History And Purpose Of Our Preamble

The term 'preamble' refers to the beginning of a statute. It is the first section of the constitution. A preamble can also be used to introduce a specific section or section group.

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into an SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens JUSTICE, social, economic and political; LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation; IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this 26th day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.

 

The Constitutional (Fourty Second) Amendment Act of 1976 added the words SOCIALIST, SECULAR, and integrity.

1. Constitutional Authority: According to the Preamble, the Constitution derives its authority from the people of India.

 

2. Indian State Nature: It declares India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular democratic, and republican state.

 

3. The Constitution's Objectives: The Constitution's objectives are justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity.

 

4. The date of the Constitution's adoption is November 26, 1949, according to the document.

The preamble to the Indian Constitution is a brief introductory statement that establishes guidelines, which guide the nation's people, and presents the Constitution's principles. The Preamble to the Indian Constitution describes the people's hopes and aspirations. The preamble, also known as the preface, is a summary of the entire Constitution.

 

The preamble is based on Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru's Objectives Resolution, which he drafted and moved in the Constituent Assembly on December 13, 1946. The preamble was described by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar as follows:

 

“It was, indeed, a way of life, which recognises liberty, equality, and fraternity as the principles of life and which cannot be divorced from each other: Liberty cannot be divorced from equality; equality cannot be di-vorced from liberty. Nor can liberty and equality be divorced from fraternity. Without equality, liberty would produce the supremacy of the few over the many. Equality without liberty would kill individual initiative. Without fraternity, liberty and equality could not become a natural course of things.”

 

The Preamble to the American Constitution was the first to include one. This was followed by many countries, including India. The term 'preamble' refers to the Constitution's introduction or preface. It contains the Constitution's summary or essence. The Preamble, according to N. A. Palkhivala, an eminent jurist and constitutional expert, is the Constitution's "identity card."

 

The Indian constitution's preamble is based on "Objective Resolution." On December 13, 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru introduced an objective resolution, which was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on January 22, 1947. In formulating the Preamble in light of "Objective Resolution," the assembly's drafting committee felt that the Preamble should be limited to defining the essential features of the new state and its basic socio-political objectives, and that the other matters addressed by Resolution could be better addressed in the substantive parts of the Constitution.

 

The committee chose 'Sovereign Democratic Republic' instead of 'Sovereign Independent Republic,' as used in the "Objective Resolution," because it believed the word Sovereign implied independence. The committee added the word fraternity to the Objective Resolution, which was missing. "The committee felt that the need for fraternal concord and goodwill in India had never been greater than it is now, and that this particular goal of the new Constitution should be emphasised by special mention in the Preamble," according to the committee. In other ways, the committee attempted to capture "the spirit and, as far as possible, the language of "Objective Resolution" in the Preamble.

 

The Preamble does not grant any authority, but it does give the Constitution direction and purpose. It lays out the goals of the entire Constitution. The fundamentals of the constitution are contained in the Preamble. The main goals of legislation are spelled out in the preamble to an act.

 

The preamble's proper function is to explain and recite certain facts that must be explained and recited before the enactment contained in an act of Parliament can be comprehended. A preamble can be used for a variety of purposes, including limiting the scope of certain expressions, explaining facts, and introducing definitions. It usually states, or claims to state, the legislature's general purpose and meaning in passing the measure.

 

As a result, whenever the enacting part in any of these respects is prone to doubt, it may be legitimately consulted for the purpose of resolving an ambiguity, fixing the connotation of words that may have more meaning, or determining the Act. In a nutshell, when a court is unsure whether the narrower or more liberal interpretation should be applied to language that can be interpreted both ways, it can look to the Act's object and policy, which are stated in the Preamble.

 

In A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras, it was argued that the preamble to our constitution, which aims to make India a "democratic" country, should be the starting point for interpreting it, and that any law passed under Article 21 should be declared void if it violates natural justice principles, because otherwise, the so-called "fundamental" rights to life and personal liberty would be rendered meaningless. The majority of the Supreme Court's bench rejected this argument, stating that the term "law" in Article 21 refers to positive or state-made law rather than natural justice, and that the preamble could not be used to change the meaning of the language of Article 21.

 

The Supreme Court ruled in the Berubari Union case that the preamble had never been considered the source of any substantive power conferred on the government or any of its departments. "What is true about the powers is also true about the prohibitions and limitations," the court continued. As a result, it concluded that the preamble was of limited utility. The court decided that if the language of the enactment contained in the constitution was clear, the preamble would not be used.

 

However, “if the terms used in any of the articles in the constitution are ambiguous or capable of twomeanings, in interpreting them some assistance may be sought in the objectives enshrined in the Preamble.”

 

In the case of State of Rajasthan v. Basant Nahata, it was decided that a preamble to an ordinary statute should only be used when the language is capable of more than one meaning and not when something cannot be given a precise meaning, such as in the case of public policy.

 

The Supreme Court emphasised the preamble in the Keshavananda Bharati case. The main issue before the Supreme Court in this case was the scope of the Union Parliament's amending power under Article 368 of the Indian Constitution. The Preamble's drafting and eventual adoption were traced by the Supreme Court. Chief Justice Sikri observed,“No authority has been referred before us to establish the propositions that what is true about the powers isequally true about the prohibitions and limitations. Even from the Preamble limitations have been derived insome cases. It seems to me that the preamble of our Constitution is of extreme importance and the constitutionshould be read and interpreted in the light of the grand and noble vision expressed in the preamble.”

 

The preamble's objectives, according to a majority of the full bench, contain the basic structure of our constitution, which cannot be amended in the exercise of the power under Article 368 of the constitution.

 

The preamble, as a part of the constitution, was also found to be within the scope of the Parliament's amending power under Article 368. The Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act 1976 exercised this amending power by amending the preamble by inserting the terms socialist, secular, and integrity.

 

The Supreme Court ruled in the 1995 case of Union Government v. LIC of India that the Preamble is an essential part of the Constitution.