Sources of Constitution

Introduction

• The Indian Constitution has been formed after ransacking all the major constitutions of the world; however, at the same time, the framers have also considered the following factors −
  • Historical perspective of India;
  • Geographical diversity of India; and
  • Cultural and traditional characteristics of India.

Major Sources

The following table illustrates the major sources of Indian Constitution −

Provisions	Sources
President (Nominal Head)	The United Kingdom
Cabinet System of Ministers
Parliamentary type of Government
Post of Prime Minister
Bicameral Parliament
Council of Ministers
Provision of Speaker in Lok Sabha
Legislation
Citizenship
Writs
Rule of Law
Preamble	The United States
Fundamental Rights
Independent Judiciary
Judicial Review
Impeachment of President
Removal of Judges (of Supreme Court & High Courts)
Functions of Vice-President
Federal System (with strong Center)	Canada
Residuary powers in the Center
Appointment of Governors (in states) by the Center
Advisory Jurisdiction of Supreme Court
Principle of co-operative federalism	Australia
Freedom of Inter-State trade
Trade and Commerce
Concurrent List
Joint siting of the two Houses of Parliament
Directive Principles of State Policy	Ireland
Presidential Election
Nominating the members of Rajya Sabha
Republic	France
Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity in the Preamble
Fundamental Duties	Russia
Idea of Social, Economic, and Political Justice in Preamble
Procedure for amendment	South Africa
Election of Rajya Sabha members
Emergency powers to be enjoyed by the Union	Germany
Suspension of Fundamental Rights during emergency
Procedure Established by Law	Japan
The federal scheme	Govt. of India Act 1935
Role of federal judiciary
Office of the Governor
Emergency provisions
Public Service Commissions
Administrative details