Preamble

 Preamble

The ‘Objective Resolution’, proposed by Pandit Nehru and passed by the Constituent Assembly, ultimately became the Preamble to the Constitution of India.

The Preamble is an introduction to the Constitution of India. It is a key to the minds of the makers of the Constitution.

The significance of the Preamble lies in the fact that it tells us about three things i.e., ultimate source of authority, form of government and form of state, and the objectives to be attained.

Preamble declares that sovereignty lies ultimately with the people of India. The Preamble declares that it is the people of India who has enacted, adopted and given the Constitution to themselves. It is the people of India who are ruled and ruling, who are elected and electing.

The Preamble declares India to be a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic.

 Sovereignty means that we are independent in our internal and external affairs. We are not subject to any outside power.

The word socialism in the Indian context means removal of inequalities and discriminations, equal distribution of resources, equal access to public places and public offices.

 There shall be no discrimination on the basis of caste, class, religion, race, color, creed, sex or place of birth.

 The aim of socialism in the Indian context is to remove poverty, illiteracy, ignorance and unemployment.

The Constitution of India declares India to be a secular state in its preambular part.

 The word Secularism was not there in the Preamble at the outset.

It was later on incorporated through the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976.

 The word secularism means that India has no religion of its own.

 The state which has its own religion is known as theocracy. Unlike that, India is a secular state which means it neither favors nor disfavors any religion.

It is neither (re)ligious, nor (irre)ligious, not (anti) rereligiou, nor (pro) religious.

Democracy means the government of the people, by the people and for the people. 

Republic means head of the Indian state is not  heredity as compared to the head of the British Monarchy.  

Rather it is indirectly elected.

The Preamble declares certain objectives to be achieved i.e., justice, liberty, equality and fraternity.

As the Supreme Court has observed, the Preamble is a key to unravel the minds of the makers of the Constitution.

The Constitution (42nd Amendment Act) 1976 amended the Preamble and added the words Socialist Secular and Integrity to the Preamble.

The Preamble is non-justiciable in nature.

But it has been declared as a part of the Indian Constitution by the Supreme Court in Keshavananda Bharti case.

It can neither provide substantive power (definite and real power) to the three organs of the state, nor limit their powers under the provision of the Constitution.

 The Preamble cannot override the specific provisional of the Constitution. In case of any conflict between the two, the later shall prevail.