Sources of the Indian Constitution: the Government of India Act, 1935, Features Borrowed from Other Countries, the Constituent Assembly and संविधान के स्रोत (Notes for Class 11 and UPSC)

The sources of the Indian Constitution fall into two groups. Its legal source is the Constituent Assembly: in the words of the Preamble, the people of India, “IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION”, and it came fully into force on 26 January 1950 (Article 394). Its material sources, the texts its framers drew on, are mainly the Government of India Act, 1935, the constitutions of other countries and the ideals of the national movement summed up in the Objectives Resolution of 1946–47.

The largest single source is the Government of India Act, 1935. Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Chairman of the Drafting Committee, told the Constituent Assembly on 4 November 1948 that the Assembly had directed that “in certain matters the provisions contained in the Government of India Act, 1935, should be followed”, and he accepted that the Draft had reproduced “a good part of the provisions” of that Act. Among foreign constitutions, NCERT’s Class 11 textbook lists provisions adapted from the British, United States, Irish, French and Canadian constitutions; the Assembly’s debates add Australia and Japan for particular points. This page states a borrowing only where one of those official records says so, and it explains the popular “borrowed from which country” lists that the records do not support.

Originally written by Shagun Sharma; reviewed and updated by Century Law Firm, Delhi – October 2026. Statutory references are to the Constitution as in force on that date. The Constitution is quoted from the Legislative Department’s English edition (as on 10 September 2026) and Hindi edition (as on 1 May 2024); the history from the Constituent Assembly Debates (Lok Sabha Secretariat reprint, Sansad Digital Library), NCERT’s Class 11 textbook “Indian Constitution at Work” (Chapter 1, reprint 2026-27) and its Hindi edition, and a PIB factsheet of 25 November 2021.

What “sources of the Constitution” means: legal source and influences

When a textbook asks for the “sources of the Indian Constitution”, it usually wants the list of borrowed features. A lawyer would first ask a different question: where does the Constitution get its authority? The two answers are different, and mixing them up causes most of the errors found on the internet.

The legal source is the body that made the Constitution and the act by which it was made. The Constitution does not claim to rest on an Act of the British Parliament. Its Preamble says that the people adopted, enacted and gave it to themselves in their Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, and Article 395 repealed the two British statutes under which India had been governed until then. The Lok Sabha Secretariat’s preface to the Constituent Assembly Debates records that the Constitution “came into force on 26th January, 1950 when free India declared itself a Republic”.

The influences, or material sources, are the texts and ideas the framers used while drafting: the Government of India Act, 1935, which the Assembly told the Drafting Committee to follow “in certain matters”, the constitutions of other countries, and the principles of the freedom movement. These shaped the content of the Constitution, but none of them is a source of its authority.

Kind of source	What it is	Official basis
Legal source (authority)	The Constituent Assembly, adopting the Constitution for the people of India on 26 November 1949	Preamble; Articles 393 and 394
Legal break with the past	Repeal of the Indian Independence Act, 1947 and the Government of India Act, 1935	Article 395
Continuity of old law	Laws in force before 26 January 1950 continue until changed	Article 372(1)
Main Indian model	The Government of India Act, 1935 (“a good part of the provisions”)	Ambedkar, Constituent Assembly, 4 November 1948
Foreign influences	Britain, USA, Ireland, France, Canada (NCERT); Australia and Japan for particular points (Assembly debates)	NCERT Class 11, Chapter 1, page 22; Constituent Assembly Debates
Indian ideals	The nationalist movement; the Objectives Resolution (1946–47)	NCERT Class 11, Chapter 1, pages 19–20; Constituent Assembly Debates

The legal source: the Constituent Assembly and the people of India

The Constitution’s own text identifies its source. The Preamble opens with “WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA” and closes with the words quoted above. Article 393 gives the name: “This Constitution may be called the Constitution of India.” Article 394 fixes the dates on which it took effect, and Article 395 removes the old framework.

Article 394: two commencement dates

Article 394 reads: “This article and articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 60, 324, 366, 367, 379, 380, 388, 391, 392 and 393 shall come into force at once, and the remaining provisions of this Constitution shall come into force on the twenty-sixth day of January, 1950, which day is referred to in this Constitution as the commencement of this Constitution.” The provisions on citizenship (Articles 5 to 9), the President’s oath (Article 60), elections (Article 324), definitions and interpretation (Articles 366 and 367), the short title (Article 393) and some transitional matters therefore took effect on 26 November 1949; everything else began on 26 January 1950.

Article 395: the British statutes repealed

Article 395 reads: “The Indian Independence Act, 1947, and the Government of India Act, 1935, together with all enactments amending or supplementing the latter Act, but not including the Abolition of Privy Council Jurisdiction Act, 1949, are hereby repealed.” This is the legal answer to the question whether the Constitution is a continuation of the 1935 Act. It is not: the 1935 Act supplied much of the material, but the Constitution repealed it.

Some traces of the old Acts remain in the text. Article 147 says that, for the Supreme Court and High Court provisions, a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution includes a question on the interpretation of the Government of India Act, 1935 or the Indian Independence Act, 1947, or orders made under them. Article 366(11) defines the “Federal Court” as the Federal Court “constituted under the Government of India Act, 1935”, and Article 367(1) applies the General Clauses Act, 1897 to the Constitution “as it applies for the interpretation of an Act of the Legislature of the Dominion of India”, the name used for India before the Constitution came into force (Article 392(3) likewise speaks of “the Governor-General of the Dominion of India” before the commencement).

Article 372: old laws continue

The repeal of the 1935 Act did not wipe out the laws made under it or before it. Article 372(1) provides that “all the law in force in the territory of India immediately before the commencement of this Constitution shall continue in force therein until altered or repealed or amended by a competent Legislature or other competent authority”. The same pre-1950 laws are void to the extent that they are inconsistent with the Fundamental Rights (Article 13(1)). This is why many Acts older than the Constitution, such as the General Clauses Act, 1897, are still in use.

How the Constituent Assembly made the Constitution

The Lok Sabha Secretariat’s preface to the Constituent Assembly Debates gives the frame: “The Constituent Assembly of India first met on the 9th December, 1946 and continued till 24th January, 1950.” The work was done in the Constitution Hall, which the Secretariat’s 2014 preface describes as “now known as the Central Hall of Parliament House”. After 26 January 1950 the Assembly became the Provisional Parliament of India until a new Parliament was constituted in 1952.

How the members were chosen

NCERT’s textbook explains that the Assembly was “elected for undivided India”. Its members “were chosen by indirect election by the members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies that had been established under the Government of India Act, 1935”, roughly on the plan proposed by the British Cabinet Mission: seats were allotted to the Provinces and Princely States in proportion to population, roughly one seat for every ten lakh people, so that the Provinces were to elect 292 members and the Princely States were allotted at least 93. After the Partition plan of 3 June 1947, members elected from territories that went to Pakistan ceased to be members, and “The number of members in the Assembly was reduced to 299.” The Assembly “reassembled as Constituent Assembly for divided India on 14 August 1947”. NCERT adds that it had twenty-eight members from the Scheduled Castes, and the PIB factsheet records 15 women members.

From the Objectives Resolution to the final text

Date	Event	Official record
9 December 1946	First sitting of the Constituent Assembly	Lok Sabha Secretariat preface; NCERT
13 December 1946	Jawaharlal Nehru moves the resolution on “Aims and Objects” (the Objectives Resolution)	Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. I, p. 57
22 January 1947	Objectives Resolution adopted, “all members standing”	Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. II
14 August 1947	Assembly reassembles for divided India; membership later 299	NCERT
29 August 1947	Drafting Committee appointed; first meeting on 30 August	Ambedkar, 4 November 1948 and 25 November 1949
21 February 1948	Draft Constitution sent with Ambedkar’s letter of this date (315 Articles, 8 Schedules)	Ambedkar, 4 November 1948
4 November 1948	Ambedkar moves the Draft for consideration and answers the “borrowing” criticism	Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. VII
26 November 1949	Constitution adopted; Articles listed in Article 394 come into force	Preamble; Article 394
24 January 1950	Members sign the Constitution; last sitting of the Assembly	Lok Sabha Secretariat preface; Debates of that day; PIB
26 January 1950	The rest of the Constitution comes into force; India a Republic	Article 394; Lok Sabha Secretariat preface

On 25 November 1949, the day before adoption, Ambedkar gave the Assembly the figures of its work: “it will now be two years, eleven months and seventeen days since it first met on the 9th of December 1946.” The Assembly had held eleven sessions, and “These eleven sessions of the Constituent Assembly have consumed 165 days.” Of these, 114 days were spent on the Draft Constitution. The Drafting Committee had sat for 141 days. The text prepared by the Constitutional Adviser had 243 articles and 13 Schedules; the first Draft had 315 articles and 8 Schedules; in its final form the Constitution had “395 articles and 8 Schedules”. About 7,635 amendments were tabled and 2,473 actually moved. (NCERT’s textbook counts the sittings differently: “The Assembly met for one hundred and sixty six days, spread over two years and eleven months.”)

The proceedings were public. NCERT notes that the sessions “were open to the press and the public alike”, and the PIB factsheet says that over 53,000 citizens sat in the visitors’ gallery. On 24 January 1950, the President of the Assembly, Dr Rajendra Prasad, told members that three copies were ready for signature: “One is in English completely hand-written and illuminated by artists. The second copy is in print in English. The third copy is also hand-written in Hindi.” According to PIB, 284 members signed the Constitution that day.

The Government of India Act, 1935: the largest source

The Government of India Act, 1935 is the source the framers themselves named. When Ambedkar moved the Draft Constitution on 4 November 1948, he began by explaining the Drafting Committee’s instructions: it was to prepare a constitution in line with the reports of the Assembly’s committees, and “The Constituent Assembly had also directed that in certain matters the provisions contained in the Government of India Act, 1935, should be followed.”

Ambedkar’s answer to the charge of copying

Later in the same speech Ambedkar took up the criticism head-on. He summarised it in these words: “It is said that there is nothing new in the Draft Constitution, that about half of it has been copied from the Government of India Act of 1935 and that the rest of it has been borrowed from the Constitutions of other countries.” His reply on the 1935 Act was:

“As to the accusation that the Draft Constitution has produced a good part of the provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935, I make no apologies. There is nothing to be ashamed of in borrowing. It involves no plagiarism. Nobody holds any patent rights in the fundamental ideas of a Constitution. What I am sorry about is that the provisions taken from the Government of India Act, 1935, relate mostly to the details of administration.”

He explained why administrative detail had been kept in the Constitution instead of being left to ordinary law. Constitutional morality, he said, “is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated”, and in those circumstances “it is wiser not to trust the Legislature to prescribe forms of administration.”

What can be said, and what cannot

Two points follow from the official record. First, the 1935 Act is fairly called the largest source, although no official text uses that word: it is the only text the framers acknowledged as supplying “a good part” of the Draft. Second, the often-quoted fractions are not official. “About half” was the critics’ estimate, which Ambedkar repeated in order to answer it; figures such as “two-thirds” (which the earlier version of this post used) or “250 articles” do not appear in the Debates, NCERT’s textbook or the Constitution, and this page does not use them.

Popular lists also name particular features as taken from the 1935 Act, such as the federal scheme, the office of Governor, the Public Service Commissions and the emergency provisions. Ambedkar’s speech does not list them in that way. What the official texts do show is narrower: the Assembly was elected by provincial assemblies set up under the 1935 Act (NCERT); the Directive Principles were compared by Ambedkar to “the Instrument of Instructions which were issued to the Governor-General and to the Governors … under the 1935 Act”; and the Constitution still refers to the Federal Court constituted under the Act (Article 366(11)) and to the interpretation of the Act (Article 147).

The Indian Independence Act, 1947

The earlier version of this post said that the Indian Independence Act, 1947 “served as the basis for the adoption of the Constitution”. That needs care. The 1947 Act set up the Dominion of India (the term still used in Articles 367(1) and 392), and section 8(1) of that Act, as enacted, provided that the powers of the Dominion’s legislature “for the purpose of making provision as to the constitution of the Dominion” were to be “exercisable in the first instance by the Constituent Assembly of that Dominion”; under section 8(2) the Dominion was meanwhile to be governed “as nearly as may be in accordance with the Government of India Act, 1935”. The Assembly also sat as the Dominion’s legislature: on 25 November 1949 Ambedkar told the House that, “so far as direct amendment of the Government of India Act, 1935 is concerned, this Assembly has passed only three Acts”. But the Constitution does not claim its authority from any British statute. It rests on the people’s adoption in the Assembly (Preamble), and Article 395 repealed the Indian Independence Act, 1947 together with the 1935 Act.

Foreign sources: what the official record says

NCERT’s Class 11 textbook “Indian Constitution at Work” deals with the question in Chapter 1, “Constitution: Why and How?”. On page 21 it says that the framers “were not averse to borrowing from other constitutional traditions”, but that “borrowing these ideas was not slavish imitation”: “Each provision of the Constitution had to be defended on grounds that it was suited to Indian problems and aspirations.” Page 22 is a full-page box headed “Provisions adapted from constitutions of different countries”. It lists five constitutions and nothing else:

Constitution	Provisions adapted (NCERT’s words)	Where it is in India’s Constitution
British Constitution	“First Past the Post”; “Parliamentary Form of Government”; “The idea of the rule of law”; “Institution of the Speaker and her/his role”; “Law-making procedure”	Council of Ministers to aid and advise the President, Article 74(1); collective responsibility to the Lok Sabha, Article 75(3); legislative procedure in Part V
United States Constitution	“Charter of Fundamental Rights”; “Power of Judicial Review and independence of the judiciary”	Part III (Articles 12 to 35); laws in breach of Part III void, Article 13(2); Article 32; judges’ tenure and pay, Articles 124 and 125
Irish Constitution	“Directive Principles of State Policy”	Part IV (Articles 36 to 51), with Article 37
French Constitution	“Principles of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity”	Preamble
Canadian Constitution	“A quasi-federal form of government (a federal system with a strong central government)”; “The idea of Residual Powers”	Union, State and Concurrent Lists, Article 246 and the Seventh Schedule; residuary power with Parliament, Article 248

The third column is the firm’s guide to where each idea now sits in the text; the first two columns are NCERT’s. If you are answering a school or university question on “borrowed features”, NCERT’s box is the official list to quote.

Britain: the parliamentary system

Ambedkar was emphatic that India chose the British model of government over the American one. The title of President, he said, “reminds one of the President of the United States. But beyond identity of names there is nothing in common”. He went on: “What the Draft Constitution proposes is the Parliamentary system”, and “Under the Draft Constitution the President occupies the same position as the King under the English Constitution. He is the head of the State but not of the Executive.” The reason was accountability: the Draft “in recommending the Parliamentary system of Executive has preferred more responsibility to more stability.” Today Article 74(1) requires the President to act in accordance with the advice of the Council of Ministers, and Article 75(3) makes the Council “collectively responsible to the House of the People”.

One thing India did not take is the British idea that Parliament’s laws cannot be questioned in court. Under Article 13(2) a law that takes away or abridges a Fundamental Right is void to that extent, and since Kesavananda Bharati (1973) even a constitutional amendment cannot alter the basic structure. The earlier version of this post said in one FAQ answer that India took over “parliamentary sovereignty”; that was wrong, and the answer has been corrected below.

United States: rights and judicial review

Ambedkar compared the Draft’s federal structure with the American “Dual Polity” but stressed that “the similarities between the Indian and the American Constitution come to an end” there. On Fundamental Rights he rejected the criticism that American rights were absolute and Indian ones were not: “The difference between the position under the American Constitution and the Draft Constitution is one of form and not of substance.” NCERT credits the United States with the charter of Fundamental Rights and the power of judicial review, which in India rests on Articles 13 and 32 for Fundamental Rights and on the Supreme Court’s role under Part V. The firm’s guides to Fundamental Rights and Duties and Article 13 explain those provisions.

Ireland: the Directive Principles

Ambedkar described the Directive Principles as “a novel feature in a Constitution framed for Parliamentary Democracy. The only other constitution framed for Parliamentary Democracy which embodies such principles is that of the Irish Free State.” He also traced them to Indian experience under the 1935 Act: “The Directive Principles are like the Instrument of Instructions which were issued to the Governor-General and to the Governors of the Colonies and to those of India by the British Government under the 1935 Act.” Article 37 states their status: they “shall not be enforceable by any court, but the principles therein laid down are nevertheless fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws.”

France and Canada

NCERT attributes the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity, which appear in the Preamble, to the French Constitution. Ambedkar returned to the three ideas in his closing speech of 25 November 1949, warning that “On the 26th of January 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality.” From Canada, NCERT lists the “quasi-federal” model with a strong Centre and the idea of residual powers. Article 248(1) now gives Parliament “exclusive power to make any law with respect to any matter not enumerated in the Concurrent List or State List” (subject to Article 246A on GST).

Australia: the concurrent list

Australia is not in NCERT’s box, but Ambedkar cited it directly. To make the federation less rigid, he said, “the Draft Constitution follows the Australian plan on a far more extensive scale than has been done in Australia. Like the Australian Constitution, it has a long list of subjects for concurrent powers of legislation. Under the Australian Constitution, concurrent subjects are 39. Under the Draft Constitution they are 37.” He added that the Draft “has added new ways of overcoming the rigidity and legalism inherent in federalism which are special to it”. The Concurrent List is now List III of the Seventh Schedule (Article 246(2)). Popular lists also credit Australia with freedom of trade and commerce (Article 301) and joint sittings (Article 108); the official sources consulted for this page do not say so. The firm’s page on freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse explains Articles 301 to 307.

Japan: “procedure established by law”

Article 21 protects life and personal liberty “except according to procedure established by law”. When this clause (then draft article 15) was debated on 6 December 1948, Mahboob Ali Baig, moving an amendment, reported the reason given in the Drafting Committee’s note for dropping the earlier words “without due process of law”: “the reason is stated to be that the expression is more definite and such a provision finds place in article 31 of the Japanese Constitution of 1946.” On 13 December 1948 Ambedkar explained that the choice of “due process” raised “the question of the relationship between the legislature and the judiciary”. How the Supreme Court later read Article 21 is explained in the firm’s guide to Article 21.

Borrowings that the official record does not support

Many notes and websites give longer tables, and the earlier version of this post had one. The following claims are not in NCERT’s Chapter 1 list or in the Constituent Assembly Debates passages consulted for this page, and the Constitution itself does not say where they came from, so they have been removed:

• USSR: Fundamental Duties, and the ideals of social, economic and political justice in the Preamble;
• Weimar Germany: suspension of Fundamental Rights during an emergency;
• South Africa: the procedure for amending the Constitution and the election of Rajya Sabha members;
• United States: the Preamble, impeachment of the President, removal of judges and the office of Vice-President;
• Ireland: nomination of members to the Rajya Sabha and the method of electing the President;
• Canada: appointment of Governors by the Centre and the advisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court;
• Britain: single citizenship, the cabinet system, writs, parliamentary privileges and bicameralism;
• France: the idea of a republic.

This does not mean that the framers never looked at those constitutions; it means that we could not confirm the claim from an official source, so we do not repeat it. On South Africa, NCERT in fact says the reverse: India’s Constitution “became an exemplar for many other constitutions, most notably South Africa.” The provisions themselves are, of course, part of the Constitution: Fundamental Duties are in Article 51A, the emergency powers in Part XVIII and the amendment procedure in Article 368, all explained below and in the firm’s page on emergency provisions.

Is it a “borrowed” constitution?

NCERT puts this as an exercise (“There was little originality in the Constitution, for much of it was borrowed from other countries” – correct or incorrect?). Ambedkar’s answer on 4 November 1948 is the one most often quoted: “One likes to ask whether there can be anything new in a Constitution framed at this hour in the history of the world.” Constitutions in their main provisions must look similar, he argued, and “The only new things, if there can be any, in a Constitution framed so late in the day are the variations made to remove the faults and to accommodate it to the needs of the country.” He maintained that the Drafting Committee “has not been guilty of such blind and slavish imitation as it is represented to be”, and he pointed to features that he called special to India, such as a federation that “can be both unitary as well as federal according to the requirements of time and circumstances” and an amendment procedure under which most articles can be changed by Parliament alone by a special majority.

Indian sources: the national movement and the Objectives Resolution

NCERT’s textbook stresses that “no constitution is simply a product of the Assembly that produces it”. The Assembly worked on principles “forged during the long struggle for freedom”, and “the Constituent Assembly was giving concrete shape and form to the principles it had inherited from the nationalist movement.” NCERT treats the Objectives Resolution moved by Nehru as the summary of those principles.

The Debates record that on 13 December 1946 “Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru” moved the resolution on “Aims and Objects”, and that on 22 January 1947 it was adopted, “all members standing”. The resolution declared the Assembly’s “firm and solemn resolve to proclaim India as an Independent Sovereign Republic and to draw up for her future governance a Constitution”. NCERT’s summary of its main points includes: India as an independent, sovereign republic; a Union of the British Indian territories, the Indian States and other parts willing to join; all power and authority flowing from the people; social, economic and political justice, equality of status and opportunity and equality before law, and fundamental freedoms “subject to law and public morality”; and adequate safeguards for minorities, backward and tribal areas, and depressed and other backward classes. These ideas reappear in the Preamble and in Parts III and IV.

The Assembly’s committees were also a source in the practical sense. Ambedkar explained that the Drafting Committee worked on “the reports made by the various Committees appointed by it such as the Union Powers Committee, the Union Constitution Committee, the Provincial Constitution Committee and the Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities, Tribal Areas, etc.” NCERT notes that the Assembly had eight major committees, usually chaired by Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel or B.R. Ambedkar.

Sources of constitutional law today

In a wider sense, a “source of constitutional law” is anything a court looks to in order to find what the constitutional rule is. Three are clearly established by the Constitution itself.

The text and its amendments

The primary source is the text as amended. Article 368(1) allows Parliament “in exercise of its constituent power” to “amend by way of addition, variation or repeal any provision of this Constitution”. Under Article 368(2) an amendment Bill must be passed in each House “by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting”; amendments touching matters such as the election of the President, the Supreme Court and High Courts, the Seventh Schedule lists or representation of States in Parliament also need ratification “by the Legislatures of not less than one-half of the States”. (The earlier version of this post described this as “a simple majority of not less than 2/3 members”, which was inaccurate.)

The Legislative Department’s 2026 edition of the Constitution, as on 10 September 2026, incorporates “all the amendments up to the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023”. The 106th Amendment inserted Articles 330A, 332A and 334A on reservation of seats for women, in force from 16 April 2026, but under Article 334A the reservation itself takes effect only after a delimitation based on the first census taken after the Amendment’s commencement. At commencement in 1950 the Constitution had, in PIB’s words, “395 Articles, 22 Parts and 8 Schedules”; the 2026 edition contains 25 Parts (Part VII has been omitted, and Parts IVA, IXA, IXB and XIVA added) and twelve Schedules. New articles are inserted with letters (for example 21A, 51A, 330A), so the numbering still ends at Article 395.

Judgments of the Supreme Court

Article 141 says: “The law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding on all courts within the territory of India.” Judgments interpreting the Constitution are therefore a source of constitutional law in their own right. The most important example is His Holiness Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalavaru v. State of Kerala, decided by thirteen judges on 24 April 1973. The official headnote records the 7:6 majority holding that “The power to amend does not include the power to alter the basic structure or framework of the Constitution so as to change its identity.” In Minerva Mills Ltd. v. Union of India (31 July 1980) the Supreme Court held, as its headnote records, that the limited nature of the amending power is itself a basic feature, and that the harmony between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles is “an essential feature of the basic structure of the Constitution”. The firm’s pages on judicial activism and writ petitions show how this case law is used.

Pre-constitutional law, custom and the General Clauses Act

Article 372(1) keeps alive the laws in force before 26 January 1950, and Article 366(10) calls them “existing law”. Article 13(3)(a) shows that the Constitution recognises more than statutes as “law”: “‘law’ includes any Ordinance, order, bye-law, rule, regulation, notification, custom or usage having in the territory of India the force of law”. Article 367(1) makes the General Clauses Act, 1897 apply to the interpretation of the Constitution. These provisions link the Constitution to the law that existed before it.

Sources of the Indian Constitution: revision notes for Class 11 and UPSC

For exam answers, keep the attribution with each point. A safe structure is: (1) the legal source (the Constituent Assembly, Preamble, Articles 393 to 395); (2) the Government of India Act, 1935 as the largest source, with Ambedkar’s 4 November 1948 statement; (3) the foreign sources in NCERT’s box; (4) Australia and Japan from the Assembly debates; (5) the Objectives Resolution and the nationalist movement; and (6) Ambedkar’s reply to the “borrowed constitution” charge.

Source	Key point	Authority to quote
Constituent Assembly	Adopted 26 November 1949; first met 9 December 1946	Preamble; Lok Sabha Secretariat preface
Government of India Act, 1935	“a good part of the provisions”; “mostly … details of administration”	Ambedkar, 4 November 1948
Britain	Parliamentary form, rule of law, Speaker, law-making, first past the post	NCERT, Chapter 1, p. 22
USA	Fundamental Rights; judicial review and independence of the judiciary	NCERT, Chapter 1, p. 22
Ireland	Directive Principles of State Policy	NCERT; Ambedkar, 4 November 1948
France	Liberty, equality and fraternity	NCERT, Chapter 1, p. 22
Canada	Strong-Centre federation; residual powers	NCERT, Chapter 1, p. 22
Australia	Long concurrent list	Ambedkar, 4 November 1948
Japan	“Procedure established by law” (Article 21)	Drafting Committee’s note, as reported in the Assembly on 6 December 1948
Objectives Resolution	Moved 13 December 1946; adopted 22 January 1947	Constituent Assembly Debates; NCERT

The official texts are free to read: NCERT’s chapter is at ncert.nic.in (Indian Constitution at Work, Chapter 1), and the current text of the Constitution in English and Hindi is published by the Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice.

भारतीय संविधान के स्रोत – हिंदी में सारांश (Sources of the Indian Constitution: Summary in Hindi)

भारतीय संविधान के स्रोत (samvidhan ke srot) दो तरह से समझे जाते हैं। पहला, संविधान का कानूनी स्रोत – यानी संविधान को बनाने और अपनाने वाली संस्था। संविधान की उद्देशिका के अनुसार भारत के लोगों ने “अपनी इस संविधान सभा में आज तारीख 26 नवम्बर, 1949 ई0 … को एतद्द्वारा इस संविधान को अंगीकृत, अधिनियमित और आत्मार्पित” किया। दूसरा, वे स्रोत जिनसे संविधान निर्माताओं ने सामग्री और विचार लिए – जैसे भारत शासन अधिनियम, 1935, दूसरे देशों के संविधान और राष्ट्रीय आंदोलन के आदर्श।

संविधान सभा: संविधान सभा की पहली बैठक 9 दिसंबर 1946 को हुई। पंडित जवाहरलाल नेहरू ने 13 दिसंबर 1946 को उद्देश्य प्रस्ताव (Objectives Resolution) रखा, जिसे 22 जनवरी 1947 को सभी सदस्यों ने खड़े होकर स्वीकार किया। विभाजन के बाद सदस्यों की संख्या 299 रह गई। प्रारूप समिति (Drafting Committee) 29 अगस्त 1947 को बनी और डॉ. बी.आर. आंबेडकर उसके अध्यक्ष थे। संविधान 26 नवंबर 1949 को अंगीकृत हुआ और 24 जनवरी 1950 को सदस्यों ने उस पर हस्ताक्षर किए। अनुच्छेद 394 (प्रारंभ) के अनुसार नागरिकता (अनुच्छेद 5 से 9) सहित कुछ अनुच्छेद तुरंत लागू हुए और “इस संविधान के शेष उपबंध 26 जनवरी, 1950 को प्रवृत्त” हुए। इसी कारण 26 नवंबर को संविधान दिवस (Samvidhan Divas) और 26 जनवरी को गणतंत्र दिवस मनाया जाता है।

सबसे बड़ा स्रोत – भारत शासन अधिनियम, 1935: भारत शासन अधिनियम, 1935 (Government of India Act, 1935) को भारतीय संविधान का सबसे बड़ा स्रोत माना जाता है। 4 नवंबर 1948 को डॉ. आंबेडकर ने संविधान सभा में स्वीकार किया कि सभा ने कुछ मामलों में इस अधिनियम के प्रावधानों का पालन करने का निर्देश दिया था, और प्रारूप में इस अधिनियम के प्रावधानों का एक अच्छा हिस्सा (a good part) लिया गया है, जो अधिकतर प्रशासन के ब्यौरों से संबंधित है। उन्होंने कहा कि उधार लेने में कोई शर्म की बात नहीं है। संविधान का आधा या दो-तिहाई हिस्सा इस अधिनियम से लिया गया – ऐसा कोई आधिकारिक आंकड़ा नहीं है; लगभग आधे की बात आलोचकों ने कही थी।

अनुच्छेद 395 (निरसन): संविधान के आधिकारिक हिंदी पाठ के अनुसार: “395. निरसन— भारत स्वतंत्रता अधिनियम, 1947 और भारत शासन अधिनियम, 1935 का, पश्चात् कथित अधिनियम की, संशोधक या अनुपूरक सभी अधिनियमितियों के साथ, जिनके अंतर्गत प्रिवी कौंसिल अधिकारिता उत्सादन अधिनियम, 1949 नहीं है, इसके द्वारा निरसन किया जाता है ।” यानी संविधान ने इन ब्रिटिश कानूनों को समाप्त कर दिया; संविधान इन पर आधारित नहीं है।

विदेशी स्रोत (bhartiya samvidhan ke videshi srot): एनसीईआरटी की कक्षा 11 की पुस्तक “भारत का संविधान – सिद्धांत और व्यवहार” (अध्याय 1) में “विभिन्न देशों के संविधानों से लिए गए प्रावधान” शीर्षक से यह सूची है:

• ब्रिटिश संविधान: सर्वाधिक मत के आधार पर चुनाव में जीत का फ़ैसला; सरकार का संसदीय स्वरूप; कानून के शासन का विचार; विधायिका में अध्यक्ष का पद और उनकी भूमिका; कानून निर्माण की विधि।
• अमेरिका का संविधान: मौलिक अधिकारों की सूची; न्यायिक पुनरावलोकन की शक्ति और न्यायपालिका की स्वतंत्रता।
• आयरलैंड का संविधान: राज्य के नीति निर्देशक तत्व।
• फ्रांस का संविधान: स्वतंत्रता, समानता और बंधुत्व का सिद्धांत।
• कनाडा का संविधान: एक अर्द्ध-संघात्मक सरकार का स्वरूप (सशक्त केंद्रीय सरकार वाली संघात्मक व्यवस्था); अवशिष्ट शक्तियों का सिद्धांत।

इसके अलावा संविधान सभा की बहसों में डॉ. आंबेडकर ने समवर्ती सूची के लिए ऑस्ट्रेलिया के संविधान का उदाहरण दिया, और अनुच्छेद 21 के शब्द “विधि द्वारा स्थापित प्रक्रिया” के बारे में प्रारूप समिति की टिप्पणी में जापान के 1946 के संविधान के अनुच्छेद 31 का उल्लेख था (6 दिसंबर 1948)। मूल कर्तव्य सोवियत संघ से, आपात स्थिति में अधिकारों का निलंबन जर्मनी से, और संशोधन प्रक्रिया दक्षिण अफ्रीका से – ये दावे कई नोट्स में मिलते हैं, पर हमें किसी आधिकारिक स्रोत में इनकी पुष्टि नहीं मिली, इसलिए हम इन्हें तथ्य के रूप में नहीं लिखते।

भारतीय स्रोत: एनसीईआरटी के अनुसार संविधान सभा ने वही सिद्धांत ठोस रूप में रखे जो स्वतंत्रता आंदोलन के दौरान बने थे, और इनका सबसे अच्छा सार उद्देश्य प्रस्ताव है – स्वतंत्र, संप्रभु गणराज्य; सारी शक्ति जनता से; सामाजिक, आर्थिक और राजनीतिक न्याय; समानता और मूल स्वतंत्रताएं; अल्पसंख्यकों और पिछड़े वर्गों के लिए सुरक्षा।

आज के स्रोत: संविधान का संशोधित पाठ (अनुच्छेद 368; 10 सितंबर 2026 तक 106 संशोधन), सुप्रीम कोर्ट के निर्णय (अनुच्छेद 141 के अनुसार सभी न्यायालयों पर बाध्यकारी; केशवानंद भारती, 1973 में मूल ढांचे का सिद्धांत) और 1950 से पहले के कानून, जो अनुच्छेद 372 के तहत तब तक लागू रहते हैं जब तक बदले न जाएं। संविधान के भाग 3 का शीर्षक “मूल अधिकार”, भाग 4 का “राज्य की नीति के निदेशक तत्त्व” और भाग 4क का “मूल कर्तव्य” है। उद्धरण-चिह्नों में दिए गए हिंदी शब्द विधायी विभाग के आधिकारिक हिंदी संविधान और एनसीईआरटी की हिंदी पुस्तक से हैं; बाकी पाठ फर्म का सारांश है।

Frequently asked questions

Conclusion

The Indian Constitution has one legal source and several material sources. Its authority comes from the people of India acting through the Constituent Assembly, which adopted it on 26 November 1949; it came fully into force on 26 January 1950 and, by Article 395, repealed the British statutes that had governed India. Its content draws most heavily on the Government of India Act, 1935, as Ambedkar openly accepted, and on ideas adapted from the British, American, Irish, French and Canadian constitutions, with Australia and Japan cited on particular points in the Assembly’s debates.

For students, the safest answers are the ones that can be attributed: NCERT’s list of borrowed provisions, Ambedkar’s speech of 4 November 1948, and the text of the Constitution. Longer “country and feature” tables circulate widely, but where no official source supports a row, it is better left out. Since 1950 the Constitution has also been changed by 106 Amendment Acts and shaped by the Supreme Court’s interpretation, which under Article 141 binds every court in India.

Sources used for this post: the Constitution of India – Preamble and Articles 13, 21, 32, 37, 38, 39, 50, 51A, 74, 75, 108, 124, 125, 141, 147, 246, 246A, 248, 301, 330A, 332A, 334A, 366, 367, 368, 372, 392, 393, 394, 394A and 395 (Legislative Department, English edition as on 10 September 2026, and Hindi edition as on 1 May 2024, for the Preamble, Parts III, IV and IVA headings and Articles 394 and 395); the Constituent Assembly Debates (Official Report, Lok Sabha Secretariat reprint of 2014, read in the Sansad Digital Library): Volume I preface and 13 December 1946, 22 January 1947, 4 November 1948 (Dr B.R. Ambedkar moving the Draft Constitution, pp. 31–42), 6 and 13 December 1948, 25 November 1949 and 24 January 1950; NCERT, “Indian Constitution at Work”, Class XI, Chapter 1 “Constitution: Why and How?” (reprint 2026-27, pages 14–24, ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/keps201.pdf) and its Hindi edition “भारत का संविधान – सिद्धांत और व्यवहार”, Chapter 1, page 22 (ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/khps201.pdf); the Indian Independence Act, 1947, section 8 as enacted (UK Government’s legislation.gov.uk); PIB factsheet “Constitution of India (Interesting Facts)”, 25 November 2021 (pib.gov.in); and the Supreme Court’s official headnotes (Volume I of the headnotes printed under the authority of the Supreme Court of India, cdnbbsr.s3waas.gov.in/s3ec0490f1f4972d133619a60c30f3559e/uploads/2025/05/2025052943.pdf) of His Holiness Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalavaru v. State of Kerala, [1973] Supp. SCR 1 (24 April 1973) and Minerva Mills Ltd. v. Union of India, [1981] 1 SCR 206 (31 July 1980).