Sovereignty

The first term used to describe India is sovereign. What does it mean? It means supremacy of power that is not limited by any law inside or outside the state. Sovereignty is a basic characteristic of the state. A state cannot exist unless it is sovereign. There are four basic characteristics of the state: People, government, territory, and sovereignty. Out of these four, sovereignty is the most important one, because it distinguishes a state from other forms of human institutions. Other institutions may have people, they may have government and administration of their own, they may possess land, but unless they have sovereignty, they cannot be termed as states. For example, Indian Cricket Board has people, autonomous administration, they possess their land, but it is not state because it is responsible to some another authority. It has to follow the laws of India. Similarly, the states of Maharashtra, Kerla, or any other state, they have three other components but do not have sovereignty, so they are not states in a legal perspective.

In the preamble, we have proclaimed our sovereignty in ourselves. In a democratic country like ours, people are sovereign. This is called as popular sovereignty. But legally, our sovereignty lies in our constitution and the authorities described by it.

We, the people of India (Part I)

The preamble of Indian Constitution: Students recite it everyday in schools and we too have heard it and read it for several times, but did we ever try to realize its meaning? Do we really understand the importance of those golden words that proclaim our supremacy above all? Do we ever care to remember our resolution to constitute our country as our great heroes had dreamt? Very rarely do we care to understand the dreams of those great sons of this land, who burnt all their lives to confer us such a noble framework. Let us take this opportunity to read, think over, and work as per the preamble of the Indian Constitution.

Here is the exact draft of the preamble. Let us read it once again by heart.

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:

JUSTICE, social, economic and political;

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.

Have you learnt it by heart? Did you get the feeling of it? If yes, let’s move towards the discussion.

You may have noticed the preamble has only a single, but comprehensive sentence. It is drafted so, because the legal language has to be very exact and accurate. The beauty of legal language lies in its bareness and straight-forwardness.

The preamble starts with “We, the people of India.” It implies that it is being proclaimed by the people of India, by you and me! And why are we proclaiming? Because we have resolved solemnly to achieve two objects: The first one is to constitute India as a sovereign socialist secular democratic republic state; and second is to secure all its citizens justice, liberty, equality, and promote fraternity among all of them. Having this resolved solemnly in our constituent assembly on 26/11/1949, we adopt, enact, and give this constitution to ourselves.

This is the first-hand meaning of the preamble. We will discuss the detailed description of the specific terms used in this draft in our next sessions.