Convention
Also called: Constitutional convention · Topic: Preamble and the Philosophy of the Constitution · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A convention, also called a constitutional convention, is an unwritten rule that government institutions follow out of habit and shared understanding. No article or Act creates it, and no court can enforce it. It works because leaders, parties and the public expect it to be obeyed, and breaking it carries a political cost. Conventions matter because they fill gaps in the written Constitution and decide how many powers are actually used.
Example
Article 75 says only that the President appoints the Prime Minister. By convention, the President invites the leader of the party or group with a majority in the Lok Sabha. Outside the Constitution, Jawaharlal Nehru was the first President of the Sahitya Akademi while he was also Prime Minister. He promised that the Prime Minister would not interfere in its work. The Akademi is registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, not set up by its own law. So its independence rests on this convention alone, and a later government could ignore it.
Don't confuse with
- Constitutional convention (as a body): in some countries, this phrase means an assembly that writes a constitution, such as India's Constituent Assembly. That is a gathering of people, not an unwritten rule.
- International convention: a written treaty between countries that binds the states that sign it. A constitutional convention is unwritten and cannot be enforced in court.