The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It establishes the framework that defines the fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers and duties of the governmental institutions and establishes the fundamental rights, the directives and the duties of the citizens. It is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world. B. Ambedkar, Chairman of the Drafting Committee, is widely regarded as its chief architect.
It embodies constitutional supremacy and not parliamentary supremacy, since it is not created by Parliament, but by a constituent assembly and adopted by its people, with a declaration in its preamble. Parliament can not override the Constitution.
It was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949 and entered into force on 26 January 1950. With its adoption, the Union of India became the modern and contemporary republic of India which replaced the Government Act of India, 1935, document. To ensure constitutional autochthony, the authors of the constitution repealed the earlier laws of the British Parliament through article 395 of the Constitution. India celebrates its entry into force on January 26 of each year, as Day of the Republic.
It declares that India is a sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic, which assures its citizens of justice, equality and freedom, and strives to promote brotherhood among them.
Most of the Indian subcontinent was under British rule from 1857 to 1947. When the Constitution of India came into force on January 26, 1950, it revoked the Indian Independence Law. India ceased to be a domain of the British Crown and became a democratic and sovereign republic. The date of January 26 was chosen to commemorate Purna Swaraj's declaration of independence of 1930.
Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 60, 324, 366, 367, 379, 380, 388, 391, 392, 393 and 394 of the Constitution entered into force on November 26, 1949 and the remaining articles January 26, 1950.
The Indian constitution is the longest in the world. In its beginning, it had 395 articles in 22 parts and 8 schedules. It consists of approximately 145,000 words, making it the second largest active constitution in the world. In its current form (September 2012), it has a preamble, 25 parts with 448 articles, 12 lists, 5 appendices and 101 amendments, the last of which came into force on September 8, 2016.
