Rights in the Indian Constitution Notes | Class 11 Political Science
This chapter gives students a clear overview of the Indian Constitution: its history, its features and the institutional arrangements made by the drafting committee. It also highlights the borrowed features and the various bodies that played a major role in the making of the Constitution. These free study notes are part of our Class 11 Political Science notes.
Constitution: Why and How?
What is a constitution and why do we need one?
A constitution is a body of fundamental principles according to which a state is constituted or governed. It provides a set of basic rules that allow for minimal coordination among the members of a society, and these rules are legally enforceable.
Who decides which rules are best for a society?
- The constitution specifies the basic allocation of power in a society.
- It decides who gets to decide what the laws will be.
- In the Indian Constitution, it is specified that in most instances Parliament gets to decide laws and policies, and that Parliament itself is organised in a particular manner.
Functions of a Constitution
- It gives a body the authority to enact laws and constitute a government in the first place.
- It specifies who has the power to make decisions in a society.
- It places limitations on the government.
- It decides how the government will be constituted.
- It specifies certain fundamental rights that all of us possess as citizens, which no government can ever be allowed to violate.
- It enables the government to fulfil the aspirations of a society and to create conditions for a just society.
Features of the Indian Constitution
The main features of the Indian Constitution as it stands today are as follows:
- Lengthiest written constitution
- A blend of rigidity and flexibility
- Parliamentary government
- Independent judiciary
- A federal system with unitary features
- Secular state
- Universal adult franchise
- Emergency provisions
Fundamental Identity of the People
- The people, as a collective entity, come into being only through the basic constitution.
- Constitutional norms are the overarching framework within which one pursues individual aspirations, goals and freedoms.
- The constitution sets authoritative constraints upon what one may or may not do.
- It defines the fundamental values that we may not trespass. Hence, the constitution also gives one a moral identity.
- Many basic political and moral values are now shared across different constitutional traditions.
Mode of promulgation: This refers to how a constitution comes into being. Who crafted the constitution, and how much authority did they have?
Why do constitutions remain defunct in many countries?
In many countries the constitution remains defunct because it was drafted either by military leaders or by leaders who were not popular among the citizens.
The major reason for such fragile constitutions is that the makers lacked the ability to carry the people with them.
Why are India, South Africa and the United States among the most successful constitutions?
These countries had a constitution that was drafted in the aftermath of a popular national movement. The fact that the nation had faced real challenges during the movement helped the makers to create a well structured document.
An Overview of the Indian Constitution
The constitution was formally created by a Constituent Assembly between December 1946 and November 1949. It drew upon a long history of the nationalist movement, which had a remarkable ability to take different sections of Indian society together.
It carried enormous legitimacy from the fact that it was drawn up by people who enjoyed immense public credibility, who had the capacity to negotiate and command the respect of a wide cross section of society, and who were able to convince people that the constitution was not an instrument for the aggrandisement of their personal power.
What the Constitution provides
- It gives everyone in society some reason to go along with its provisions.
- It gives security to minorities against oppression by permanent majorities.
- A constitution that systematically privileged some members at the expense of others, or entrenched the power of small groups, would cease to command allegiance.
- It preserves the freedom and equality of all its members.
- The more a constitution preserves the freedom and equality of all its members, the more likely it is to succeed.
Making of the Constitution
The Constituent Assembly
M. N. Roy proposed the idea of a constituent assembly for the first time in 1934. The British accepted the demand for a constituent assembly for the first time in the August Offer of 1940.
In 1946, the Cabinet Mission Plan established the Constituent Assembly. The assembly met for the first time on 9 December 1946 and was reconvened on 14 August 1947 as the Constituent Assembly for a divided India.
Members were chosen through an indirect election by the members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies, which had been established under the Government of India Act, 1935. On 11 December 1946, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected president of the Constituent Assembly.
Sachchidananda Sinha was the interim or provisional president of the Constituent Assembly.
Balanced Institutional Design
The constitution is designed to ensure that no single institution acquires a monopoly of power.
This is done by distributing powers across different institutions. Thus the Indian Constitution assigned different powers to different institutions:
- Legislature
- Executive
- Judiciary
Powers were also assigned to statutory bodies such as the Election Commission.
This ensures that even if one institution tries to subvert the constitution, the others will be able to check it.
A constitution must strike the right balance between making certain values, norms and procedures authoritative, while also allowing enough flexibility to respond to changing needs and circumstances. A constitution that is too rigid is likely to break under the weight of change; a constitution that is too flexible provides no security, predictability or identity to a people.
What was the Cabinet Mission Plan?
The British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, decided to send a mission to India for the transfer of power from the British Indian Government to Indian leaders.
Objectives:
- To obtain an agreement with Indian leaders on the framing of a constitution for India.
- To form a constitution making body, the Constituent Assembly of India.
- To establish an Executive Council with the support of the major Indian parties.
According to the Cabinet Mission Plan:
- Each province and each princely state or group of states was allotted seats in proportion to its population, roughly in the ratio of one seat per million people.
- The seats in each province were distributed among the three main communities, Muslims, Sikhs and General, in proportion to their populations.
- Members of each community in the Provincial Legislative Assembly elected their own representatives by the method of proportional representation with a single transferable vote.
- The method of selection for the representatives of princely states was to be determined by consultation.
Procedures:
- The Constituent Assembly had several major committees chaired by popular leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad and Bhim Rao Ambedkar.
- Each committee usually drafted particular provisions of the constitution, which were then subjected to debate by the entire Assembly. Some provisions were also put to a vote.
What task did the Drafting Committee perform?
The Drafting Committee was entrusted with the responsibility of preparing the draft constitution. It was set up on 29 August 1947. The Constituent Assembly took 2 years, 11 months and 17 days to frame the constitution.
Chairman: B. R. Ambedkar
Members: N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, A. K. Ayyar, K. M. Munshi, Mohammad Saadulla, B. L. Mitter and D. P. Khaitan.
An assembly as diverse as the Constituent Assembly of India could not have functioned if there had been no background consensus on the main principles the constitution should enshrine.
The Objective Resolution
The Objective Resolution was presented by Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 December 1946. It laid down the underlying principles of the constitution, which later became the Preamble.
The Objective Resolution was adopted on 22 January 1947. The Indian Constitution gave institutional expression to equality, liberty, sovereignty and a cosmopolitan identity based on this resolution.
Main points of the Objective Resolution
- India is a sovereign and self governing nation, formed from the former British Indian territories, the Indian states and any other areas willing to join the union.
- Except for the powers assigned to or vested in the Union, all powers and functions of government and administration are to be exercised by the territories that make up the Union.
- The people are the source of all the powers and authority of sovereign and independent India, as well as of its constitution.
- All Indians are guaranteed social, economic and political justice; equality of status and opportunity; and fundamental freedoms of speech, expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation, association and action, subject to law and public morality.
- Adequate protection is provided for minorities, backward and tribal areas, and depressed and other backward classes. The territorial integrity of the Republic and its sovereign rights on land, sea and air are to be safeguarded in accordance with international law.
- The land would willingly and fully contribute to the advancement of world peace and human welfare.
Institutional Arrangements
The Constituent Assembly spent a great deal of time working out how to strike the right balance between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.
It adopted a parliamentary form and a federal arrangement, which divide governmental powers between the legislature and the executive on one hand, and between the states and the federal government on the other.
Borrowed Features of the Constitution
From the British Constitution
- A nominal head of state, the President
- The cabinet system of ministers
- The post of Prime Minister
- A parliamentary form of government with a bicameral parliament
- A more powerful lower house
- A council of ministers responsible to the lower house, and the office of Speaker in the Lok Sabha
- The first past the post electoral system
- The law making procedure
- The idea of the rule of law
From the United States Constitution
- Fundamental Rights
- An independent judiciary and the power of judicial review
- The impeachment of the President
- The removal of Supreme Court and High Court judges
- The post of Vice President
- The idea of a written Preamble
From the USSR (former Soviet Union)
- Fundamental Duties
- The ideals of justice, social, economic and political, set out in the Preamble
From Australia
- The Concurrent List
- The language of the Preamble
- The provision regarding trade, commerce and intercourse
From Japan
- The procedure by which the Supreme Court functions, the procedure established by law
From the Weimar Constitution of Germany
- The suspension of Fundamental Rights during an emergency
From Canada
- A scheme of federation with a strong centre
- The distribution of powers between the centre and the states
- Residuary powers vested in the centre
From Ireland
- The concept of the Directive Principles of State Policy (which Ireland had borrowed from Spain)
- The method of election of the President
- The nomination of members to the Rajya Sabha by the President
From South Africa
- The procedure for amending the constitution
Schedules in the Constitution
First Schedule
- List of states and union territories.
Second Schedule
- Salaries of the President, Governors, Chief Justices, judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court, and the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Third Schedule
- Forms of oaths and affirmations.
Fourth Schedule
- Allocation of seats for each state of India in the Rajya Sabha.
Fifth Schedule
- Administration and control of scheduled areas and scheduled tribes.
Sixth Schedule
- Provisions for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
Seventh Schedule
Gives the allocation of powers and functions between the Union and the states. It contains three lists:
- Union List
- State List
- Concurrent List
Eighth Schedule
- List of 22 languages of India recognised by the constitution.
Ninth Schedule
- Added by the 1st Amendment in 1951. Contains acts and orders related to land tenure, land tax, railways and industries.
Tenth Schedule
- Added by the 52nd Amendment in 1985. Contains provisions on disqualification on the grounds of defection.
Eleventh Schedule
- Added by the 73rd Amendment in 1992. Contains provisions of the Panchayati Raj.
Twelfth Schedule
- Added by the 74th Amendment in 1992. Contains provisions of the Municipalities.
Why It Still Matters Today
The Constitution is not a dusty document locked away in 1949. It is a living rulebook that still shapes real arguments in India, and rights sit right at the centre of them.
In November 2024, India marked 75 years since the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949. The government began a year long celebration titled Hamara Samvidhan, Hamara Swabhimaan (Our Constitution, Our Pride), running up to 26 November 2025.
Around the same time, on 25 November 2024, the Supreme Court delivered an important judgment. A bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna dismissed petitions that had asked for the words socialist and secular to be removed from the Preamble. These two words were added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976. The Court explained that in the Indian context secular means the state gives equal respect to every religion, and socialist means the state works as a welfare state to reduce social and economic exploitation. It found no good reason to strike out the words after nearly 44 years.
Why should a student care? Because this is exactly the balance the notes above describe. The makers wanted a document that protects rights and equality, yet stays flexible enough to change through amendments. When you read that fundamental rights are something no government can ever be allowed to violate, the Preamble case is that very idea being tested in a real courtroom, in your own lifetime.
You can see how rights, courts and democracy connect across subjects on the Learnacy Hub, and revise more chapters in our free Class 11 Political Science notes.