Constituent Assembly: Objectives Resolution and committees

The Drafting Committee, set up on 29 August 1947, was chaired by B. R. Ambedkar. Its task was to turn the reports and decisions of the Assembly's committees into a Draft Constitution, and Ambedkar later piloted that draft through the House, which is why he is called the chief architect of the Constitution. Rajendra Prasad was the President of the Assembly, B. N. Rau was its Constitutional Adviser, who prepared an earlier draft but was not a member, and K. M. Munshi was a member of the committee, not its chairman.

Both statements are incorrect. Neither Jawaharlal Nehru nor Sardar Patel was a member of the Drafting Committee. Nehru chaired the Union Powers, Union Constitution and States Committees, and Patel chaired the Provincial Constitution Committee and the Advisory Committee on rights and minorities. The Drafting Committee was deliberately made up mainly of legal experts, such as Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar, N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar and K. M. Munshi, under B. R. Ambedkar.

Only two. Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar, a leading jurist from Madras, and Syed Mohammad Saadullah, from Assam, were members of the seven-member Drafting Committee. Rajendra Prasad was the President of the Constituent Assembly and chaired procedural committees, not the Drafting Committee. B. N. Rau was the Constitutional Adviser, an official who prepared the first draft for the Assembly's use, but he was never a member of the committee.

Both statements are correct. Two original members of the Drafting Committee were replaced. B. L. Mitter resigned on grounds of ill-health, and N. Madhava Rau took his place. D. P. Khaitan died in 1948, and T. T. Krishnamachari took his place. The committee's strength therefore stayed at seven. T. T. Krishnamachari went on to be a prominent Union Finance Minister, while V. T. Krishnamachari, a different person, was a Vice-President of the Assembly.

The Drafting Committee had seven members: B. R. Ambedkar (chairman), N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar, Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar, K. M. Munshi, Syed Mohammad Saadullah, N. Madhava Rau and T. T. Krishnamachari. The last two came in place of B. L. Mitter, who resigned, and D. P. Khaitan, who died in 1948. So, although nine people served on it at different times, the committee's strength was always seven. Most members were eminent lawyers, chosen for their legal skill rather than political standing.

B. R. Ambedkar introduced the final Draft Constitution in the Assembly on 4 November 1948, opening the first reading, a general discussion that lasted five days. The second reading, a clause-by-clause consideration, ran from 15 November 1948 to 17 October 1949, and the third reading began on 14 November 1949. The Constitution was passed on 26 November 1949. The other dates belong to other events: 29 August 1947, the setting up of the Drafting Committee, and 9 December 1946, the Assembly's first sitting.

Statement 1 is correct: the Drafting Committee published the first Draft Constitution in February 1948. Statement 2 is incorrect: the people of India were given eight months to discuss the draft and propose amendments. In the light of public comments, criticisms and suggestions, the committee prepared a second draft, published in October 1948. Ambedkar then introduced the final draft in the Assembly on 4 November 1948. The process shows the Assembly's attempt to make drafting consultative.

Option (d) is the incorrect statement. On 26 November 1949 the Assembly declared the motion on the Constitution carried, and the Constitution as passed had a Preamble, 395 Articles, 22 Parts and 8 Schedules. But only some provisions came into force at once: those on citizenship, elections, the provisional Parliament, temporary and transitional provisions, and short title. The remaining provisions, the greater part, came into force on 26 January 1950, which is therefore called the date of commencement.

They were officers of the Indian National Army (d). Shah Nawaz Khan, Prem Kumar Sehgal and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon, a Muslim, a Hindu and a Sikh, were INA officers tried together for treason at the Red Fort in November 1945. Bhulabhai Desai led the defence, with Nehru and Tej Bahadur Sapru on the team. Protests across the country forced the government to remit their sentences. They were not linked with the Swadeshi movement (a), the Interim Government (b) or the Drafting Committee (c).

Notice the slogan "Lal Qila se aai awaaz, Sehgal, Dhillon, Shah Nawaz". The INA trials, along with the Royal Indian Navy mutiny (1946), showed the British they could no longer rely on Indian forces.

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Only statement 2 is correct (b). Statement 2 is right: under the Cripps proposals (March 1942), any province unwilling to accept the new constitution could stay out and sign a separate agreement with Britain, with the same status as the Indian Union. Statement 1 is wrong because of one word: the constitution-making body would be elected by the provincial assemblies through proportional representation, while only the princely states would nominate their members.

Notice why both sides rejected it. Congress objected to the provincial opt-out, which looked like a seed of Partition, and to nominated princes; Gandhi reportedly called the offer a "post-dated cheque". The League wanted Pakistan clearly accepted. The failure of Cripps led straight to the Quit India call in August 1942.

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All three pairs are correct (d). Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru was a leading Liberal, a Moderate who left the Congress, and he presided over the All India Liberal Federation (1923 and 1927). He also drafted much of the Nehru Report (1928). K.C. Neogy was a member of the Constituent Assembly, later a Union minister, and chaired the First Finance Commission (1951). P.C. Joshi was the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (1935–47).

Notice the Liberals' roots: the National Liberal Federation, formed in 1918 by Moderates such as Surendranath Banerjea who backed the Montagu–Chelmsford reforms. Sapru also defended INA officers at the Red Fort trials (1945).

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Elected by the Provincial Legislative Assemblies is correct (c). Under the Cabinet Mission Plan (1946), the provincial members of the Constituent Assembly were indirectly elected by the members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies through proportional representation by single transferable vote. Seats were roughly one per million population, divided among Muslims, Sikhs and General. (a) is wrong: there was no direct election. (b) is wrong: parties did not nominate members. (d) is wrong: the government did not select experts. Members from the princely states were nominated by the rulers.

Notice the numbers: the Assembly had 389 members (292 provinces, 93 princely states, 4 chief commissioners' provinces), reduced to 299 after Partition. It first met on 9 December 1946. Trap: 'directly elected' sounds democratic but was not the method.

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