MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution

Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

UNIT-I
What is a Constitution?

A constitution is a legal document which establishes a government (not a nation as many wish to
believe). It normally is the supreme law of the land and may include a bill of rights which lists
certain rights which may not be limited by the government.

For example, the United States Constitution establishes a federal government to replace the loose
confederation of thirteen states and defines the relationship between that federal government and
the several states (allowing more states to be allowed), establishes the legislative branch
consisting of a House of Representatives to represent the people and a Senate to represent the
several states as the most powerful of three branches.

The executive branch is next established, headed by a president elected by the states who serves
as the Chief Executive Officer of the federal government, the Head of State, and as the
Commander-in-chief of the military forces.

Then, the judicial branch is established by the creation of a Supreme Court and the Congress is
given the power to establish inferior courts.

Definition

Fundamental and entrenched rules governing the conduct of an organization or nation state, and
establishing its concept, character, and structure. It is usually a short document, general in nature
and embodying the aspirations and values of its writers and subjects. The oldest (1787) written
national constitution is that of the US.

Meaning

A constitution is a document which is having a legal sanctity which set out the framework and
the principle functions of the organs of the government of a state and declares the principle
governing the operation of those organs.

Introduction
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It frames fundamental political principles,
procedures, practices, rights, powers, and duties of the government. It imparts constitutional
supremacy and not parliamentary supremacy, as it is not created by the Parliament but, by a
constituent assembly, and adopted by its people, with a declaration in its preamble. Parliament
cannot override it.

The world’s longest constitution is the Indian’s constitution. At its commencement, it had 395
articles in 22 parts and 8 schedules. It consists of approximately 145,000 words, making it the
second largest active constitution in the world. Currently, it has a preamble, 25 parts with 12
schedules, 5 appendices, 448 articles, and 101 amendments.

History

The constitution of India was adopted on the 26th of November, in the year 1949. However, it
came to effect on the 26th of January, 1950. 26th of January is celebrated as the Republic Day of
India.

It was adopted by the Constitution Assembly. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the chairman of the Drafting
Committee, is widely considered to be the architect of the Constitution of India. After, the
adoption of the constitution, The Union of India became the contemporary and modern Republic
of India

The Making of the Indian Constitution

The Constitution of India was not prepared in haste but the process of the evolution of the
constitution began many decades before India became independent in 1947.

The process continued unabated since it originated in the freedom struggle till a new constitution
was drafted after prolonged debates and discussions in the Constituent Assembly.

The day 26th of January, 1950 was a red-letter day in the history of India. On that day the
written constitution of India came into operation.

January 26th was purposefully chosen (as the date on which the constitution became operative)
because since 1930, the day has been celebrated as the day of complete independence throughout
India by millions of people. It is very befitting to declare such a historic day as the day of
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

operation of the Constitution of Republic of India. The Constitution of India was the longest
written constitution having the best elements of all the existing constitutions up to that date.

The Constitution of India is the modern sacred text of the contemporary India. It reflects the new
aspirations and values of the people of India and testifies how the people of India are the
supreme masters in all matters concerning the welfare of Indians.

A galaxy of learned wise men interested in the longevity of the emerging nation of India framed
the constitution in its present form after a thorough debate and discussion of each proposal. The
nationalists consciously, popularized the concepts of parliamentary democracy, republicanism,
civil liberties, social and economic justice which happen to be the most basic tenets of the
constitution.

Bipan Chandra rightly remarks, “When the constitution in 1950 adopted a parliamentary form of
government, with a cabinet led by a prime minister it was not, as is commonly supposed, the
British parliament that it was emulating. It was formalizing nationalist practices, which the
people were already familiar with”. Even the spirit of democracy was familiarized by the
national movement. Bipan Chandra correctly points out, “this found expression in widespread
mass participation. It ensured a place for adult franchise after independence”.

A view is in circulation that the British initiated a modern responsible constitutional government
in India and the constitution was merely the culmination of the series of constitutional initiatives
made by them in 1861, 1892, 1909, 1919 and 1935. This view is not totally correct as the British
government conceded reluctantly and belatedly only partially the demands of the leaders of the
national movement and tried to reduce the intensity of the movement as a last resort from time to
time.

Gandhi’s statement made in 1922 proves “Swaraj will not be a free gift of the British Parliament.
It will be a declaration of India’s full self-expression. That it will be expressed through an act of
Parliament is true. Swaraj can never be a free gift by one nation to another. It is a treasure to be
purchased with a nation’s best blood. It will cease to be a gift when we have paid clearly for it”.

This statement of Gandhi clearly proves beyond doubt that the British did introduce
constitutional reforms by their voluntary initiative is a myth. No doubt, the British introduced the
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

principle of election in the 1892 Indian Council Act in partial response to a sustained struggle by
the press and the Indian nationalists for more than two decades and while the nationalists
demanded elections to the councils and elected majorities and greater powers to the non-official
members, the British by the Act of 1892 provided for election principle but limited it to minority
only.

There was a see-saw battle between the demands of the national movement and the concessions
granted through the Acts of 1909, 1919 and 1935. The leaders of the national movement started
demanding for grant of responsible government in India from 1890 onwards and by 1916 they
began to “espouse the doctrine of self-determination or the right of the Indians to frame their
own constitution”. Thus, the desire to have a constitution based on self-determination was as old
as 1916.

In response to the continuous demand of the national movement, the British government
appointed all-white Simon Commission in November 1927 to recommend constitutional
changes. The Secretary of State, Lord Borkenhead, challenged the Indians “Let them produce a
constitution which carries behind it a fair measure of general agreement among the great peoples
of India” in 1925 and reiterated the challenge again in 1927, moving a bill for the appointment of
the Simon Commission.

In response the national movement as one man boycotted the Simon Commission in all parts of
India and appointed a committee with Motilal Nehru as the Chairman in 1928 “to determine the
principles of the constitution for India”. The Nehru report was submitted on 10 August, 1928. It
was an outline of a draft constitution for India. Most of its features were later included in the
Constitution of India. It visualized a parliamentary system with full responsible government and
joint electorates with time bound reservation of seats for minorities. The Nehru’s report laid
special emphasis on securing fundamental human rights for the people of India. Of the nineteen
rights listed in the Nehru report, ten were incorporated into the constitution. The Nehru report
has recommended that “the redistribution of provinces should take place on a linguistic basis”.

This was followed by the declaration of complete independence as their objective and followed
with the launching of mass civil disobedience movement in April 1930. In 1934, the Congress
Working Committee rejected the white paper presented by the British government on further
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

constitutional reforms and resolved that the “only satisfactory alternative to the white paper is a
constitution drawn by a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of adult suffrage or as near it
as possible”.

After 1934 the demand for the Constituent Assembly became very frequent and they included it
in the Congress manifesto for the year 1936-37 elections. The Congress won majority of states in
1937 elections and in its Faizpur session demanded the newly elected members of the assemblies
to articulate the demand for a Constituent Assembly as soon as possible in the new legislatures.

The demand for the Constituent Assembly become vociferous and in the meanwhile the Second
World War broke out in 1939 and in order to secure the cooperation of the Indians in the Second
World War, the British for the first time announced in 1940 by August offer that the framing of
the new constitution should be primarily the responsibility of the Indians themselves. It also
offered to set up, after the end of the war, “a body representative of the principal elements in
India’s national life, in order to devise the framework of the new constitution”.

This offer, unfortunately, did not spell out, how the body is going to be constituted, and also the
method to be followed in deciding the membership of the body to be constituted. This vague
aspect proves that the British reluctantly agreed to this idea of Constituent Assembly and were
not serious about its implementation.

Consequently, this offer of 1940 was rejected by all the shades of nationalists and the Congress
Party started the Individual Civil Disobedience movement to register their protest. In 1942, the
British government appointed Cripps Mission. The Cripps proposals categorically stated that the
constitution would be the sole responsibility of the Indians alone.

The idea of the Constituent Assembly was also accepted and they spelt out its modalities and in
other respeas, it failed. Once again there was confrontation between the Congress and the British,
which resulted in the Quit India movement of 9 August, 1942. For the first time openly and
vehemently, the nationalists demanded the British to ‘Quit India’ and exhorted the Indians ‘do or
die’ in this struggle. The Government of India took all measures to suppress this Quit India
struggle and at the end of the war in 1945, they issued a white paper, which was followed by the
abortive Simla Conference.
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

The victory of the Labour Party in England and change in the guard enabled the British
government to declare and promise to convene a constitution-making body as soon as possible.
The Cabinet Mission was appointed to carry out this purpose and it visited India in 1946, on 24
March. After a lot of deliberation between the Congress and the Muslim League and the British,
finally the Constituent Assembly came into existence.

Meaning: Drafting committee is a group of people who sit together to draft or frame a
constitution.

What was the role and work of a drafting committee in the making of the Indian
Constitution?

Drafting Committee was one of the 23 committees to deal with different tasks of constitution-
making. Out of these, eight were major committees and the others were minor . It was headed by
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

On 14 August 1947 meeting of the Assembly, a proposal for forming various committees was
presented.[10] Such committees included a Committee on Fundamental Rights, the Union
Powers Committee and Union Constitution Committee. On 29 August 1947, the Drafting
Committee was appointed, with Dr B. R. Ambedkar as the Chairman along with six other
members assisted by a constitutional advisor. These members were PanditGovindBallabh Pant,
KanaiyalalManeklalMunshi (K M Munshi, Ex- Home Minister, Bombay),
AlladiKrishnaswamyIyer (Ex- Advocate General, Madras State), N GopalaswamiAyengar (Ex-
Prime Minister, J&K and later member of Nehru Cabinet), B L Mitter (Ex-Advocate General,
India), Md. Saadullah (Ex- Chief Minister of Assam, Muslim League member) and D P Khaitan
(Scion of Khaitan Business family and a renowned lawyer). The constitutional advisor was Sir
BenegalNarsing Rau (who became First Indian Judge in International Court of Justice, 1950–54).
Later B L Mitter resigned and was replaced by MadhavRao (Legal Advisor of Maharaja of
Vadodara). On D P Khaitan's death, T TKrishnamachari was included in the drafting committee.
A draft Constitution was prepared by the committee and submitted to the Assembly on 4
November 1947, which was debated and over 2000 amendments were moved over a period of
two years.
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

Finally on 26 November 1949, the process was completed and the Constituent Assembly adopted
the Constitution. 284 members signed the document and the process of constitution making was
complete. This day is celebrated as National Law Day or Constitution Day.

Philosophy of the Indian Constitution:

The philosophy and ideals of the Indian Constitution are reflected in the Preamble to the
Constitution of India. Our Constitution may be said to be an expansion and explanation of the
Preamble. Supreme Court Chief Justice, Justice SubbaRao opined, “Preamble contains, in a
nutshell, its ideals and its aspirations.” To understand the philosophy and ideals of the Indian
Constitution, we must know the Preamble in the first place. Let us define and analyze the
Preamble to the Indian Constitution.

Preamble:

The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines the word “Preamble” as an introduction to a
book or a written document. The Constitution of India starts with a Preamble. It is the most
precious part of the Constitution. It is the soul of the Constitution. The Preamble of the Indian
Constitution says:
“WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a
SOVEREIGN, SOCIALIST, SECULAR, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and opportunity; and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation;

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY

ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.”
From the Preamble we can understand the philosophy and ideals of the Indian Constitution. The
philosophy and ideals of the Indian Constitution are discussed as follows:

Popular Sovereignty: Thes Preamble begins with the words “We the people of India………”
and ends with the words “………adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution”. It
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

indicates that ultimate sovereignty lies with the people of India who collectively constitute the
supreme source of authority in the country. The Constitution is regarded as the supreme law of
the state, but the supreme power of the state is vested upon the people of India.

India as a Sovereign state: The Preamble declares India as a sovereign state. It is free from any
external control. No foreign power can interfere in the internal affairs of India. India can
determine her foreign affairs according to her free will.

India as a Socialist state: The word ‘Socialist’ has been added in the Preamble by the 42nd
Amendment in 1976. It means the Constitution of India has a great objective to secure social and
economic equality and fair distribution of wealth among all sections of people in the country. By
inserting the term ‘socialist’, it has not only brought a feeling of equal status among the people
but also strengthened the philosophical foundation of the Indian Constitution. Some socialistic
principles are also distinctly reflected in the Articles 39, 41, 42 and 43 which are incorporated in
the Directive Principles of State Policy.

India as a Secular state: The word ‘Secular’ has been included in the Preamble by the 42nd
Amendment in 1976. The characteristic of Indian secularism is that India does not recognize any
religion as the official or state religion and treats all religions equally. Moreover, different
communities in India have the right to practise their own faiths. Thus, secularism is one of the
ideals of the Indian Constitution.

India as a Democratic state: The Preamble describes India as a democratic state. The prime
philosophy and ideal of the Indian Constitution is to make India a democratic state. India is
regarded as the largest democratic state in the World. According to Abraham Lincoln,
“Democracy is by the people, for the people and of the people.” The Constitution of India has
established a parliamentary democracy in India marked by universal adult franchise, periodic
election to choose the government, majority rule, rule of law, decentralization of power, rule of
law, independence of the judiciary, etc.

India as a Republic: The Preamble declares India to be a republic. What it means is that the
Head of the State in India, that is the President of India, is an elected head. He is not a hereditary
ruler. The President of India who is the Chief Executive and nominal head of our country is
indirectly elected by the people.
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

To ensure Justice: Justice implies that the Government will try to promote the welfare of all the
sections of the people. The Preamble embraces three types of Justice- social, economic and
political. To ensure Social Justice the Constitution has made special arrangements for the weaker
sections of the society, abolished untouchability, provided free education up to a certain
standard, etc. With a view to providing political justice, the Constitution has introduced the
principle of universal adult franchise and has given an equal right to all adult citizens to be
elected or appointed to public services. Economic justice implies that the Constitution seeks to
ensure economic security for the common people and to do way with unequal distribution of
income and wealth.

To ensure Liberty: The other important philosophy and ideal of the Indian Constitution is to
ensure liberty to its citizens for the all round development of their personality. Accordingly, the
Preamble provides for liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. The Constitution
of India provides a number of Fundamental Rights to the citizens and also protects theses rights.

To ensure Equality: Equality is the basis of a democratic state. Equality is necessary for the
development of a society. Hence, the term ‘equality’ has been inserted in the Preamble to our
Constitution. Equality has been guaranteed by the ‘Rule of Law’. To establish equality, our
Constitution has provided for the Right to Equality as a Fundamental Right. The Indian
Constitution ensures equality before the eyes of law to all persons, citizens and non- citizens.
The Constitution also prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of
birth or any of them.

To promote Fraternity among the people: The term fraternity has been incorporated in the
Preamble as a means of assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the
nation. The term ‘dignity of the individual’ means that the personality of the individual should be
recognized, because, the recognition of the personality and the dignity of the individual is an
essential condition to promote fraternity among the people. To promote fraternity and a feeling
of brotherhood among the people, certain attempts have been made for the removal of social
distinctions and inequalities based on caste, class, creed, language, religion, region, etc. Without
unity among its citizens, a state could not be successful. The framers of the Indian Constitution
were fully aware of the diversities prevailing in the country. Accordingly, the word integrity was
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

added in the Preamble by the 42nd Amendment to emphasize the fundamental unity of the
country against the divisive forces of regionalism, communalism and the like.

India as a Welfare state: India is committed to the ideal of a welfare state and must establish
socio- economic justice. The Preamble lays the foundation of a welfare state in India.
AcharyaKripalini says, “The Preamble contains the mystic principle of a welfare state.” India is
committed to democracy and respects individual liberty, providing to all her citizens, the equality
of status and opportunity. The Directive Principles of State Policy involving social, economic,
political and cultural goals are like instructions to the state. They, aim at establishing a welfare
state in India.

The Preamble to the Indian Constitution has a great significance. It is important to mention here
that, in the ‘Biruberi Case’ (AIR1960 SC 845) the Supreme Court held that the Preamble is not a
part of the Constitution. But the famous ‘KeshavanandaBharti – vs. - State of Kerala’ (AIR 1973
SC 1461) has held that the Preamble is a part of the Constitution. It was also held in this case
that, the Preamble could be amended by the Parliament under Article 368 but the ‘Basic
Structure’ of the Constitution could not be changed. Thus, the Preamble can be amended but our
Parliament cannot amend the Constitution in a way that it damages or destroys the objectives
specified in the Preamble.

Salient Features of the Indian Constitution:

The Constitution of a state is not only the fundamental law of the state, but it is also like a mirror
of its social, political and economic systems. The Constitution of a State is different from the
Constitution of another State. Each Constitution grows and develops within a particular
environment. The Constitution of India is unique in many ways. Several special features of the
Indian Constitution distinguish it from many other constitutions of the world. The salient
features of the Indian Constitution of India described as follows:

Written Constitution: The Constitution of India is a written document. To draft the Indian
Constitution, a Drafting Committee was constituted by the Constituent Assembly under the
Chairmanship of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. The Constituent Assembly was a representative body
which is indirectly elected by the people. It consisted of 389 members out of whom 296
members were elected from British India and 93 members were the ‘representatives of Native
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

States’. The elections to the Constituent Assembly were held in 1946 and Dr. Rajendra Prasad
was elected the President of the Constituent Assembly. The Drafting Committee prepared the
draft of the Constitution. After long efforts, the new Constitution was finally adopted on
November 26, 1949. Thus, the Indian Constitution came into force on January 26, 1950.

The Lengthiest Constitution: The Indian Constitution is the lengthiest, bulkiest and most
detailed Constitution in the World. It contains 395 Articles (divided into 22 parts) and 8
Schedules at the time of its enforcement. At present, it has 444 Articles, divided into 24 parts and
12 Schedules. The Constitution of India contains a detailed list of Fundamental Rights, Directive
Principles of State Policy, distribution of Powers between Centre and the States, Official
Languages, Election and many other provisions over and above laying out the provisions
regarding the executive, legislature and judiciary.

Partly rigid and partly flexible: The Constitution of India is neither too rigid nor too flexible.
A flexible constitution is that in which its provisions may be amended or modified by ordinary
legislative process, whereas, in the case of a rigid constitution, a special procedure is required to
be followed for the amendment or revision of its provisions. The Indian Constitution follows
three methods for amendment. Firstly, some of the provisions can be amended by a simple
majority of the Parliament. Secondly, some provisions may be amended by a special majority of
the Parliament and thirdly, some other provisions which are federal in character may be amended
only with a joint initiative of both the Parliament and the State legislature. The framers of the
Indian Constitution adopted this system so that the Indian Constitution can adopt itself to the
changing circumstances while still retaining its basic characteristics. Because of all these
provisions, the Indian Constitution is characterized by the mixture of flexibility and rigidity.

Supremacy of the Constitution: The Constitution of India is the supreme law of the country.
All the three organs of the Government i.e.: the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary function
under the Constitution of India and are controlled by it. They cannot violate the Constitution.

Mixture of Federal and Unitary features: The Constitution of India establishes India as a
partly Federal and partly unitary government. The word ‘Federalism’ is not mentioned anywhere
in the Constitution. It describes India as a ‘Union of States’. Because of the peculiar features of
the Indian Constitution, some experts describe it as a ‘quasi-federal state’. Indian federalism is
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

also known as ‘co-operative federalism’. Some of the federal features included in the Indian
Constitution are written constitution, supremacy of the constitution, division of powers and
distribution of powers between the centre and the states, a strong judiciary, bicameral legislature
etc. But, India cannot be called a true federation because some non-federal features or unitary
features like- a strong centre, some rigid methods of amendment of the constitution, single
citizenship, common All- India services, uniformity of judiciary, emergency provisions enjoyed
by the President, appointment of Governors in the States, are distinctly noticed in the
Constitution. Therefore, the Constitution of India is a mixture of federal and unitary features.

Parliamentary Government: The Constitution of India provides for a Parliamentary form of

Government on the British model. In the Parliamentary form of Government, the Head of the
State is nominal, whereas the Prime Minster who is the leader of the majority in the Parliament is
the real executive. In India, the President only the nominal head of our country and the real and
actual powers of the government are exercised by the Prime Minister.

Secularism: Secularism is another important feature of the Indian Constitution. The word has
been included in the Preamble by the 42nd Amendment in 1976. India does not recognize any
religion as the state or official religion and treats all religions equally. All the people of India are
given the liberty of thought, expression, belief and worship and there is no discrimination on the
grounds of religion, caste or community.

Provision of Fundamental Rights: The Fundamental Rights are contained in Part-III of the
Constitution from Articles 12 to 35.The framers of the Constitution derived inspiration from the
‘Bill of Rights’ from the Constitution of the U.S.A. Fundamental Rights are justiciable in the
sense that a person can approach the court in case of violation of his or her Fundamental Rights.
The Supreme Court of India is the Guardian of the rights and liberties of the people. They are not
absolute. The Government can impose reasonable restrictions on them. The significance of the
Fundamental Rights is that they protect the liberty and the freedom of the citizens against
encroachment by the state. Originally, the Constitution provided for seven Fundamental Rights.
But the Right to Property was abolished by the 44th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1978. At
present, there are six Fundamental Rights.
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

Fundamental Duties: Fundamental Duties are incorporated in Article 51A of Part IVA of the
Constitution by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976. The original Constitution did
not contain the fundamental duties. The Fundamental Duties are very important. For the overall
development of the country, these Duties must be performed by the citizens of India. These
duties are not legally binding upon the citizens. Some of the duties include abiding by the
Constitution, to defend the country and render national service, to develop the scientific temper,
the safeguard public property, etc.

Directive Principles of State Policy: Another distinctive feature of the Indian Constitution is
the Directive Principles of State Policy described in Part IV of our Constitution from Articles 36-
51. These Directive Principles are fundamental in the governance of our Country and it is the
duty of the state to apply these principles in making laws. These principles aim at securing social
and economic freedoms by appropriate state action.

Independent and impartial Judiciary: A basic feature of the Indian Constitution is

independence of the judiciary. The judiciary is separated from the other two organs i.e. executive
and legislature. The tenure of the Judges of the Supreme Court and High Court is fixed and the
judges cannot be removed by simple procedure. Independence of judiciary is very is very
essential for the success of democracy.

Division of Powers between the Centre and the States: Another important feature of the
Indian Constitution of India is the division of powers between the Central and State Government
in terms of the Union List, the State List, and the Concurrent List. This important provision is
incorporated in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.

Universal Adult Franchise: The Universal Adult Franchise is introduced by the Constitution
and thus, all adult citizens above the age of 18 years, irrespective of their religion, caste, race,
color and sex are entitled to participate in the election process.

Single Citizenship: To promote the feeling of unity and oneness among the people of India, the
framers of the Indian Constitution provided for a single citizenship for its citizens. In the
Federation like the United States of America single citizenship is a very important federal
feature, unlike India.
 MAN18R002 / Indian Constitution
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education

Emergency Powers: The emergency powers are introduced in the Indian Constitution so that the
whole nation can meet with any emergency situation the country may be faced with. The
emergency powers are vested in the hands of the President of India. There are three kinds of
Emergency powers. These are-National Emergency (Article-352), Emergency in a State (Article
356) and Financial Emergency (Article 360).
The above are some the important salient features of the Indian Constitution which makes it one
of the most unique and distinct constitutions in the world.