Slides on Salient Features of the Indian Constitution. Useful for law students and professionals

1. SALIENT
FEATURES OF
INDIAN
CONSTITUTION- S H I VA N I S H A R M A
- A S S I S TA N T P R O F E S S O R
- S A R D A R PAT E L S U B H A R T I I N S T I T U T E O F L A W

2. 1. LONGEST WRITTEN CONSTITUTION:
• The constituent assembly borrowed provisions from various
other countries.
• The makers made it very detailed
• Which is world’s shortest Constitution?
• Which constitution is claimed to be the Longest Constitution
in the World?
Original
•395 Articles
•8 Schedules
•5 Appendix
•22 Parts
Present
•448 Articles
•12 Schedules
•5 Appendix
•22 Parts
•124 Amendments

3. 2. SINGLE CITIZENSHIP:
• There are 29 states and 7 union territories
• Have a uniform citizenship system
• Entitled to equal freedoms and rights
3. MIXTURE OF RIGIDITY AND FLEXIBILITY:
• Neither wholly rigid nor flexible
4. ADULT SUFFERAGE:
• ‘One person one vote’ Policy
• 61st amendment Act, 1988 – Rajiv Gandhi Government
• Age of 18 Years

4. 5. PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT:
• The Indian constitution provides for a parliamentary system of government, i.e., the real
executive power rests with the council of ministers and the President is only a nominal
ruler (Article 74).
6. FEDERAL SYSTEM WITH A UNITARY BIAS:
• The Indian constitution described India as a 'Union of States' (Article 1), which implies that
Indian federation is not the result of any agreement among the units and the units cannot
secede from it.
7. SECULARISM:
• The constitution makes India a secular state by detaching from religious dogmas (Forty-
second Amendment).
8. INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY:
• The constitution provides an independent judiciary (Article 76) which ensures that the
government is carried on in accordance with the provisions of the constitution and acts as

5. 9. BICAMERAL LEGISLATURES:
• The Indian constitution provides a bicameral legislatures at center consisting of Rajya
Sabha (Council of States) and Lok Sabha (House of the People) (Article 79).
10. EMERGENCY POWERS:
• The constitution vests extraordinary powers, known as Emergency Powers in the
President during emergencies out of armed rebellion or external aggression or due
failure of constitutional machinery in the state (Article 352–360).
11. SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR MINORITIES:
• The constitution makes special provisions for minorities, Scheduled castes, Scheduled
Tribes, etc. by granting them certain special rights and provisions.
• Basically those are some of the interesting features of Indian constitution. Moreover,
the constitution also has many other features such as, Panchayati Raj, Rule of
Law, Provisions for Independent Bodies, etc. which are very unique in nature.

6. 12. FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES:
• The Indian constitution provides an elaborate list of Fundamental Rights to the
of India, which cannot be taken away or abridged by any law made by the states
(Article 12–35). Similarly, the constitution also provides a list of 11 duties of the citizens,
citizens, known as the Fundamental Duties(Article 51A).
FUNDAMENTAL
RIGHTS
Equality
Freedom
Religion
Against
Exploitati
on
Cultural
and
Educatio
nal
Constituti
onal
Remedie
s

7. 13. DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY:
• The Indian constitution mentions certain Directive Principles of State
Policy (Article 36–51) which that government has to keep in mind while
formulating new policy.
14. PREAMBLE OF THE CONSTITUTION:
• The Constitution of India initiates with a Preamble.
• The Preamble consists of the ideals, objectives and basic principles of the
Constitution.
• The salient features of the Constitution have developed directly and indirectly
from these objectives which flow from the Preamble.
• The Preamble is described as an introduction or preface of a book.
• The Preamble describes the objectives of the Constitution in two ways: one, is
about the structure of the governance and secondly, it explains the ideals to
be achieved in independent India. It is because of this, the Preamble is

8. 15. BASIC STRUCTURE DOCTRINE:
• The basic structure doctrine is an Indian judicial norm that the Constitution of India
certain basic features that cannot be changed or destroyed through amendments by
the parliament.
• The "basic features" principle was first explained in 1964, by Justice J.R. Mudholkar in
his disagreement, in the case of Sajjan Singh v. State of Rajasthan. He wrote,
"It is also a matter for consideration whether making a change in a basic feature of the
Constitution can be regarded merely as an amendment or would it be, in effect,
a part of the Constitution; and if the latter, would it be within the purview of Article 368
?“
• The doctrine was first given in Keshavanand Bharati v State of Kerala.
• The basic features of the Constitution have not been openly defined by the Judiciary.
At least, 20 features have been described as "basic" or "essential" by the Courts in
numerous cases, and have been incorporated in the basic structure.
• In Indira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj Naraian and also in the Minerva Mills case, it was
witnessed that the claim of any particular feature of the Constitution to be a "basic"
feature would be determined by the Court in each case that comes before it.

9. Several aspects of the Constitution termed as "basic" are mentioned below:
• Supremacy of the Constitution
• Rule of law
• The principle of Separation of Powers
• The objectives specified in the Preamble to the Constitution
• Judicial Review
• Articles 32 and 226
• Federalism (including financial liberty of states under Articles 282 and 293)
• Secularism
• The Sovereign, Democratic, Republican structure
• Freedom and dignity of the individual
• Unity and integrity of the Nation
• The principle of equality, not every feature of equality, but the quintessence of equal justice
• The "essence" of other Fundamental Rights in Part III
• The concept of social and economic justice - to build a Welfare State: Part IV in toto
• The balance between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles
• The Parliamentary system of government
• The principle of free and fair elections
• Limitations upon the amending power conferred by Article 368
• Independence of the Judiciary
• Effective access to justice
• Powers of the Supreme Court under Articles 32, 136, 141, 142
• Legislation seeking to nullify the awards made in exercise of the judicial power of the State by Arbitration Tribunals
constituted under an Act