The Preamble of the Indian constitution

  The Preamble of the Indian constitution 

By swatee  shukla 

Almost every constitution has a preamble that states the objectives or purpose of the document. The preamble of the Indian constitution is part of the constitution. The importance of the preamble is that it helps in interpreting provisions of the constitution. 

The purpose of the preamble is to clarify who has made the constitution, what is its source, what is ultimate sanction behind it; what is the nature of the polity is sought to be established by the constitution, and what are its goals and objective?

The preamble does not grant any power but it gives a direction and purpose to the constitution.it outlines the objectives of the whole constitution. The preamble contains the fundamentals of the constitution. It serves several important purposes as it contains a clause that brings the constitution into force and it declares the great rights and freedoms which the people of India intended to secure for all its citizens. It also declares the basic type of government and polity. Which is sought to be established in the country. It throws light on the sources of the constitution, that is people of India. 

The words in the preamble, “We the people of India” propound the theory that the ‘sovereignty’ lies in the people, that the constitution emanates from them; that the ultimate source for the validity of and sanction behind the constitution is the will of the people; that the constitution has not been imposed on them by an external authority, but it is hard by the work of Indians themselves. 

In re Berubari Union and Exchange of Enclaves case, the supreme court held that the preamble is not part of the constitution and according to it is it not the source of substantive powers. This view has been rejected by the supreme court in its later decision in the Keshavanand Bharti case. The preamble to our constitution was enacted after the whole of the constitution was already enacted. The president of the constituent assembly explained that the object of putting the preamble in the last was to see that it was in conformity with the constitution as accepted by the assembly and amendments to introduce words “secular” and “socialist order” were, therefore, rejected. The constitution sets a responsibility on the state to sustain social and economic security, for the preamble is the floodlight illuminating the path to be persuaded by the state to set up a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. 

The preamble of Indian constitution can be divided into four parts. The first indicates the source of authority- in preamble “we, the people of India in the constituent assembly” indicate that the source of authority behind the constitution are people of India, not states or people of several states. 

The second indicates the type of government sought to be established- this clause indicates of government that is sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic, and republic. 

The third part sets up certain objectives – in the name of the people of India, the framers of the constitution resolved to secure the objective of justice ( social, economic, and political), Liberty (of thought, expression, faith, and worship), Equality (of status and opportunity) and Fraternity.

The fourth part relates to the adoption and enforcement of the constitution - the last para of the preamble says that the people of India in the constituent assembly on 26th November 1949, adopt, enact and give themselves this constitution.