Ultimate Indian Constitution Guide for PSC EXAM

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Ultimate Indian Constitution guide

History Of Constitution:

The Constitution of India first launched on 26 January 1950. Since then, we celebrate this day as Republic Day. However, before 1950, 26 January was known as Independence Day. Since 26 January 1930, thousands of the people in India gathered in the small and big group and had taken the independence pledge, committing themselves independent from British rule.

22 Parts of the Constitution

Preamble

Part I: Union and its Territory
Part II: Citizenship
Part III: Fundamental Rights
Part IV: Directive Principles of State Policy
Part IVA: Fundamental Duties
Part V: The Union
Part VI: The States
Part VII: States in the B part of the First schedule (Repealed)
Part VIII: The Union Territories
Part IX: The Panchayats
Part IXA: The Municipalities
Part IXB: The Cooperative Societies
Part X: The scheduled and Tribal Areas
Part XI: Relations between the Union and the States
Part XII: Finance, Property, Contracts and Suits
Part XIII: Trade and Commerce within the territory of India
Part XIV: Services Under the Union, the States
Part XIVA: Tribunals
Part XV: Elections
Part XVI: Special Provisions Relating to certain Classes
Part XVII: Languages
Part XVIII: Emergency Provisions
Part XIX: Miscellaneous
Part IX: Amendment of the Constitution
Part XXI: Temporary, Transitional, and Special Provisions
Part XXII: Short title, date of commencement, Authoritative text in Hindi and Repeals

Article of the Constitution:

Article 1-4: Deals with the territory of India, formation of new states, alterations, names of existing states.
Article 5-11: Deals with various rights of citizenship.
Article 12-35: Deals with fundamental rights of Indian Citizen Abolition of untouchability and titles.
Articles 36-51: Deals with Directive Principles of State Policy.
Articles 51A: This part was added by 42nnd Amendment in 1976, which contains the fundamental duties of the citizens.
Articles 52-151: Deals with government at the center level.
Articles 152-237: Deals with government at the state level.
Article 238: Deals with states.
Articles 239-241: Deals with Union Territories
Articles 242-243: It consists of two parts: (i) added by 73rd amendment in 1992, which contains a new schedule. It contains 29 subjects related to Panchayati Raj, who have been given administrative powers.
(ii) It is added by 74th amendment in 1992, which contains a new schedule. It contains 18 subjects relate to municipalities, who have been given administrative powers.
Articles 244-244A: Deals with scheduled and tribal areas.
Articles 245-263: Deals with the relationship between union and states.
Articles 264-300A: Deals with the distribution of revenue between union and states, an appointment of Finance Commission etc.
Article 301-307: Deals with the trade, commerce, and intercourse within the territory of India.
Article 308-323: Deals with UPSC and Public Services Commissions.
Article 323A, 323B: Added by 42nd Amendment in 1976. Deals with administrative tribunals set up by parliament to hear disputes and complaints regarding Union, states or local Government Employees.
Articles 324-329: Deals with election.
Articles 330-342: Deals with special provision for SCs and STs and Anglo-Indian Representatives.
Articles 343-351: Deals with an official language of union and states.
Article 352-360: Deals with emergency provisions, President’s rule.
Articles 361-367: Deals with an exemption of criminal proceedings for their official acts of President and Governors.
Article 368: Deals with Amendment of Constitution
Article 369-392: Article 370 deals with special status to J&K.
Article 371A: Gives special provisions with respect to the state of Nagaland.
Articles 393-395: Deals with the short title, commencement, and repeal of the constitution.

Fundamental Rights

Part III (Articles 12-35) of the Constitution deals with the Fundamental Rights. Originally, seven Fundamental Rights were listed, but after the 44th Amendment, only six Fundamental Rights are existent. These are
Right to Equality (14-18)
Right to freedom of speech (19)
Right against Exploitation (23-24)
Right to freedom of Religion (25-28)
Culture and Educational Right (29-30)
Right to Constitutional Remedies (32-33)
Right to Property used to be a Fundamental Right but after the 44th Amendment, it became a legal right.

Directive Principles of State Policy

Some guidelines were incorporated in the Constitution, but they were not made legally enforceable. A separate list of policy guidelines is included in the Constitution. The list of these guidelines is called the Directive Principles of State Policy. The Chapter on Directive Principles lists mainly three things:
The goals and objectives that we as a society should adopt
Certain rights that individuals should enjoy apart from the Fundamental Rights
Certain policies that the government should adopt

Fundamental Duties

Article (51-A) included in the Constitution in the 42nd Amendment, lays down 10 Fundamental Duties that citizens have towards the state. These are:
To abide by the Constitution, show respect to the National Flag and the National Anthem.
To follow the noble ideas of the freedom struggle.
To protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.
To defend one’s country.
To promote common brotherhood and establish dignity of women.
To preserve our heritage and culture.
To protect the natural environment.
To develop a scientific temper.
To safeguard public property.
To strive for excellence in all spheres of activity.

Schedules of the Constitution

First Schedule of Indian Constitution:                                                    

Name of the state and their territorial jurisdiction
Name of the union territories and their extent

2 Second Schedule of Indian Constitution:

It consists of 5 Parts,
A to E in which comes Article Arts. 59(3), 65(3), 75(6), 97, 125, 148(3), 158(3)
Part A: It fixes the remuneration and emoluments payable to the President and Governors.
Part B: It has been deleted by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act of 1956.
Part C: It contains provisions as to the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of the People and the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Council of States and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council.
Part D: It contains provisions as to emoluments of the judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts.
Part E: It contains provisions as to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

3 Third Schedule of Indian Constitution:

Forms of Oaths and affirmations under Articles 75(4), 99, 124(6), 148(2), 164(3), 188 and 219.

Fourth Schedule:

It contains the allocation of seats of each States and Union Territories in the Council of States in Rajya Sabha.

5 fifth Schedule

It contains provisions as to the Administration and Control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes. This schedule provides for amendment by a simple majority of ent and takes it out of Parliament ambit of Article 368 (Amendment of the Constitution).

Sixth Schedule:

It provides for the Administration of Tribal Areas in Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram under Articles 214(2) and 275(1). This is a lengthy schedule which goes into the details of the administration in the Tribal Areas concerned. This schedule can also be amended by a simple majority of Parliament.

Seventh Schedule:

Gives allocation of powers and functions between Union & States. It contains three lists
Union List (For Central Govt) 97 Subjects.
States List (Powers of State Govt) 66 subjects which are under the exclusive authority of State governments
Concurrent List (Both Union & States) 47 subjects where the Union and States have concurrent powers.

Eighth Schedule:

It gives the list of 22 regional languages recognized by the original Constitution (Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu) the 15th (Sindhi) was added by the 21st Amendment in 1967; and three viz Konkani, Manipuri, and Nepali were added by the 71st Amendment in 1992. In 2004 four more languages were added to the Eighth Schedule viz Bodo, Maithili, Santhali and Dogri. With this total number of regional languages increased to 22.

Ninth Schedule:

It was added by the Constitution’s 1st Amendment Act 1951. It contains Acts and Orders relating to Land tenure, Land tax, Railways, Industries, etc., possessed by the Union government and State governments (including Jammu & Kashmir), which are beyond the jurisdiction of the Civil Courts

Tenth Schedule:

(Fifty Second Amendments) Act 1985. It contains anti-defection Acts for Members of Parliament and Members of the State Legislatures.

Eleventh Schedule:

It (under Article 243 G) mentions functional areas or subjects that are necessary for the implementation of schemes for economic development and social justice in each Panchayat. To mention a few- agriculture, social forestry, small-scale industry, roads, rural housing, PDS, education, health & sanitation, non-conventional energy sources, etc.

Twelfth Schedule:

It mentions three types of municipal committees by 74th amendment in 1992
Nagar Panchayats for transitional area
municipal council for smaller urban areas
Municipal corporation for large urban areas.
Here’s a very interesting quiz based on the above facts to help you practice.

Amendments

1st amendment

June 18, 1951
To fully secure the constitutional validity of zamindari abolition laws.
To place reasonable restriction on freedom of speech.
A new constitutional device, called Schedule 9 introduced to protect laws that are contrary to the Constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights.
These laws encroach upon property rights, freedom of speech and equality before law

2nd amendment

May 1, 1953
A technical amendment to fix the size of each parliamentary constituency between 650,000 and 850,000 voters.

3rd amendment

February 22, 1955
Limits maximum no of seats in lok Sabha up to 500
States to be divided into constituencies such that one member of a constituency represents between 500000 and 750000 people

4th amendment

April 27, 1955
Restrictions on property rights and inclusion of related bills in Schedule 9 of the Constitution

5th amendment

December 24, 1955
Provides for a consultation mechanism with concerned states in matters relating to the amendments to the territorial matters and in the re-naming of the state

6th amendment

September 11, 1956
Amended the Union and State Lists on raising of taxes

7th amendment

November 1, 1956
Reorganization of states on linguistic lines
Abolition of Class A, B, C, D states
Introduction of Union Territories

8th amendment

January 5, 1960
Clarify state’s power of compulsory acquisition and requisitioning of private property
Include Zamindari abolition laws in Schedule 9 of the Constitution

9th amendment

December 28, 1960
Minor adjustments to the territory of the Indian Union consequent to an agreement with Pakistan for settlement of disputes by the demarcation of border villages, etc.

10th amendment

August 11, 1961
Incorporation of Dadra, Nagar and Haveli as a Union Territory after acquisition from Portugal

11th amendment

December 19, 1961
Election of Vice President by Electoral College consisting of members of both Houses of Parliament, instead of election by a Joint Sitting of Parliament.
Indemnify the President and Vice President Election procedure from challenge on grounds of existence of any vacancies in the electoral college

12th amendment

December 20, 1961
Incorporation of Goa, Daman and Diu as a Union Territory, after acquisition from Portugal

13th amendment

December 1, 1963
Formation of State of Nagaland, with special protection under Article 371A

14th amendment

December 28, 1962
Incorporation of Pondicherry into the Union of India
Creation of Legislative Assemblies for Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Manipur and Goa

15th amendment

October 5, 1963
Raise retirement age for judges from 60 to 62
Other minor amendments for rationalizing interpretation of rules regarding judges etc.

16th amendment

October 5, 1963
Make it obligatory for seekers of public office to swear their allegiance to the Indian Republic and prescribe the various obligatory templates

17th amendment

June 20, 1964
To secure the constitutional validity of acquisition of Estates and place land acquisition laws in Schedule 9 of the Constitution

18th amendment

August 27, 1966
Technical Amendment to include Union Territories in Article 3 and hence permit reorganization of Union Territories

19th amendment

December 11, 1966
Abolish Election Tribunals and enable trial of election petitions by regular High Courts

20th amendment

December 22, 1966
Indemnify & validate judgments, decrees, orders and sentences passed by judges.
Validate the appointment, posting, promotion and transfer of judges except those not eligible for appointment under Article 233.
Amendment was needed to overcome the effect of judgment invalidating appointments of certain judges in the state of Uttar Pradesh

21th amendment

April 10, 1967
Included Sindhi as a National Language

22nd amendment

September 25, 1969
Provision to form Autonomous States within the State of Assam

23rd amendment

January 23, 1970
Extend reservation for SC / ST and nomination of Anglo Indian members in Parliament and State Assemblies for another ten years i.e. up to 1980

24th amendment

November 5, 1971
Enable parliament to dilute fundamental rights through changes to the constitution

25th amendment

April 20, 1972
Restrict property rights and compensation in case the state takes over private property

26th amendment

December 28, 1971
Abolition of privy purse paid to former rulers of princely states which were incorporated into the Indian Republic

27th amendment

February 15, 1972
Reorganization of Mizoram into a Union Territory with a legislature and council of ministers

28th amendment

August 29, 1972
Rationalized Civil Service rules to make it uniform across those appointed prior to Independence and post independence

29th amendment

June 9, 1972
Places land reform acts and amendments to these act under Schedule 9 of the constitution

30th amendment

February 27, 1973
Changes the basis for appeals in Supreme Court of India in case of Civil Suits from value criteria to one involving substantial question of law

31th amendment

October 17, 1973
Increased size of Parliament from 525 to 545 seats.
Increased seats went to the new states formed in North East India and minor adjustment consequent to 1971 Delimitation exercise

32nd amendment

July 1, 1974
Protection of regional rights in Telangana and Andhra regions of State of Andhra Pradesh

33rd amendment

May 19, 1974
Prescribes procedure for resignation by members of parliament and state legislatures
Prescribes procedure for verification and acceptance of resignation by house speaker

34th amendment

September 7, 1974
Place land reform acts and amendments to these act under Schedule 9 of the constitution

35th amendment

March 1, 1975
Terms and Conditions for the Incorporation of Sikkim into the Union of India

36th amendment

April 26, 1975
Formation of Sikkim as a State within the Indian Union

37th amendment

May 3, 1975
Formation of Arunachal Pradesh legislative assembly

38th amendment

August 1, 1975
Enhances the powers of President and Governors to pass ordinances

39th amendment

August 10, 1975
Negated the judgement of Allahabad High Court invalidating Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s election to parliament.
Amendment placed restrictions on judicial scrutiny of post of Prime Minister

40th amendment

May 27, 1976
Enable Parliament to make laws with respect to Exclusive Economic Zone and vest the mineral wealth with Union of India.
Place land reform & other acts and amendments to these act under Schedule 9 of the constitution

41th amendment

September 7, 1976
Raised Retirement Age Limit of Chairmen and Members of Union and State Public Commissions from sixty to sixty two.

42nd amendment

April 1, 1977
Amendment passed during internal emergency by Indira Gandhi.
Provides for curtailment of fundamental rights, imposes fundamental duties and changes to the basic structure of the constitution by making India a “Socialist Secular” Republic

43rd amendment

April 13, 1978
Amendment passed after revocation of internal emergency in the Country.
Repeals some of the more ‘Anti-Freedom’ amendments enacted through Amendment Bill 42

44th amendment

September 6, 1979
Amendment passed after revocation of internal emergency in the Country.
Provides for human rights safeguards and mechanisms to prevent abuse of executive and legislative authority.
Annuls some Amendments enacted in Amendment Bill 42

45th amendment

January 25, 1980
Extend reservation for SC / ST and nomination of Anglo Indian members in Parliament and State Assemblies for another ten years i.e. up to 1990

46th amendment

February 2, 1983
Amendment to negate judicial pronouncements on scope and applicability on Sales Tax

47th amendment

August 26, 1984
Place land reform acts and amendments to these act under Schedule 9 of the constitution

48th amendment

April 1, 1985
Article 356 amended to permit President’s rule up to two years in the state of Punjab

49th amendment

September 11, 1984
Recognize Tripura as a Tribal State and enable the creation of a Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council

50th amendment

September 11, 1984
Technical Amendment to curtailment of Fundamental Rights as per Part III as prescribed in Article 33 to cover Security Personnel protecting property and communication infrastructure

51th amendment

June 16, 1986
Provide reservation to Scheduled Tribes in Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assemblies

52nd amendment

March 1, 1985
Anti Defection Law – Provide disqualification of members from parliament and assembly in case of defection from one party to other

53rd amendment

February 20, 1987
Special provision with respect to the State of Mizoram.

54th amendment

April 1, 1986
Increase the salary of Chief Justice of India & other Judges
Provisions for determining future increases without the need for constitutional amendment

55th amendment

February 20, 1987
Special powers to Governor consequent to formation of state of Arunachal Pradesh

56th amendment

May 30, 1987
Transition provision to enable formation of state of Goa

57th amendment

September 21, 1987
Provide reservation to Scheduled Tribes in Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assemblies

58th amendment

December 9, 1987
Provision to publish authentic Hindi translation of constitution
Provision to publish authentic Hindi translation of future amendments

59th amendment

March 30, 1988
Article 356 amended to permit President’s rule up to three years in the state of Punjab
Articles 352 and Article 359A amended to permit imposing emergency in state of Punjab or in specific districts of the state of Punjab

60th amendment

December 20, 1988
Professional Tax increased from a maximum of Rs. 250/- to a maximum of Rs. 2500/-

61th amendment

March 28, 1989
Reduce age for voting rights from 21 to 18

62nd amendment

December 20, 1989
Extend reservation for SC / ST and nomination of Anglo Indian members in Parliament and State Assemblies for another ten years i.e. up to 2000

63rd amendment

January 6, 1990
Emergency powers applicable to State of Punjab, accorded in Article 359A as per amendment 59 repealed

64th amendment

April 16, 1990
Article 356 amended to permit President’s rule up to three years and six months in the state of Punjab

65th amendment

March 12, 1992
National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes formed and its statutory powers specified in The Constitution.

66th amendment

June 7, 1990
Place land reform acts and amendments to these act under Schedule 9 of the constitution

67th amendment

October 4, 1990
Article 356 amended to permit President’s rule up to four years in the state of Punjab

68th amendment

March 12, 1991
Article 356 amended to permit President’s rule up to five years in the state of Punjab

69th amendment

February 1, 1992
To provide for a legislative assembly and council of ministers for Federal National Capital of Delhi. Delhi continues to be a Union Territory

70th amendment

December 21, 1991
Include National Capital of Delhi and Union Territory of Pondicherry in electoral college for Presidential Election

71th amendment

August 31, 1992
Include Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali as National Languages

72nd amendment

December 5, 1992
Provide reservation to Scheduled Tribes in Tripura State Legislative Assembly

73rd amendment

April 24, 1993
Statutory provisions for Panchayati Raj as third level of administration in villages

74th amendment

June 1, 1993
Statutory provisions for Local Administrative bodies as third level of administration in urban areas such as towns and cities

75th amendment

May 15, 1994
Provisions for setting up Rent Control Tribunals

76th amendment

August 31, 1994
Enable continuance of 69% reservation in Tamil Nadu by including the relevant Tamil Nadu Act under 9th Schedule of the constitution

77th amendment

June 17, 1995
A technical amendment to protect reservation to SC/ST Employees in promotions

78th amendment

August 30, 1995
Place land reform acts and amendments to these act under Schedule 9 of the constitution

79th amendment

January 25, 2000
Extend reservation for SC / ST and nomination of Anglo Indian members in Parliament and State Assemblies for another ten years i.e. up to 2010

80th amendment

June 9, 2000
Implement Tenth Finance Commission recommendation to simplify the tax structures by pooling and sharing all taxes between states and The Centre

81th amendment

June 9, 2000
Protect SC / ST reservation in filling backlog of vacancies

82nd amendment

September 8, 2000
Permit relaxation of qualifying marks and other criteria in reservation in promotion for SC / ST candidates

83rd amendment

September 8, 2000
Exempt Arunachal Pradesh from reservation for Scheduled Castes in Panchayati Raj institutions

84th amendment

February 21, 2002
Extend the usage of 1971 national census population figures for state wise distribution of parliamentary seats

85th amendment

January 4, 2002
A technical amendment to protect seniority in case of promotions of SC/ST Employees

86th amendment

December 12, 2002
Provides Right to Education until the age of fourteen and Early childhood care until the age of six

87th amendment

June 22, 2003
Extend the usage of 1971 national census population figures for state wise distribution of parliamentary seats

88th amendment

January 15, 2004
To extend statutory cover for levy and utilization of Service Tax

89th amendment

September 28, 2003
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was bifurcated into The National Commission for Scheduled Castes and The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes

90th amendment

September 28, 2003
Reservation in Assam Assembly relating to Bodoland Territorial Area

91th amendment

January 1, 2004
Restrict the size of council of ministers to 15 % of legislative members & to strengthen Anti Defection laws

92nd amendment

January 7, 2004
Enable Levy of Service Tax
Include Bodo, Dogri, Santali and Maithili as National Languages

93rd amendment

January 20, 2006
To enable provision of reservation for other backward classes (O.B.C.) in government as well as private educational institutions

94th amendment

June 12, 2006
To provide for a Minister of Tribal Welfare in newly created Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh States

95th amendment

25 January 2010
Extended the reservation of seats in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for SC and ST from sixty to seventy years

96th amendment

23 September 2011
Substituted “Odia” for “Oriya”

97th amendment

12 January 2012
Added the words “or co-operative societies” in Article 19(l)(c) and inserted Article 43B i.e, Promotion of Co-operative Societies and added Part-IXB i.e, THE CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES

98th Amendment

Act, 2013
To empower the Governor of Karnataka to take steps to develop the Hyderabad-Karnataka Region.

99th Amendment

Act, 2014
The amendment provides for the formation of a National Judicial Appointments Commission.

In this Ultimate Indian Constitution Guide For 2016 Government Job, We try to cover most of the Important Points about Indian Constitution. If you feel we have missed some-thing don’t feel comment bellow we love to add them in this blog.