Sources, Criticisms and Language of Indian Constitution: A Comprehensive Analysis

The Indian Constitution draws from a wide range of sources, blending elements from various countries to create a unique legal framework. From the British parliamentary system to the American emphasis on fundamental rights, each borrowed feature has contributed to shaping India’s governance structure. Despite these efforts, the Constituent Assembly faced criticism for its lawyer-politician dominance, perceived lack of representation, and extended timeline.

Sources of the Constitution

S no.	Source	Features Borrowed
1	Government of India Act of 1935	Federal Scheme, Office of the governor, Judiciary, Public Service Commissions, Emergency provisions and administrative details.
2	British Constitution	Parliamentary government, Rule of Law, legislative procedure, single citizenship, cabinet system, prerogative writs, parliamentary privileges and bicameralism.
3	Irish Constitution	Directive Principles of State Policy, nomination of members to Rajya Sabha and method of election of president.
4	US Constitution	Fundamental rights, independence of judiciary, judicial review, impeachment of the president, removal of Supreme Court and high court judges and post of vice-president.
5	Canadian Constitution	Federation with a strong Centre, vesting of residuary powers in the Centre, appointment of state governors by the Centre, and advisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
6	Australian Constitution	Concurrent List, freedom of trade, commerce and inter-course, and joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament.
7	Weimar Constitution of Germany	Emergency provisions relating to suspension of Fundamental Rights.
8	Soviet Constitution (USSR, now Russia)	Fundamental duties and the ideal of justice (social, economic and political) in the Preamble
9	French Constitution	Republic and the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity in the Preamble.
10	South African Constitution	Procedure for amendment of the Constitution and election of members of Rajya Sabha.
11	Japanese Constitution	Procedure established by Law.

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Criticism of the Constituent Assembly

In spite of various efforts, the Constituent Assembly also faced criticisms, outlined as follows

• Lawyer-Politician Dominance: Constituent Assembly was predominantly controlled by lawyers and politicians, emphasizing the insufficient representation of other societal segments.
  • According to critics, this is the main reason for the bulkiness and complicated language of the Constitution.
• Lack of Representativeness: Constituent Assembly lacked true representativeness since the people of India did not directly elect its members through universal adult franchise.
• Non-Sovereign Status: Critics argued that the Constituent Assembly was not sovereign, asserting its creation was based on British Government proposals.
  • Assembly conducted its sessions with the permission of the British Government.
• Time-Consuming: Constituent Assembly took an unduly long time to make the Constitution.
  • The American Constitution took only four months to complete their work.
  • Naziruddin Ahmed, a member of the Constituent Assembly, termed the Drafting Committee as a “Drifting Committee”.
• Congress Party Dominance: The Constituent Assembly was overwhelmingly influenced by the Congress party.
  • Granville Austin, an American Constitutional expert, remarked that the Assembly functioned as a one-party entity in a predominantly one-party country, asserting that the Congress was synonymous with India.
• Hindu Dominance: Constituent Assembly displayed a Hindu-centric dominance.
  • Viscount Simon referred to it as ‘a body of Hindus,’ and Winston Churchill commented that the Assembly represented ‘only one major community in India.

Indian Constitution

Language of the Constitution

The original Constitution of India did not initially include any provision regarding an authoritative Hindi version. However, the 58th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1987 addressed this by introducing a new Article 394-A in Part XXII. This article outlines the following provisions:

• The President is mandated to publish:

• • The translation of the Constitution into the Hindi language.
  • Necessary modifications can be made to align it with the language, style, and terminology of authoritative texts of the Central Acts in Hindi, incorporating all amendments made before such publication.
  • The Hindi translation of each Constitutional amendment made in English.
• The published translations of the Constitution and its amendments are to be interpreted to have the same meaning as the original English text.
• In case of any difficulty in this matter, the President has the authority to appropriately revise the Hindi text.

Articles	Subject matter
393	Short title
394	Commencement
394A	Authoritative text in Hindi language
395	Repeals

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Conclusion

Although the Indian Constitution is a comprehensive document influenced by global practices, it faced challenges in its creation, including allegations of Congress and Hindu dominance. The language of the Constitution was later addressed through the 58th Amendment, ensuring an authoritative Hindi version, reflecting India’s linguistic diversity.

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