QUES . It would have been difficult for the Constituent Assembly to complete its historic task of drafting the Constitution for Independent India in just three years, but its experience gained with the Government of India Act, 1935. Discuss. UPSC MAINS 2015 GS PAPER I

HINTS:

The Constituent Assembly of India was established to draft a constitution for India. It completed its task of drafting the Constitution for Independent India in just three years.

The Government of India Act, 1935 proved to be the major source of inspiration while drafting the Constitution for Independent India which really fastened the constitution drafting process but there were other sources of inspiration as well.

Must read: Government of India Act, 1919

Prominent features of the Indian constitution which were inspired from Government of India Act, 1935

The most profound influence and material source of the Constitution is the Government of India Act, 1935. The Federal Scheme, Judiciary, Governors, Emergency Powers, the Public Service Commissions and most of the administrative details are drawn from this Act. More than half of the provisions of Constitution are identical to or bear a close resemblance to the Act of 1935.

Must read: Indian legislature under the Act of 1919 was powerless

Prominent features of the Indian constitution which were inspired from Government of India Act 1935 are:

Bicameral Legislature:

The Indian Parliament with the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha forming the legislative system is taken from the 1935 Act.

Must read: Government of India Act of 1858 – Act for the Good Government of India

Office of the Governor:

The constitutional post of the Governor, his appointment, and his powers are mentioned in Article 152 to Article 162. The 1935 Act established the office of the Governor with all the executive powers and authority of the centre was vested in the Governor.

Must read: Charter Act of 1853 – the last of the series of Charter Acts

Federal structure with a strong central government

The Act laid the foundation for a strong central government, which was further reinforced by the Constituent Assembly to meet the needs of a diverse, newly independent nation.

The Act’s establishment of a federal structure with a central authority and provincial governments greatly influenced India’s federal design.

Must read: Charter Act of 1833 – the final step towards centralisation

Emergency provision:

Section 45 of the Government of India Act 1935 provided provision in case of failure of constitutional machinery. Such provisions have also been included in the Constitution.

Must read: Charter Act of 1813

Administrative Details and Inter-State Relations:

The Inter-State relations and water dispute redressal mechanisms in the Indian Constitution were inspired by Section 130 of the 1935 Act.

Must read: Charter Act of 1793

Separation of power:

No discussions shall take place in Parliament with respect to the behaviour of any Judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court in the exercise of his duties,” is given by Articles 121 and 211 of the Indian constitution respectively. This was taken from Section 40 and Section 86 of the 1935 Act.

Must read: Act of 1786

Division of Powers:

Schedule 7 of the Indian constitution and Centre-state relations (Article 256-263) are based on the sections of the 1935 act.

Must read: Pitt’s India Act of 1784

Residuary Powers:

The residuary powers concerning items not listed in the Schedule 7 lists are vested with the Union government. Similarly, the residuary powers in the Government of India 1935 Act were handed over to the Viceroy.

Must read: Act of Settlement 1781 – the Amending Act of 1781

Other sources than Government of India Act, 1935 from where the constitution was inspired

Although the structural part of the Constitution is, to a large extent, derived from the Government of India Act of 1935, the philosophical part of the Constitution (the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy) derive their inspiration from the American and Irish Constitutions, respectively.

Must read: Regulating Act of 1773 – the foundation of central administration in India

The political part of the Constitution (the principle of Cabinet Government and the relations between the Executive and the Legislature) have been largely drawn from the British Constitution.

The other provisions of the Constitution have been drawn from the Constitutions of Canada, Australia, Germany, USSR (now Russia), France, South Africa, Japan and so on.

While it is widely agreed that the Government of India Act, 1935 reduced the time frames of constitution creation, we should not forget that it was drafted to manage the affairs of a colony to fulfil the commercial interests of Britain.