Carbon copy of the 1935 Act
Topic: Making of the Constitution: Constituent Assembly, Sources and Salient Features · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
This criticism says the Constitution largely repeats the Government of India Act 1935, a law made by the British Parliament. The 1935 Act is in fact the biggest single source of the Constitution's structure. Ambedkar made "no apologies" for this. He argued there is nothing shameful in borrowing administrative details that had already been tested and worked in India.
Example
The 1935 Act created three lists of subjects: Federal, Provincial and Concurrent. The Seventh Schedule's Union, State and Concurrent Lists follow the same plan. The federal scheme, the Governor's office, the emergency provisions, the public service commissions and much administrative detail also come from the 1935 Act. There are changes too. Residuary powers (subjects named in no list) went to the Governor-General under the 1935 Act but to the Union Parliament under Art. 248. Art. 395 also repealed the 1935 Act itself.
Don't confuse with
- Borrowed constitution: this criticism says the Constitution copied foreign constitutions, such as those of Britain, the USA and Ireland. It is not about the colonial 1935 Act.