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The 1945 UK General Election was significant: it came right after World War II. British voters had the chance to shape the post-war future of their war-fatigued country. The two main political parties in contention were the Conservative Party, running on their leadership of the successful war effort, and the Labour Party, which was offering […]
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Very few Indians had the distinction of being constitution framers twice over. In fact, there were only four: Sheikh Abdullah, Moti Ram Baigra, Mirza Afzal Beg and Maulana Mohammad Masoodi. On 22 January 1950, they joined their fellow Assembly colleagues to sign the Constitution of India 1950. But unlike their fellow Constituent Assembly members, constitution-making […]
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In a historic moment in June 1934, the Indian National Congress, for the first time, officially demanded an Indian Constituent Assembly1 to frame India’s Constitution. This added a new strand to Congress’s political engagement with the British on the future of India. Going forward, the demand for a Constituent Assembly would be made alongside calls […]
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In 1934 the State of Louisiana introduced a law that imposed a tax on the income of newspapers with a circulation greater than 20,000 copies per week. Newspapers alleged that the U.S. Democratic Party Senator and former Louisiana Governor Huey P. Long, who enjoyed immense political influence in the State, was behind this law. They […]
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On 11 June 2022, the Supreme Court permitted the Union to re-examine the constitutional validity of Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, which criminalizes sedition. 74 years ago, the Constituent Assembly examined the same law. Its position was clear: sedition law had no place in India’s constitutional and political future. The Draft Constitution […]
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On 16 May 1949, Jawaharlal Nehru, moved a motion in the Constituent Assembly, asking his fellow Constitution framers to ratify the Indian government’s decision to remain in the Commonwealth of Nations. To many in the Assembly, this would have come as a surprise. It was Nehru who, while introducing the Objectives Resolution, declared with great […]
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In light of Civil Services Day which was celebrated on 21 April, we give you a peek into a fascinating moment in the Constituent Assembly that was perhaps instrumental in giving the civil services a constitutional status and a key role in India’s governance. On 10th October 1949, the Assembly had taken up a new […]
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On 28 April 1947, the Constituent Assembly of India reconvened after a 2-month break. This sitting began with eighteen new members presenting their credentials to the Assembly President. In the early stages of constitution-making, fresh faces continued to stream into the Assembly. The new members who joined on this day marked something significant: the participation […]
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Yesterday, the Rajya Sabha approved the Appropriation Bill 2022. The Lok Sabha had done the same a week ago. With this, the Union Government is now authorized to withdraw Rs 122.43 lakh crore from the Consolidated Fund of India to meet its planned expenditure for 2022-23. This amount is the total of all ‘demand for […]
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In 1933, during a catastrophic global economic crisis, Franklin Roosevelt became the United States President. The Great Depression was battering the U.S. economy which was reeling under mass unemployment, poverty, homelessness and industrial stagnation. To mitigate the situation, Roosevelt signed the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 (NIRA). It gave the President extraordinary powers to […]
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We appear to be in the midst of a heated public debate around religious attire in educational institutions. 74 years ago, the Indian Constituent Assembly took a decision on a proposal that sought to restrict religious attire in public spaces. On 3 December 1948, the Assembly took up Draft Article 19 (Article 25, Constitution of […]
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On 20 February 1947, British Prime Minister C.R. Atlee made it official: Britain would leave India – and soon. Speaking in the House of Commons, Atlee informed members that Britain would transfer power to Indians – specifically to authorities established by a Constitution ‘approved by all parties’. Atlee acknowledged that as it stood, such a […]
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On 2 February 2022, in Parliament, a leader of the Congress Party referred to India as a ‘Union of States’. This has offended the BJP and triggered political controversy. A BJP MP has now filed a breach of privilege notice against the Congress MP. The notice expresses a concern that the manner in which the […]
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During a debate that would settle the Constitution’s Preamble, Constituent Assembly President, Rajendra Prasad informed the House some members had given notice of amendments that wanted the Preamble to begin with an invocation of God and Gandhi. Prasad then did something surprising. He suggested that these amendments be withdrawn and said that ‘neither God nor […]
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Earlier this month, the world observed 2 December as the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. This marked the 72nd anniversary of an important United Nations Convention in 1949. Exactly a year earlier, the Indian Constituent Assembly took up Draft Article 17 (Article 23 Constitution of India 1950) for discussion. The Draft Article stated […]
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On 1 May 1947, Constituent Assembly members discussed an early version of the Constitution’s fundamental rights chapter that included a right to convert to other religions – implied within ‘the right to propagate religion’. Assembly members approached religious conversion in two distinct ways. Purushotam Das Tandon and Jagat Narain Lal viewed the propagation of religion […]
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On the first day of the current Winter session of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha Chairman suspended 12 opposition members of his house for the entire session. They were alleged to have engaged in ‘unruly‘ behaviour and ‘misconduct’ in the previous Monsoon session. The suspension has triggered a political backlash. Opposition parties argue that the protests […]
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Exactly 72 years ago, on 26 November 1949, Sardar Patel had some good news to share with his colleagues in the Constituent Assembly: ‘I am glad to inform the House that all the nine States specified in Part B of the First Schedule of the Constitution, including the State of Hyderabad, have signified, in the […]
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In November 1946, key Indian political and legal figures were knee-deep in preparations for setting up the Constituent Assembly of India. The Muslim League was against the convening of the Assembly and signaled that it would not participate in the proceedings. On 22nd November, it officially announced a boycott. The Indian National Congress, which had […]
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On 17 October 1949, Drafting Committee member T.T. Krishnamachari proposed to add contempt of court as a restriction on freedom of speech in the Draft Constitution. The Constituent Assembly had last debated free speech provisions a year before. Assembly members had then vehemently opposed any restriction to the right to free speech, but reluctantly adopted […]
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The Constitution of India 1950 frames a comprehensive architecture for affirmative action in India. A key element of this is the representation of members from marginalised communities in different organs of the State including the legislature, executive bodies and public services. The Constituent Assembly, in its plenary debates and Committees extensively debated the need for […]