The Indian Constitution is the supreme legal document of India, serving as the fundamental act and framework for the nation's governance. It is the longest written national constitution in the world.
Its origin lies in the need for a foundational law for the newly independent nation, superseding the British Parliament's Government of India Act 1935 and the Indian Independence Act 1947. The Constituent Assembly, chaired by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, adopted the Constitution on November 26, 1949, and it came into force on January 26, 1950, establishing India as a sovereign, democratic republic.
The Constitution works by establishing a federal parliamentary system with three branches: the Executive, Legislature, and Judiciary. It originally contained 395 Articles divided into 22 Parts and 8 Schedules. Key mechanisms include Part III (Articles 12 to 35), which guarantees Fundamental Rights like the Right to Equality, and Part IV (Articles 36 to 51), which lays down the non-justiciable Directive Principles of State Policy.
The document connects directly to the Parliament, which can amend it under Article 368. However, the Supreme Court in Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973) held that Parliament's amending power does not extend to altering the Constitution's "basic structure".
The Constitution has been amended 106 times as of September 28, 2023. The 104th Amendment Act, 2020, extended the reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies until 2030, while discontinuing the provision for nominated Anglo-Indian members. Most recently, the 106th Amendment Act, 2023, provided for 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.