Explanation:
The Preamble of the Constitution of India is a brief introductory statement that sets out the persons and principles of the guidance document, and indicates the source from which the ordinary document derives its authority, i.e., the persons. The hopes and aspirations of the people as well as the ideals before our nation are described in the preamble in clear words. It can be considered the heart and soul of the Constitution. The preamble can be referred to as the prologue that highlights the entire Constitution. It was adopted on 26 November 1949 by the Constituent Assembly and came into force on 26 January 1950.
historical background
The preamble is based on the objectives that were drafted and moved in the Constituent Assembly by Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 December 1946. BR Ambedkar said about the preamble:
It was, in fact, a way of life, which recognizes freedom, equality and fraternity as the principles of life, and which cannot be separated from each other: Freedom cannot be separated from equality; equality cannot be separated from freedom. Nor can freedom and equality be separated from fraternity. Without equality, freedom would produce the supremacy of the few over the many. Equality without freedom would kill individual initiative. Without fraternity, freedom and equality could not become a natural course of things.
The Supreme Court of India originally declared in the BeruBari case that the preamble is not an integral part of the Indian Constitution, and therefore not enforceable in a court of law. However, the same court, in the 1973 Kesavananda case, reversed earlier decisions and recognized that the preamble can be used to interpret ambiguous areas of the Constitution, where different interpretations present themselves. In the 1995 Union Government v. LIC of India case, the Supreme Court again held that the preamble is an integral part of the Constitution.
As originally promulgated the preamble describes the state as a "sovereign democratic republic", to which the terms "secular" and "socialist" were later added by the 42nd Amendment.
The preamble pages, along with other pages of the original Constitution of India, were designed and decorated by the renowned painter Beohar Rammanohar Sinha of Jabalpur who was in Shantiniketan with Acharya Nandalal Bose at that time. Nandalal Bose endorsed the work of Beohar Rammanohar Sinha without any alteration. As such, the page is signed by short Beohar Rammanohar Sinha Ram in devanagari lower right corner. Calligraphy by Prem Behari Narain Raizada.
WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this 26th day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.
Sovereignty
Sovereignty: the independent authority of a State. That means that it has the power to legislate on any subject; and that it is not subject to the control of any other state or external power.
According to the preamble, the Constitution of India has been a fulfilment of the solemn resolution of the people of India to constitute India into a 'Sovereign Democratic Republic', and to secure the well-defined objects set out in the preamble. Sovereignty denotes the ultimate and maximum power. It can be real or normal, legal or political, individual or plural. In monarchies, sovereignty resided in the person of the monarchs. But in the republican form of government, which mostly prevails in the contemporary world, sovereignty is displaced to the elected representatives of the people. According to DD Basu, the word 'sovereign' is taken from Article 5 of the Irish Constitution. Sovereign or supreme power is that which is absolute and uncontrolled within its own sphere. In the words of Cooley, "A state is sovereign when it does not reside within itself supreme and absolute power, recognizing no superiority. Sovereignty, in short, the independent authority of a state. It has two aspects - external and internal. External sovereignty or sovereignty in international law means the independence of a state from the will of other states, in its conduct with other states in the committee of nations. Sovereign in its relationship between states and between states means independence. India's external sovereignty means that it can acquire a foreign territory and also cede any part of Indian territory, subject to its own laws
