Making of the Constitution MCQs

Each statement denies an express constitutional provision. Article 393 supplies the short title, Article 395 repeals the named predecessor Acts, and Article 394 specifies the commencement arrangement including 26 January 1950.

Statement 3 is false because Article 394 explicitly gives 26 January 1950 for commencement of the remaining provisions. Statements 1 and 2 are also false, since Articles 393 and 395 respectively address the title and repeals.

There is no single correct statement: all three are contradicted by Part XXII. The immediate commencement of some provisions does not remove Article 394’s express date for commencement of the rest.

Statement II is factually incorrect. The Drafting Committee was constituted on 29 August 1947, not on 26 November 1949. Therefore this option, which asserts both statements are correct, is wrong.

Statement II is factually incorrect about the date of the Drafting Committee's formation. The committee was set up on 29 August 1947, more than two years before 26 November 1949.

Statement I is correct. Constitution Day is indeed celebrated on 26 November annually to promote constitutional values, as declared by the Government of India in 2015.

Fundamental Rights are crucial justiciable guarantees, but they represent only one dimension of the Constitution. The Preamble provides the overarching philosophical framework that guided the entire Constitution-making process.

DPSPs lay down socio-economic objectives for governance, but the holistic vision of the framers — covering justice, liberty, equality and fraternity — is captured most comprehensively in the Preamble.

Fundamental Duties were added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976, nearly three decades after the Constitution was framed. They were not part of the original document and cannot reflect the mind of the original Constitution-makers.

26 January 1950 is the date when the Constitution came into force (commencement date), not the date mentioned in the Preamble's enactment clause. The Preamble records the date of adoption, not commencement.

26 January 1949 has no constitutional significance. The Constituent Assembly was still deliberating on the draft Constitution at that time.

Option (b) is the correct answer, so 'none of the above' does not apply here.

While statement 1 is correct, statements 2 and 3 are also correct. The Constitution was prepared in both Hindi and English versions, and artists from Shantiniketan decorated it.

This excludes statement 3, but artists from Shantiniketan, led by Nandalal Bose, did decorate each page of the original manuscript with illustrations depicting scenes from Indian history and culture.

This excludes statement 2, but the original Constitution was indeed handwritten in both Hindi and English. The Hindi version was calligraphed by Vasant Krishan Vaidya.

Dr. Ambedkar made many significant speeches in the Constituent Assembly but did not use the 'horoscope' metaphor for the Objective Resolution.

Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava was an active member of the Constituent Assembly and contributed to debates on citizenship and other matters, but he did not coin this phrase.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad, as the President of the Assembly, made important interventions but did not describe the Resolution as a 'horoscope'.

Mahatma Gandhi did advocate for self-governance and Swaraj, but the specific idea of a Constituent Assembly elected by the people was not proposed by him in 1922.

Jawaharlal Nehru demanded a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of adult franchise in 1938, but this was four years after M.N. Roy's original proposal.

The Indian National Congress officially demanded a Constituent Assembly at its Faizpur session in 1936, but M.N. Roy had already put forward the idea two years earlier in 1934.

Emergency Provisions were influenced by the Weimar Constitution of Germany, not South Africa.

The Concurrent List was borrowed from the Australian Constitution, not South Africa.

Directive Principles of State Policy were borrowed from the Irish Constitution, not South Africa.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the permanent President of the Constituent Assembly on 11 December 1946, two days after the first sitting. He was not the temporary President.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was the Chairman of the Drafting Committee, appointed on 29 August 1947. He did not preside over the first meeting of the Assembly.

H.C. Mookherjee served as the Vice-President of the Constituent Assembly and later chaired the Assembly when it sat as the Constituent Assembly for dealing with matters of the minority communities, but he was not the temporary President.

While the USA has a federal structure, the American federation is based on a dual polity with strong state sovereignty. India's federation with a strong Centre and residuary powers vesting in the Union was influenced by the Canadian model.

From Australia, India borrowed the Concurrent List, freedom of inter-state trade and commerce, and the joint sitting provision. The overall federal scheme was primarily influenced by Canada.

From South Africa, the Indian Constitution borrowed the procedure for amendment of the Constitution and the election of Rajya Sabha members by State legislatures. The federal scheme was not derived from South Africa.

Statement 1 was indeed part of the Objective Resolution, which declared India to be an Independent Sovereign Republic. Only statement 3 was not included.

Both statements 2 and 4 were part of the Objective Resolution. Statement 2 declared popular sovereignty and statement 4 guaranteed safeguards for minorities.

Statement 4 was part of the Objective Resolution, which specifically provided for adequate safeguards for minorities, backward and tribal areas, and depressed classes. Only statement 3 was not included.

The US Constitution uses the concept of 'due process of law' in its Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, which gives broader judicial review. India initially adopted 'procedure established by law' instead, which was a narrower standard.

The UK does not have a written constitutional provision regarding 'procedure established by law'. British influence on the Indian Constitution was mainly in parliamentary procedure and rule of law.

Ireland was the source of Directive Principles of State Policy and the method of nominating members to the Rajya Sabha, not the 'procedure established by law' doctrine.