UPSC Prelims 2026 Q55: Articles 393, 394, 395 — Explained
Consider the following statements with reference to the Constitution of India:
1. There is no Article in the Constitution of India that specifies that the Constitution of India will be officially called the 'Constitution of India'.
2. There is no Article in the Constitution of India that specifies that the Indian Independence Act, 1947 and the Government of India Act, 1935 stand repealed.
3. There is no Article in the Constitution of India that mentions 26th January, 1950 as the date of the commencement of the Constitution of India.
Which one of the following conclusions based on the above statements is correct?
- All three statements are correct.
- There is no correct statement.
- There are two correct statements that include statement 3.
- There is only one correct statement.
Answer: (b) There is no correct statement.
Statement-wise explanation
- 1: incorrect — Article 393, headed 'Short title', says: "This Constitution may be called the Constitution of India." So an Article does give the Constitution its name. The words 'may be called' are the usual drafting style for a short-title clause, the same as in ordinary Acts of Parliament. They still settle the official name.
- 2: incorrect — Article 395, headed 'Repeals', states that the Indian Independence Act, 1947 and the Government of India Act, 1935 are 'hereby repealed'. The repeal also covers all enactments amending or supplementing the 1935 Act. It expressly excludes the Abolition of Privy Council Jurisdiction Act, 1949. So an Article does specify the repeal of both Acts.
- 3: incorrect — Article 394, headed 'Commencement', brings itself and Articles 5–9, 60, 324, 366, 367, 379, 380, 388, 391, 392 and 393 into force 'at once', that is, on 26 November 1949. It then states that the remaining provisions 'shall come into force on the twenty-sixth day of January, 1950'. So 26 January 1950 is written into the text of the Constitution as its date of commencement.
How to eliminate
All three statements make the same kind of claim: 'there is no Article that…'. Each one can be disproved by naming a single Article, and all three answers sit in Part XXII (Articles 393–395). You can narrow it step by step. First, most aspirants know that the Constitution itself repealed the Indian Independence Act, 1947 and the Government of India Act, 1935. That makes statement 2 false and removes 'all three correct'. Second, Republic Day is 26 January because the Constitution fixed that date for its commencement. That makes statement 3 false and removes the option built around statement 3. You are then left choosing between 'only one correct' and 'none correct', and statement 1 decides it. Every Act has a short-title clause, and the Constitution has one too: Article 393. Facts to remember: 393 is the short title, 394 is commencement, 394A is the authoritative Hindi text, 395 is repeals.
Know more
Part XXII: the closing Articles of the Constitution
The last Part of the Constitution covers housekeeping. It names the document, says when it takes effect, provides for an authoritative Hindi text, and cuts the legal link with British-era Acts.
| Article | Heading | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| 393 | Short title | "This Constitution may be called the Constitution of India." |
| 394 | Commencement | Some Articles come into force at once (26 Nov 1949). The rest come into force on 26 Jan 1950. |
| 394A | Authoritative text in Hindi | Added by the 58th Amendment, 1987. Provides for an authoritative Hindi translation published under the President's authority. |
| 395 | Repeals | Repeals the Indian Independence Act, 1947 and the Government of India Act, 1935, but not the Abolition of Privy Council Jurisdiction Act, 1949. |
Two dates of commencement. The Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949. That date has been observed as Samvidhan Divas since 2015. Under Article 394, a small set of provisions came into force that same day because they were needed before the changeover:
- citizenship (Articles 5–9)
- the President's oath (Article 60)
- the Election Commission (Article 324)
- definitions and interpretation (Articles 366–367)
- transitional provisions (Articles 379, 380, 388, 391, 392)
- the short title (Article 393)
Everything else came into force on 26 January 1950. That date was chosen because of the Purna Swaraj declaration of 26 January 1930.
Why the repeal matters. The Indian Independence Act, 1947 was passed by the British Parliament. Repealing it through Article 395 meant the Constitution did not owe its authority to a British statute. This is often called 'autochthony': the Constitution is home-grown and self-standing. The repeal does not cover the Privy Council Jurisdiction Act, 1949, an Act of the Constituent Assembly that ended appeals to the Privy Council.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Provisions in force from 26 November 1949: Statement 3 turns on Article 394's two-stage commencement: some provisions from 26 November 1949, the rest from a later date.
- Indian Independence Act 1947: Statement 2 asks whether the Constitution itself ended this British statute's force in India.
- Authoritative Hindi text of the Constitution: Article 394A sits in the same closing Part as the Articles on short title, commencement and repeals.
- Citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution: The citizenship Articles (5–9) are among those Article 394 brought into force before the general commencement date.