It simply stated that India shall have a President.

There was a proposal to include a description of the President as ‘Chief Executive and Head of State’ in the Article. Members who supported this proposal argued that it would raise the President’s status and signal that people’s sovereignty was vested in him/her. However, other members said that the proposal was inappropriate as it suggested a presidential system of government although the Draft Constitution had adopted a parliamentary one.

Another member wanted to know why the term ‘Rashtrapati’, which was present in prior versions of the Draft Article, was dropped and if this was an outcome of a negative attitude towards Hindi. It was clarified that the term was dropped as a Hindi version of the Draft Constitution was going to be prepared and ‘Rashtrapati’ could be used there.

At the end of the debate, the Assembly adopted the Draft Article without amendment.