Constitutional antecedents: colonial Acts and nationalist blueprints

Detail

A. Two parallel tracks before 1946

• Colonial track. Britain passed Acts of Parliament that slowly gave Indians a share in government. It kept the real power for itself.
• Nationalist track. Indian leaders wrote their own drafts, reports and resolutions. These set out rights, adult franchise and self-rule.
• The Constitution drew on both tracks. It took its structure mostly from the colonial Acts, and its rights and social goals mostly from the nationalist drafts.

B. Government of India Act 1919 (Montagu-Chelmsford reforms)

• The Act is named after Edwin Montagu (Secretary of State for India) and Lord Chelmsford (Viceroy).
• Dyarchy means "dual government". The provinces had two sets of rulers, each in charge of different subjects:

Category	Example subjects	Who controlled them	Answerable to
Transferred subjects	Education, public health, local self-government	Indian ministers	The provincial legislature
Reserved subjects	Law and order, finance, land revenue	Governor and his executive council	The British, not the legislature

• Why dyarchy failed:
• Ministers ran "soft" subjects but did not control money. Finance was a reserved subject.

• So the Governor could block any policy by refusing funds. Ministers were responsible to the legislature but had little real power.

• Central legislature. The Act made it bicameral (two houses): the Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the Council of State (upper house).

• Members were directly elected, but on a narrow property franchise. Only people who owned property, paid tax or had education could vote.

• Taken together, the 1919 and 1935 Acts let only about 3–10% of Indians vote, based on property, income and education [5].

• Division of subjects. Central subjects and provincial subjects were listed separately for the first time. This was an early form of the later legislative lists.

• Communal representation. This means separate electorates, where a community's seats are filled only by voters of that community. The 1909 Act had given them to Muslims. The 1919 Act extended them to Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans.
• Public Service Commission. The Act provided for one. It was set up in 1926, and the UPSC later grew out of it.
• Ten-year review clause. The Act said its working must be reviewed after ten years.
• This led to the Simon Commission (1927), which had no Indian members.
• Indians boycotted it ("Simon Go Back"). In reply, Indians wrote their own draft, the Nehru Report (1928).

C. Government of India Act 1935

• The Act came out of the three Round Table Conferences held in London (1930–32) [3]. It was the longest and most detailed Act Britain passed for India.
• All-India Federation. The Act proposed a federation of British provinces and princely states. The princes had to agree to join, and too few did. The federation never came into being.
• Three lists. The Act divided law-making power into three lists [2]:
• Federal List: subjects for the Centre.
• Provincial List: subjects for the provinces.
• Concurrent List: subjects both can make laws on.

• Residuary powers (subjects on no list) went to the Governor-General. This is a key difference from today, where Parliament holds them.

• Provincial autonomy. This means provinces ran their own subjects through elected ministers, without dyarchy.

• Dyarchy in the provinces ended, and popularly elected provincial legislatures emerged [2][3].

• The Governor still kept special responsibilities and discretionary powers.

• Dyarchy at the Centre. The Act proposed it. Defence and foreign affairs would have stayed directly under the Governor-General [2]. It was never brought in, because it depended on the federation, which never formed.

• Institutions created:
• Federal Court (1937): the forerunner of the Supreme Court [2].
• Reserve Bank of India (1935).

• Public service commissions: a Federal PSC, Provincial PSCs, and Joint PSCs for two or more provinces.

• Bicameralism. Six of the eleven provinces got two-house legislatures [2].

• Franchise. About a tenth of the population could vote, roughly 30 million Indians [3].
• Link to the Constituent Assembly.
• Elections to the provincial assemblies were held in 1945–46 under this Act.

• These assemblies then indirectly elected the Constituent Assembly. So the Constituent Assembly was not chosen by adult franchise.

• Biggest single source of the Constitution's structure. The Constitution took the following from it:

• the federal scheme and the three-list pattern (now the Seventh Schedule)
• the Governor's office
• the structure of the judiciary
• the public service commissions
• the emergency provisions
• a large share of administrative detail.

D. Nationalist blueprints

Constitution of India Bill 1895

• This was the first unofficial (non-official) draft constitution written by Indians. It is generally credited to Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
• It said every citizen could take part in public affairs and hold public office.
• It said "every citizen shall have the right to give one vote". This was an early demand for universal franchise [5].

Nehru Report (1928)

• An all-parties conference set up a committee under Motilal Nehru. It was a reply to the Simon Commission, and the first constitutional document drafted by Indian leaders through a conference of parties, including the Congress and the Muslim League [4].
• Main proposals:
• Dominion status: self-government within the British Empire, like Canada.
• A bill of fundamental rights. This included freedom of conscience and religion, free expression, and the right to assemble peaceably without arms and to form associations or unions [4].
• Adult franchise: "Every person of either sex who has attained the age of 21 and is not disqualified by law, shall be entitled to vote" [4][5].
• Joint electorates with reserved seats. All communities vote together, but some seats are kept for minorities. This replaced separate electorates.
• Responsible government: ministers answerable to the legislature.
• Linguistic provinces.

• Residuary powers with the Centre.

• Reaction.

• Jinnah's Fourteen Points (1929) rejected the report. Jinnah wanted separate electorates and residuary powers with the provinces.
• Younger Congress leaders found dominion status too weak.
• The Lahore Congress (December 1929) adopted Purna Swaraj (complete independence) as the goal. "Independence Day" was observed on 26 January 1930. That is why the Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950.

Karachi Resolution (1931)

• This was the Congress resolution on "Fundamental Rights and Economic and Social Change" [6]. Sardar Patel presided over the Karachi session, and Jawaharlal Nehru drafted the resolution.
• Core idea. Political freedom must include real economic freedom for the starving millions [6].
• Contents:
• civil liberties: speech, press, assembly, religion
• equality before law irrespective of religion, caste or sex
• adult suffrage as the base of any future constitution [5]
• free primary education
• a living wage and labour protections

• state ownership or control of key industries.

• Significance.

• The Nehru Report had included some socio-economic rights. Karachi was the first to put them at the centre of India's constitutional goals [6].
• Its civil rights match Part III (Fundamental Rights). Its economic goals match Part IV (Directive Principles of State Policy), which are guidelines for government that courts cannot enforce [6].

E. The demand for a Constituent Assembly

• A Constituent Assembly is a body elected to write a constitution. The idea was that Indians, not the British Parliament, should frame India's constitution.

Year	Event
1934	M.N. Roy first put forward the idea
1935	The Congress formally demanded a Constituent Assembly
1938	Nehru called for an assembly elected on adult franchise
1940	The August Offer accepted, in principle, that Indians would frame their own constitution
1942	The Cripps Mission offered an elected constitution-making body after the war
1945	The Sapru Committee report

• Sapru Committee (1945), chaired by Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru:
• It was set up mainly to settle the minority question, which had blocked agreement for years [7].
• It included fundamental rights such as freedom of speech and press, religious freedom and equality. It also supported universal adult suffrage [7][5].
• Justiciable rights are rights you can enforce in a court. Non-justiciable rights are goals the state should follow, but no court can force it to.
• The committee raised this split in the explanatory part of its report. It did not include it in its formal recommendations. This was arguably the first time a constitutional document in India raised the question [7]. (NCERT: the committee proposed dividing rights into justiciable and non-justiciable.)

• It is the ancestor of the Part III / Part IV split in the Constitution.

• The 1909, 1919 and 1935 reforms as a step-by-step history are covered in the framing-constitution note.

F. From blueprints to the Constitution

• Adult franchise. The idea ran from the 1895 Bill to the Nehru Report (1928), the Karachi Resolution (1931) and the Sapru Report (1945). It ended in Article 326, which provides for elections on adult suffrage. About 173 million voters registered for the 1951–52 general election [5].

Prelims Hooks

• Dyarchy first came in the provinces under the GoI Act 1919. The 1935 Act ended it in the provinces and proposed it at the Centre, but it was never implemented there.
• Under the 1919 Act, transferred subjects were education, public health and local self-government. Reserved subjects were law and order, finance and land revenue.
• 1919 Act: extended communal electorates to Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans. Its 10-year review clause led to the Simon Commission (1927).
• 1935 Act: residuary powers went to the Governor-General, not to the Centre or the provinces. Trap: the Nehru Report put them with the Centre, and Jinnah wanted them with the provinces.
• 1935 Act created the Federal Court (1937), the RBI (1935) and PSCs. It gave 6 of 11 provinces bicameral legislatures.
• Constitution of India Bill 1895 was the first non-official draft and is credited to Tilak. Trap: it is not the Nehru Report.
• Nehru Report (1928) asked for dominion status and set the voting age at 21. Purna Swaraj came later, at the Lahore session (1929).
• Karachi Resolution (1931): Patel presided and Nehru drafted it. It was the first Congress document to join civil rights with an economic programme, foreshadowing Parts III and IV.
• Order of the Constituent Assembly demand: M.N. Roy (1934) → Congress (1935) → August Offer (1940) → Cripps (1942).
• The Constituent Assembly was indirectly elected by provincial assemblies chosen in 1945–46 under the 1935 Act. It was not elected on adult franchise.

Mains Points

• "Old wine in a new bottle"? Critics say the Constitution largely copies the GoI Act 1935, in its federal lists, Governor, emergency powers and administrative detail.
• In reply, the Constitution put these colonial tools under responsible government, adult franchise and Fundamental Rights.

• Borrowing a structure that already worked gave a new and divided country continuity. It did not mean accepting colonial values.

• Colonial control vs. democratic purpose. Several features designed for imperial control survived: a strong Centre, the Governor's discretion and emergency provisions.

• This shows up in today's federal tensions, such as Governors' roles and President's rule. It helps explain the "quasi-federal" label for the Constitution (federal in form, with a strong Centre).

• Indigenous roots of rights. Indian rights thinking was home-grown, running from 1895 to 1928, 1931 and 1945.

• The Karachi Resolution joined civil liberty with economic justice. The Sapru Committee raised the justiciable/non-justiciable question.

• Together they answer the charge that Parts III and IV were simply copied from the US and Irish constitutions.

• Representation debate. The fight between separate electorates (1909, 1919 and the Fourteen Points) and joint electorates with reserved seats (Nehru Report) was settled in favour of the latter. It is the basis of today's SC/ST reserved constituencies, and a lesson in how electoral design can either deepen or bridge communal divides.