Preamble

Introduction
The preamble is also known as the spirit and backbone of the Indian Constitution.
The preamble basically gives idea of the following things/objects:
 Source of the Constitution
 Nature of Indian State
 Statement of its objectives
 Date of its adoption

Meaning and Concept of Preamble

The preamble is the introduction to the statutes i.e. introduction to the
constitution. A preamble means a declaration made by the legislature with the
objective for the passing of the statute and is helpful in the interpretation of any
of the statute.

The proper function of the preamble is to explain the meaning of some words and
recite certain facts which are necessary to be explained. A preamble may be used
for other reasons, such as, to limit the scope of certain expression or to explain
facts or introduce definitions.

The preamble does not grant any power to anyone but it gives the structure on
which the Indian Constitution stands like:

1. The country should be “Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic,

Republic”.
2. The government should be elected by the people, for the people, and of
the people.
3. The real sovereign power should be vested on the people of India.
4. The people should get Justice, Liberty and Equality.

History of the Preamble to Indian Constitution

The ideals behind the Preamble to India’s Constitution were laid down by Jawaharlal Nehru’s
Objectives Resolution, adopted by the Constituent Assembly on January 22, 1947.

The main preamble was drafted by Shri. B.N. Rau and later proposed in the
constituent assembly. The basic structure of the preamble only include ‘Sovereign,
Democratic, Republic’ but later the word ‘Secular and Socialist’ were included by
42nd Amendment. The preamble was restricted only to defining the essential
features of the constitution and country, due to this, the questions were raised on
the preamble as to whether the preamble is a part of the constitution or not.
Content of Preamble
The words included in the preamble are wisely selected and the arrangement of
the terms and their order clearly define their significance and participation in the
making of the constitution.

The main terms in the Preamble:

“We, the people of India”

The term We the people clearly states the participation of the citizen of the
country. It defines that the sovereign authorities are the citizen of India. It clears
the fact that all power vested in the government is given by the people
themselves. It is the citizen who chooses the government. The term ‘We the
people of India says that the authors of the constitution are the people.

Sovereignty
The term sovereignty means the supreme and absolute power. The power can be
real or nominal. The concept of sovereignty is taken from Article 5 of the
Constitution of Ireland. Sovereignty means India is the supreme power and no
other nation can rule or imply their dominance in the country. The people of India
are the sovereign power of India, they transfer their power to their elected
representative.

Socialist
The term socialist was included in the constitution by the 42nd Amendment.
Generally socialist means a political-economic system. The main reason why the
term was inserted in the preamble was to provide the equality in opportunity and
a better life for the people and give the brief to the makers so that they can make
the constitution by keeping the concept of socialist in mind.

Secular
The word secular was also inserted through the 42nd Amendment in 1976, the
word secular means that India does not has any religion and treats all the religions
equally, and with equal respect. The individual is free to choose his or her religion.
It does not mean that India is an aesthetic state nor anti-religion, it is just because
in India millions of people of different religion reside, and India as a secular state
respects their religion but does not follows any religion nor interferes in their
practice.

Democratic
The term democracy is derived from the Greek word ‘Demo’ which means the
people and ‘Kratos’ which means authority. Democracy means government by the
people. It is the form of the government in which people elect their representative
and indirectly participate in government activities.
Democracy can be direct or indirect. In a direct democracy, every people has the
voting power not only in selecting the government but also in changing the
constitution. In an indirect democracy, people have a right to vote and select their
representative and those representatives represent the citizens in the
administration.

Republic
The concept of Republic means the people of the state having the supreme power
and they transfer their power to their representative by appointing him as the
head of the state. It is completely different from the concept of monarchy, in
monarchy the king, the queen then their child becomes the head of the state i.e.
hereditary is being followed, but in the concept of a republic, the state is headed
by the head of the state elected by the citizen.

In India the head of the state is known as the President who is elected by the
people through voting, all the citizen has a right to vote. He is elected for the term
of five years.

Justice
The concept of justice was inserted in the preamble to secure its citizens political,
social, economic justice. Generally, the term justice means to secure the people
from all sorts of inequalities like wealth, opportunity, race, religion etc, and their
economic interest like equal work, payment for their works etc.

Liberty
Liberty means Freedom. The term Liberty was included as to secure the freedom
of the people of their belief, thought, faith etc. it is essential to provide liberty to
the citizen for their personal growth, and restrict the state from unlawful
interference in the freedom of the citizen.

Equality
The concept of equality means each and every citizen of the country is equal and
the state will work on the concept of equality before the law. Every person should
have equal opportunity for work, equality in their status i.e. no discrimination on
basis of religion, race, caste, sex etc. it is important for a country to treat its
citizen equally for the development of the person and bring the best out of him.

Fraternity

Generally, fraternity means the spirit of brotherhood. The concept of the fraternity
was introduced so that people feel that all people of the same soil, the same
motherland are their brothers and sisters and are equal in status.

India is the country having diversities based on religion, race, caste so it is

important to promote the spirit of brotherhood among them all.
Amendment of the Preamble

 42 Amendment Act, 1976: After the judgment of the Kesavanand Bharati case, it was accepted
that the preamble is part of the Constitution.

 As a part of the Constitution, preamble can be amended under Article 368 of the Constitution,
but the basic structure of the preamble can not be amended.
 Because the structure of the Constitution is based on the basic elements of the Preamble. As of
now, the preamble is only amended once through the 42 Amendment Act, 1976.
The term ‘Socialist’, ‘Secular’, and ‘Integrity’ were added to the preamble through 42 Amendment Act,
1976.

 ‘Socialist’ and ‘Secular’ were added between ‘Sovereign’ and ‘Democratic’.

 ‘Unity of the Nation’ was changed to ‘Unity and Integrity of the Nation’.
Fact:
 Article 394 of the Constitution states that Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 60, 324, 367, 379 and 394
came into force since the adoption of the Constitution on 26th November 1949 and the rest
of the provisions on 26 January 1950.
 The concept of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity in our Preamble was adopted from the
French Motto of the French Revolution.

Present Status of Preamble of Indian Constitution

The Supreme Court has debated the preamble’s inclusion in the Constitution on numerous
occasions. Reading the following two cases will help you understand it.

Berubari Case

It was used as a reference under Article 143(1) of the Constitution, which dealt with the Berubari
Union’s implementation under the Indo-Pakistan Agreement, and in exchanging the enclaves that
the panel of eight judges agreed to take into consideration.

The Preamble is the key to unlock the minds of the framers, the Court said in the Berubari case, but
it cannot be regarded as a part of the Constitution. So it cannot be enforced in a court of law.

Kesavananda Bharati Case

In this instance, a bench of 13 judges was gathered for the first time to hear a writ petition. The
Court determined that:

The Constitution’s Preamble will now be regarded as a component of the document.

Though not the ultimate authority or the source of any restriction or ban, the Preamble is significant
in how laws and Constitutional provisions are interpreted.

Therefore, it can be said that the Constitution’s preamble is a part of its introduction.

The Supreme Court has once again ruled that while the Preamble is an essential component of the
Constitution, it is not immediately enforceable in an Indian court of justice. This ruling was made in
the 1995 case of Union Government vs. LIC of India.