Introduction
The Constitution of India is one of the oldest and the bulkiest constitutions in the world. Indian constitution is a written document prepared by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, J.P. Kripalani, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and other prominent personalities who took active participation in the making of the Indian Constitution. In 1934, M.N. Roy emerged with the idea of making the constitution for India. Due to the exploitation of the British Colony, India was a backward economy that lacks in resources, proper food, and access to resources. The backwardness of the Indian economy is one of the major setbacks in the making of the constitution. We express our gratitude to the fathers of the Indian Constitution who took a diligent approach to establishing the supremacy of the Indian Constitution in a diverse country like India.
The Constitution turns a nation into a state. A nation is a country where people have a feeling of belongingness. A state is a political entity fulfilling some prerequisites such as territory, citizenship, the establishment of government, sovereignty, and so on. India became Sovereign in 1947. The proposal for making the constitution of India was accepted in August offer in 1940 and negotiation has been started regarding the Indian Constitution. The Constitution-making body, the Constituent Assembly was established in 1946 and its first meeting was held on December 9, 1946, presided by Dr. Sachidanand Sinha with 211 members attending the meeting. The Constitution of India came into existence on November 26, 1949, and came into force on January 26, 1950.
Indian Constitution was criticized for borrowing various provisions from the foreign constitution. Critics addressed Indian Constitution as a “bag of borrowing” or “borrowed constitution” or a patchwork of several documents of the constitution of different countries. Today’s article is based on the analysis of borrowed features of the Indian Constitution.
Indian Constitution
The Constitution of India is the supreme law of the state which affirms the commitment to law and constitutes India into a sovereign, democratic and republic state. It determines the power and duties of the state and guaranteed the rights and duties of the citizen in the country. It embodies the rules of political and social organization. A constitution is a set of rules and practices that determines the composition and functions of the organs of the central and local government in the state. It ensures an independent judiciary, guaranteed Fundamental Rights (FRs), and Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) containing objective which is not enforceable in law are the principles of governing a nation. Indian Constitution is a written constitution comprising salient features such as the authority of the court, rigidity of the constitution, federal structure of the constitution, quasi-federal structure, and so on.
Borrowed Features Of the Indian Constitution
The Constitution of India has 448 Articles in 25 Parts and 12 Schedules. Since the enforcement of the Indian Constitution, there are more than 100 amendments to the constitution. Indian Constitution borrowed provisions from the constitution of other countries. India borrowed provisions from the acts which were passed by the British government in India.
Government of India Act, 1935
The Government of India Act, 1935 is a milestone in the history of India. Many provisions were incorporated in the Indian Constitution from the Government of India Act, 1935.
- Federal structure in India:
The division of power incorporated in the 7th Schedule of the Indian Constitution between center, state, and concurrent list. There is a distribution of power in the federal structure where there is a separate list of subjects that are assigned to the central government, state government, and both central and state government.
- Office of Governor:
President is the nominal head and Prime Minister is the read head of the country. Similarly, the Governor who discharges the duty as the head of the state was introduced in the Government of India Act, 1935.
- Judiciary:
Federal Court was established in 1937 under the Government of India Act, 1935.
- Establishment of Public Service Commission and Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Britain
1. The provision of single citizenship under Article 10 of the Indian Constitution was adopted from the United Kingdom.
2. Legislative procedure.
3. The office of the Comptroller General of India CAG) conducts audits of expenditure on the behalf of the Parliament.
4. The bicameral structure was introduced in India and two houses in the state legislature were established. There are some states namely Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh have bicameral legislatures.
5. Principles of Rule of Law.
6. Parliamentary Government System.
7. Prerogative writs.
8. Cabinet system.
Ireland
1. The Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) was adopted from the Spanish Constitution. DPSP are the constitutional instructions to the state in the legislature, executive, and administrative matters.
2. Methods of elections of the President.
3. Nomination of members in the Rajya Sabha or Council of States by the President.
United States of America (USA)
1. The role of the President as supreme commander, functions, and executive head of the country.
2. The fundamental rights of the citizens are guaranteed under the constitution.
3. Preamble, the soul of the Indian constitution and the key to opening the mind of the constitution maker. The preamble added the provision of socialist, secular, and integrity in the constitution of India under the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976.
4. Independence of judiciary and provisions of Judicial Review.
5. The office of the Vice President in India.
6. Conditions and procedure for removing judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts.
7. The process of impeachment of the President of India.
Canada
1. The importance of a federation with strong central administration.
2. Advisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
3. Residuary power of the Central government.
4. The power of the center to appoint a governor in the states.
Australia
1. The concept of concurrent list.
2. The language of the Preamble of the Constitution.
3. Freedom of Trade and Commerce under Article 301 of the Indian Constitution.
4. Joint sitting to resolve the deadlock between the houses of the Parliament.
Russia (formally known as USSR)
1. Fundamental Duties under part IVA of the Indian Constitution.
2. The concept of 5 years plans in India.
France
1. The concept of a republican state.
2. The ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity.
Germany
1. The suspension of fundamental rights during the proclamation of Emergency.
2. The provision related to the proclamation of national, state, and financial emergency.
South Africa
1. Election of the member of Rajya Sabha or Council of States.
2. The provisions related to the amendments in the constitution.
Japan
The concept of the procedure is established by law.
Conclusion
It is a fact that India has various provisions which are borrowed from the constitution of different countries. The reason behind adopting those provisions is to make the Indian Constitution one of the strongest and most diverse constitutions in the world. The lack of resources during the time of independence does not allow the constitution-makers to devise provisions for regulating laws in India. The borrowed feature of the Indian Constitution achieved its objective by successfully implementing various features from different sources in the Constitution of India The borrowed feature plays an active role in the Indian Constitution and without adopting features from foreign nations it would be difficult to regulate India as a nation.
