(b) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public.
(3) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children.
Article 15
First Amendment
15. (4) Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
Article 31
Original Constitution
31. (1) No person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law.
(2) No property, movable or immovable, including any interest in, or in any company owning, any commercial or industrial undertaking, shall be taken possession of or acquired for public purposes under any law authorising the taking of such possession or such acquisition, unless the law provides for compensation for the property taken possession of or acquired and either fixes the amount of the compensation, or specifies the principles on which, and the manner in which, the compensation is to be determined and given.
(3) No such law as is referred to in clause (2) made by the Legislature of a State shall have effect unless such law, having been reserved for the consideration of the President, has received his assent.
(4) If any Bill pending at the commencement of this Constitution in the Legislature of a State has, after it has been passed by such Legislature, been reserved for the consideration of the President and has received his assent, then, notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, the law so assented to shall not be called in question in any court on the ground that it contravenes the provisions of clause (2).
(5) Nothing in clause (2) shall affect—
(a) the provisions of any existing law other than a law to which the provisions of clause (6) apply, or
(b) the provisions of any law which the State may hereafter make— i) for the purpose of imposing or levying any tax or penalty, or
(ii) for the promotion of public health or the prevention of danger to life or property, or
(iii) in pursuance of any agreement entered into between the Government of the Dominion of India or the Government of India and the Government of any other country, or otherwise, with respect to property declared by law to be evacuee property.
(6) Any law of the State enacted not more than eighteen months before the commencement of this Constitution may within three months from such commencement be submitted to the President for his certification; and thereupon, if the President by public notification so certifies, it shall not be called in question in any court on the ground that it contravenes the provisions of clause (2) of this article or has contravened the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 299 of the Government of India Act, 1935.
Article 31
First Amendment
31A. Saving of laws providing for acquisition of estates, etc.
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in Article 13, no law providing for—
(a) the acquisition by the State of any estate or of any rights therein or the extinguishment or modification of any such rights, or
(b) the taking over of the management of any property by the State for a limited period either in the public interest or in order to secure the proper management of the property, or
(c) the amalgamation of two or more corporations either in the public interest or in order to secure the proper management of any of the corporations, or
(d) the extinguishment or modification of any rights of managing agents, secretaries and treasurers, managing directors, directors or managers of corporations, or of any voting rights of shareholders thereof, or
(e) the extinguishment or modification of any rights accruing by virtue of any agreement, lease or licence for the purpose of searching for, or winning, any mineral or mineral oil, or the premature termination or cancellation of any such agreement, lease or licence, shall be deemed to be void on the ground that it is inconsistent with, or takes away or abridges any of the rights conferred by Article 14 or Article 19: Provided that where such law is a law made by the Legislature of a State, the provisions of this article shall not apply thereto unless such law, having been reserved for the consideration of the President, has received his assent: Provided further that where any law makes any provision for the acquisition by the State of any estate and where any land comprised therein is held by a person under his personal cultivation, it shall not be lawful for the State to acquire any portion of such land as is within the ceiling limit applicable to him under any law for the time being in force or any building or structure standing thereon or appurtenant thereto, unless the law relating to the acquisition of such land, building or structure, provides for payment of compensation at a rate which shall not be less than the market value thereof.
31B. Validation of certain Acts and Regulations without prejudice to the generality of the provisions contained in Article 31A, none of the Acts and Regulations specified in the Ninth Schedule nor any of the provisions thereof shall be deemed to be void, or ever to have become void, on the ground that such Act, Regulation or provision is inconsistent with, or takes away or abridges any of the rights conferred by, any provisions of this Part, and notwithstanding any judgment, decree or order of any court or tribunal to the contrary, each of the said Acts and Regulations shall, subject to the power of any competent Legislature to repeal or amend it, continue in force.
Notes
Introduction
1. Jawaharlal Nehru, 16 May 1951, Parliamentary Debates, Part II, Vol. XII (New Delhi: 1951), p. 8832.
2. Ibid, p. 8822.
3. The imperatives of a modernist vision for India as Menon described them. See Nivedita Menon, ‘Citizenship and the Passive Revolution: Interpreting the First Amendment’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 39, No. 8, pp. 1812-18–19.
4. Bidyut Chakrabarty, ‘Jawaharlal Nehru and Planning, 1938-1941: India at the Crossroads’, Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 275–87.
5. Brij Bhushan v. State of Delhi, AIR 1950 SC 129.
6. Romesh Thappar v. State of Madras, AIR 1950 SC 124.
7. Kameshwar Singh v. State of Bihar, AIR 1950 Pat. 392.
8. Chintaman Rao v. State of Madhya Pradesh, AIR 1951 SC 118.
9. ‘Communal G.O. Not Constitutional’, Times of India, Bombay, 27 March 1951, p. 5; State of Madras v. Champakam Dorairajan, AIR 1951 SC 226.
10. B. Venkataramana v. State of Madras, AIR 1951 SC 229.
11. Jawaharlal Nehru to Chief Ministers, 18 February 1951, G. Parthasarathi, ed., Letters to Chief Ministers, 1947–1964, Vol. 2 (New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, 1986), p. 337.
12. Jawaharlal Nehru to Chief Ministers, 1 February 1951, Ibid, p. 325.
13. Jawaharlal Nehru to Chief Ministers, 21 March 1951, Ibid, p. 363.
14. Jawaharlal Nehru, 16 May 1951, Parliamentary Debates, Part II, Vol. XII (New Delhi: 1951), p. 8821.
15. Upendra Baxi, ‘The Judiciary as a Resource for Indian Democracy’, http://www.india-seminar.com/2010/615/615_upendra_baxi.htm (accessed on 20 November 2018).
16. A.G. Noorani, ‘Ninth Schedule and the Supreme Court’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 42, No. 9, p. 731.
17. Dr Shyama Prasad Mookerji.
18. Dr S.P. Mookerji, 16 May 1951, Parliamentary Debates, Part II, Vol. XII (New Delhi: 1951), p. 8838, p. 8856.
19. ‘Nehru Introduces Bill to Amend Constitution: Further Curbs on Freedom’, The Statesman, 13 May 1951, Calcutta, p. 1.
20. ‘Lawyers Criticise Proposed Measure’, The Statesman, 17 May 1951, Calcutta, p. 5.
21. Justice Rajinder Sachar was a noted lawyer who later became a judge. He served as the chief justice of the Delhi High Court, and in the early 2000s, headed the Rajinder Sachar Committee to study the condition of the Muslim community in India.
22. Letter to the Editor, Times of India,
30 April 1951, Bombay, p. 4.
23. ‘Heated Debate on Bill to Amend Constitution’, Times of India, 3 June 1951, Bombay, p. 7.
24. Ibid.
25. Jawaharlal Nehru to Chief Ministers, 17 May 1951, G. Parthasarathi, ed., Letters to Chief Ministers, 1947-1964, Vol. 2 (New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, 1986), p. 397.
26. Jawaharlal Nehru to B.C. Roy, 25 May 1951, S. Gopal, ed., Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru, Vol. 16/1 (New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, 1994), p. 191.
27. Granville Austin, ‘The Expected and the Unintended in Working a Democratic Constitution’, in Eswaran Sridharan, Zoya Hasan and R. Sudarshan, eds., India’s Living Constitution: Ideas, Practices, Controversies (London: Anthem Press, 2005), p. 323.
28. State of Madras v. Champakam Dorairajan, AIR 1951 SC 226.
29. Jawaharlal Nehru to Chief Ministers, 21 March 1951, G. Parthasarathi, ed., Letters to Chief Ministers, 1947-1964, Vol. 2 (New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, 1986), p. 363.
30. ‘First Amendment to 17-Month Old Constitution Passed’, Times of India, 3 June 1951, Bombay, p. 1.
31. So much so that not a single book or paper on the subject is available. Nivedita Menon, ‘Citizenship and the Passive Revolution: Interpreting the First Amendment’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 39, No. 8, pp. 1812–19, is the one honourable exception.
32. Drafted by a committee under the chairmanship of Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru. Mahatma Gandhi, Sarojini Naidu and Bipin Chandra Pal were also members of this committee. The Bill was presented in the British Parliament by Labour MP George Lansbury, where it didn’t progress beyond the first reading.
33. The Nehru Committee was set up by the Indian National Congress under the chairmanship of Motilal Nehru to draw up a plan for swaraj, or self-rule, for India. The British ignored the report.
34. At the Lahore session of the Congress in 1929, the party declared its goal of purna swaraj, or complete independence. The independence pledge was taken on 26 January 1930, which date the Congress continued to celebrate as ‘Independence Day’ until 1947. That very date, 26 January, was thus chosen as the date to enact the new constitution as a symbolic fulfilment of that pledge.
35. Jawaharlal Nehru to Chief Ministers, 18 January 1950, G. Parthasarathi, ed., Letters to Chief Ministers, 1947-1964, Vol. 2 (New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, 1986), p. 3.
36. ‘Message to the Nation’, National Herald, 25 January 1950, New Delhi, p. 1.
37. Later to be minister of revenue and expenditure in the Nehru government.
38. Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. IX, 16 September 1949.
39. Ibid, Vol. I, 11 December 1946.
40. ‘The Republic of India’, Times of India, 26 January 1950, Bombay, p. 8. See also Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. VII, 24 November 1948.
41. ‘Observance of Constitutional Morality: Dr. Ambedkar’s Views’, Times of India, 11 June 1950, Bombay, p. 14.
42. Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. VII, 4 November 1948.
43. ‘The Republic of India’, Times of India, Republic Day Special, 26 January 1950, Bombay, p. 8.
44. Ibid.
45. ‘Hail, Our Sovereign Republic: A Day of Great Significance and Fulfilment’, Hindustan Times, 26 January 1950, New Delhi, p. 1.
46. ‘The Republican Ideal: CP Ramaswamy Iyer’, Hindustan Times, Republic Day Special, 26 January 1950, New Delhi, p. 5.
47. ‘Nation’s Crowning Achievement: K.M. Munshi’, Times of India, Republic Day Special, 26 January 1950, Bombay, p. A1.
48. Ibid.
49. ‘Constitution Acclaimed by All Sections’, Times of India, 26 January 1950, Bombay, p. B18.
50. ‘People’s Will Prevails: K. Santhanam’, Hindustan Times, Republic Day Special, 26 January 1950, New Delhi, p. 15.
51. ‘Hail, Our Sovereign Republic: A Day of Great Significance and Fulfilment’, Hindustan Times, 26 January 1950, New Delhi, p. 1.
52. ‘Constitution of India Analysed’, Times of India, 26 January 1950, Bombay, p. B8.
53. ‘Biggest Liberal Experiment in Democratic Government: Kenneth C. Wheare’, Hindustan Times, 26 January 1950, New Delhi, p. 1.
54. ‘Nehru, Syama Prasad clash led to first Constitution amendment: Jaitley’, India Today, 6 July 2018, https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/nehru-syama-prasad-clash-led-to-first-constitution-amendment-jaitley-1279078-2018-07-06 (accessed on 12 November 2018).
55. It is a sad testament to the state of knowledge on Indian constitutional history that not a single book—neither popular nor academic, and not even a handful of academic papers—have ever been written about this most defining moment in Indian political and constitutional history.
56. Maya Sharma, ‘“We Are Here To Change The Constitution,” Says Union Minister In New Controversy’, NDTV, 26 December 2017, https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/we-are-here-to-change-the-constitution-says-union-minister-anant-kumar-hegde-in-new-controversy-1792197 (accessed on 15 February 2019); Rajeev Dikshit, ‘Seers moot constitutional amendment for early disposal of Ram mandir issue’, The Times of India, 29 November 2018, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/varanasi/seers-moot-constitutional-amendment-for-early-disposal-of-ram-mandir-issue/articleshow/66860449.cms (accessed on 15 February 2019).
57. ‘Indian civilization is purely under threat: Shashi Tharoor’, United News of India, 10 February 2018, http://www.uniindia.com/indian-civilization-is-purely-under-threat-shashi-tharoor/states/news/1134101.html (accessed on 15 February 2019).
58. ‘Climate for Free Speech Severely Deteriorated Under Modi Govt: PEN International’, The Wire, 30 September 2018, https://thewire.in/rights/india-freedom-speech-modi-govt-pen-international-abuse; Parul Abrol, ‘In India, Constitutional Secularism Comes Under Threat’, The Diplomat, 31 August 2018, https://thediplomat.com/2018/08/in-india-constitutional-secularism-comes-under-threat/ (accessed 15 February 2019).
59. ‘Indian civilization is purely under threat: Shashi Tharoor’, United News of India, 10 February 2018, http://www.uniindia.com/indian-civilization-is-purely-under-threat-shashi-tharoor/states/news/1134101.html (accessed on 15 February 2019).
60. Upendra Baxi, ‘The Judiciary as a Resource for Indian Democracy’, http://www.india-seminar.com/2010/615/615_upendra_baxi.htm (accessed on 20 November 2018).
Chapter 1: The Build-up
1. Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. I, 11 December 1946.
2. A.G. Noorani, Challenges to Civil Rights Guarantees in India (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2012), p. 5; Sarbani Sen, The Constitution of India: Popular Sovereignty and Democratic Transformations (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2007).
3. Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. V, 22 August 1947.
4. Member from Madras. Wife of the future finance minister in the Nehru Cabinet, C.D. Deshmukh.
5. Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. IX, 16 September 1949.
6. See B. Shiva Rao, ed., The Framing of India’s Constitution: Select Documents, Vol. II (New Delhi: Indian Institute of Public Administration, 1967), pp. 21–304.
7. Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. III, 29 April 1947.
8. Ibid.
9. Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. III, 30 April 1947.
10. ‘Nation’s Crowning Achievement: K.M. Munshi’, Times of India, Republic Day Special, 26 January 1950, Bombay, p. A1.
11. ‘Highlights of Our Constitution’, Times of India, Republic Day Special, 26 January 1950, Bombay, p. B14.
12. Ibid.
13. ‘No Infringement on Fundamental Rights: K. Santhanam’, Hindustan Times, Republic Day Special, 26 January 1950, New Delhi, p. 3.
14. ‘Protection of Liberties’, Times of India, 25 January 1950, Bombay, p. 5.
15. ‘The Republic of India’, Times of India, Republic Day Special, 26 January 1950, Bombay, p. 8.
16. ‘Constitution of India Analysed’, Times of India, 26 January 1950, Bombay, p. B8.
17. ‘Hail, Our Sovereign Republic: A Day of Great Significance and Fulfilment�
�, Hindustan Times, 26 January 1950, New Delhi, p. 1.
18. ‘People’s Pledge Fulfilled After 20 Years’, Hindustan Times, 26 January 1950, New Delhi, p. 1.
19. ‘Biggest Liberal Experiment in Democratic Government: Kenneth C. Wheare’, Hindustan Times, 26 January 1950, New Delhi, p. 1.
20. Jawaharlal Nehru to Chief Ministers, 18 January 1950, G. Parthasarathi, ed., Letters to Chief Ministers, 1947-1964, Vol. 2 (New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, 1986), p. 3.
21. Jawaharlal Nehru to Lord Mountbatten, 16 January 1950, S. Gopal, ed., Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru Vol. 14/1 (New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, 1992), p. 458.
22. Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. XI, 25 November 1949.
23. ‘People’s Pledge Fulfilled After 20 Years’, Hindustan Times, 26 January 1950, New Delhi, p. 1.
24. ‘No Infringement on Fundamental Rights: K. Santhanam’, Hindustan Times – Republic Day Special, 26 January 1950, New Delhi, p. 3.
25. ‘Reverence for the State: C. Rajagopalachari’, Hindustan Times, Republic Day Special, 26 January 1950, New Delhi, p. 6.
26. See Rohit De, A People’s Constitution (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018).
27. ‘Bombay Security Measures Act: Validity Challenged’, Times of India, 7 February 1950, Bombay, p. 3.
28. And declared by the Supreme Court – State of Madras v. V.G. Row, AIR 1950 SC 27.
29. ‘Police Detention of Alleged Communists: Orders Set Aside by High Court’, Times of India, 9 February 1950, Bombay, p. 3.
30. ‘Security Act Repeal: Socialist’s Move’, Times of India, 9 February 1950, Bombay, p. 3.
31. ‘Externment Order: Government’s Powers Restricted’, Times of India, 11 February 1950, Bombay, p. 8.
32. ‘Bihar Safety Ordinance: Validity Upheld’, Times of India, 20 January 1950, Bombay, p. 11.
33. ‘Bihar Act Declared Void’, Times of India, 16 February 1950, Bombay, p. 5.
Sixteen Stormy Days Page 23