The Government of India Act 1935 is chiefly significant for the Indian Constitution because it supplied:

Much of the institutional skeleton — federal structure, provincial autonomy, the Governor's office

Fundamental Rights (Part III) are distinguished from Directive Principles of State Policy (Part IV) chiefly because Fundamental Rights are:

Justiciable — directly enforceable in court

Inspired by the Irish Constitution

Added only by the 42nd Amendment

Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973) is chiefly remembered for establishing:

The basic structure doctrine limiting Parliament's amending power

Minerva Mills v. Union of India (1980) struck down a part of the 42nd Amendment that had tried to:

Place all constitutional amendments beyond judicial review

Establish universal adult franchise

Create the National Human Rights Commission

Political Institutions in India I: Making of the Constitution, the Constituent Assembly, Its Philosophy and Constitutionalism in India

Unit 7 turns from comparative and international theory to India's own institutions, beginning where the Constitution itself began: the colonial and nationalist inheritance that shaped it, the Assembly that debated and wrote it, the philosophy carried in its Preamble and rights chapters, and constitutionalism's own working-out in India through amendment and the basic structure doctrine. NET's own framing here is Political Institutions, which asks for how and why a provision came to be, not merely what it says.

1. Making of the Indian Constitution

The Constitution's institutional skeleton owes much to colonial legislation, chiefly the Government of India Act 1935 — federal structure, provincial autonomy, the office of Governor, and much of the administrative and emergency-provision vocabulary were carried over and adapted rather than invented afresh, which is why the Constitution is often described as evolving from rather than breaking wholly with colonial constitutional practice. Against this colonial-heritage strand runs the national movement's own contribution: the Indian National Congress's Karachi Resolution (1931) already sketched fundamental rights and economic and social policy directions; M.N. Roy's 1934 proposal and the 1928 Nehru Report had earlier attempted constitutional blueprints of India's own; and the freedom struggle's broader experience of colonial injustice directly shaped the emphasis the finished Constitution places on fundamental rights, universal adult franchise and social justice provisions that the 1935 Act itself never contained.

2. The Constituent Assembly

Composition and ideological moorings
Feature	Detail
Composition	Constituted under the Cabinet Mission Plan (1946), indirectly elected by the provincial legislative assemblies (themselves elected on a limited franchise), giving the Congress a large majority though the Muslim League and other parties, princely-state representatives and independents were also present; total membership was 389, reduced to 299 after Partition.
Ideological moorings	A broad consensus around parliamentary democracy, secularism and social justice, but genuinely contested internally — Gandhian decentralist/village-republic voices (though largely unsuccessful against a more centralised final design), socialist demands for stronger economic-rights guarantees, and minority representatives' concerns over safeguards all shaped debate.
Constitutional debates	Ran November 1946 to November 1949 (nearly three years), through key committees — the Drafting Committee chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar being the most consequential, alongside the Union Powers, Fundamental Rights and Union Constitution committees — with the Assembly finally adopting the Constitution on 26 November 1949 (celebrated as Constitution Day/Samvidhan Divas) and it coming into force on 26 January 1950 (Republic Day, chosen to mark the anniversary of the 1930 Purna Swaraj declaration).

3. Philosophy of the Constitution

The Preamble states the Constitution's own self-description — a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic securing justice (social, economic, political), liberty, equality and fraternity — with 'socialist' and 'secular' added by the 42nd Amendment (1976), and the Supreme Court (Kesavananda Bharati, 1973) later held the Preamble to be part of the Constitution and usable as an interpretive aid, though not itself independently enforceable or amendable to alter the basic structure it expresses. Fundamental Rights (Part III) are justiciable — enforceable directly in court, including through the Supreme Court's own writ jurisdiction (Article 32, itself called 'the heart and soul' of the Constitution by Ambedkar) — while the Directive Principles of State Policy (Part IV), inspired partly by the Irish Constitution, state socio-economic goals (Article 39's just distribution, Article 45's early childhood care and education, Article 44's uniform civil code) the state 'shall endeavour to apply' but which are explicitly non-justiciable (Article 37); the tension and eventual reconciliation between the two (Minerva Mills, 1980, held neither could be given absolute primacy over the other) is one of the Constitution's own most tested internal debates.

4. Constitutionalism in India

Democracy, social change and national unity — the Constitution is deliberately a transformative document, not merely a governance charter: universal adult franchise from the very first election (unlike most Western democracies' gradual franchise extension), reservation provisions, and abolition of untouchability (Article 17) were all meant to use the constitutional-legal order itself as an instrument of social change toward the equality the freedom movement had promised, while a strong Union and a single citizenship were meant to secure national unity against Partition-era fears of further fragmentation.
Checks and balances, and the Basic Structure doctrine — separation of functions among legislature, executive and judiciary, federalism, and judicial review together disperse power, but the sharpest check on Parliament's own amending power (Article 368) is judge-made: Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973, a thirteen-judge bench) held Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution but cannot alter its 'basic structure' — an open-ended but judicially elaborated list that has come to include federalism, secularism, judicial review, free and fair elections, and the rule of law itself.
Constitutional amendments — Article 368's own special majority (two-thirds of members present and voting, plus a majority of total membership, and state ratification for federal provisions) sits alongside the basic structure limit; the 42nd Amendment (1976, during the Emergency) is the single most consequential and most-tested amendment, adding 'socialist' and 'secular' to the Preamble, expanding Directive Principles' weight relative to Fundamental Rights (later partly reversed by the 44th Amendment, 1978), and is often called a 'mini-Constitution' for its sheer scope.

⚠️ Kesavananda Bharati, Minerva Mills and the 42nd Amendment are three separate events

Kesavananda Bharati (1973) invents the basic structure doctrine itself; the 42nd Amendment (1976) is Parliament's own attempt, during the Emergency, to weaken judicial review and tilt the Fundamental Rights/Directive Principles balance toward the latter; Minerva Mills (1980) strikes down the 42nd Amendment's specific attempt to place all amendments beyond judicial review and restores the balance the basic structure doctrine protects. Do not credit any one of the three with what the others actually did.

Key takeaways

The Government of India Act 1935 supplied much of the Constitution's institutional skeleton, while the national movement (Karachi Resolution 1931, Nehru Report 1928) contributed its rights-and-social-justice emphasis.
The Constituent Assembly (1946-49, 389 then 299 members), chaired in its Drafting Committee by Ambedkar, adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949, effective 26 January 1950.
The Preamble (socialist, secular added 1976) states the Constitution's philosophy; Fundamental Rights are justiciable while Directive Principles (Irish-inspired) are not, with Minerva Mills (1980) holding neither has absolute primacy.
Universal adult franchise and social-justice provisions made the Constitution transformative rather than merely governance-focused; Kesavananda Bharati (1973) invented the basic structure doctrine limiting Parliament's amending power under Article 368.
The 42nd Amendment (1976, during the Emergency) is the single most consequential and tested amendment, partly reversed by the 44th Amendment (1978) and checked by Minerva Mills (1980).

Practice questions (8)

Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.

The Government of India Act 1935 is chiefly significant for the Indian Constitution because it supplied:
1. Much of the institutional skeleton — federal structure, provincial autonomy, the Governor's office
2. The Fundamental Rights chapter
3. Universal adult franchise
4. The basic structure doctrine
Show answer
Answer: A — Much of the institutional skeleton — federal structure, provincial autonomy, the Governor's office
The 1935 Act's institutional vocabulary was carried over and adapted; it contained no fundamental rights chapter, no universal franchise, and the basic structure doctrine is a 1973 judicial invention.
The Constituent Assembly's Drafting Committee, the most consequential of its committees, was chaired by:
1. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
2. Jawaharlal Nehru
3. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
4. Rajendra Prasad
Show answer
Answer: A — Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee; Rajendra Prasad presided over the full Assembly, and Nehru and Patel chaired other committees/held other roles.
The Constitution was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949 and came into force on:
1. 26 January 1950
2. 15 August 1947
3. 26 January 1949
4. 1 January 1950
Show answer
Answer: A — 26 January 1950
26 January 1950 (Republic Day) marks the Constitution's coming into force, chosen to mark the anniversary of the 1930 Purna Swaraj declaration.
'Socialist' and 'secular' were added to the Preamble by which amendment?
1. The 42nd Amendment (1976)
2. The 44th Amendment (1978)
3. The 73rd Amendment
4. The 101st Amendment
Show answer
Answer: A — The 42nd Amendment (1976)
The 42nd Amendment (1976, during the Emergency) added these words; the 44th Amendment (1978) partly reversed other parts of the 42nd's changes, and the 73rd/101st amendments concern Panchayati Raj and GST respectively.
Fundamental Rights (Part III) are distinguished from Directive Principles of State Policy (Part IV) chiefly because Fundamental Rights are:
1. Justiciable — directly enforceable in court
2. Non-justiciable
3. Inspired by the Irish Constitution
4. Added only by the 42nd Amendment
Show answer
Answer: A — Justiciable — directly enforceable in court
Fundamental Rights are justiciable; Directive Principles are explicitly non-justiciable (Article 37) and are the ones inspired by the Irish Constitution.
Article 32, called the 'heart and soul' of the Constitution by Ambedkar, provides for:
1. The Supreme Court's writ jurisdiction to enforce Fundamental Rights
2. Directive Principles of State Policy
3. Parliament's amending power
4. The uniform civil code
Show answer
Answer: A — The Supreme Court's writ jurisdiction to enforce Fundamental Rights
Article 32 is the constitutional remedy provision itself, which Ambedkar called the heart and soul precisely because it makes rights enforceable rather than merely declared.
Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973) is chiefly remembered for establishing:
1. The basic structure doctrine limiting Parliament's amending power
2. Universal adult franchise
3. The Panchayati Raj system
4. The 42nd Amendment
Show answer
Answer: A — The basic structure doctrine limiting Parliament's amending power
This thirteen-judge bench decision is specifically the basic structure doctrine's origin, holding Parliament can amend but not destroy the Constitution's basic structure.
Minerva Mills v. Union of India (1980) struck down a part of the 42nd Amendment that had tried to:
1. Place all constitutional amendments beyond judicial review
2. Establish universal adult franchise
3. Add the Ninth Schedule
4. Create the National Human Rights Commission
Show answer
Answer: A — Place all constitutional amendments beyond judicial review
Minerva Mills specifically restored judicial review over amendments, and held neither Fundamental Rights nor Directive Principles could be given absolute primacy over the other.