The constitution of every country is the core document of that country and is a reflection of the manner in which the country is running. It is the basic legal document from which all other laws and rules are derived. There are countries like the United Kingdom which do not have any written document and on the other hand there are countries like India and the United States of America having a concrete written constitution. The drafting of any constitution is not a simple task by any stretch of imagination. It is the basic document representing the will and the aspirations of its people.
India being a democratic country had the task of balancing the rights of the citizens without compromising the growth of the country at the time of drafting of the constitution. The burden of this responsibility on the shoulders of the framers of the constitution was considerably reduced due to the presence of the constitution of other democracies at the time of framing of the Indian constitution. The Indian constitution is therefore not an absolute original text but is inspired by the best features of the then existing constitutions like the USA, Ireland, Canada and South Africa.
Talking about the individual portions of the constitution, Fundamental Rights in the Indian constitution are inspired from the constitution of the USA. Though not originally present in the American constitution, these rights were added via Bill of Rights in the year 1791. These rights are aimed at protecting the rights and liberties of the people and promote the ideal of political democracy. Included in part-III of the Indian constitution, these rights aim to promote equality, right to freedom and right against exploitation besides strengthening other rights.
Another inspired principle in the Indian constitution is the Directive Principles of State Policies (DPSP) which are inspired from the constitution of Ireland which itself had taken inspiration from the Spanish constitution. Unlike fundamental rights which are justiciable, these are the policies which must be kept in mind by the State while framing their policies.
Fundamental duties in the Indian constitution are borrowed from the constitution of erstwhile USSR. These are the set of rules containing the duties which must be performed by the citizens. India follows the Parliamentary form of government which is not an original Indian principle but is based on the UK’s Westminster model where crown is the nominal head and the actual power lies with the council of ministers. The nominal head in India is the President with a council of ministers holding the actual power.
Though India follows a quasi-federal structure which is inspired by the Canadian constitution which is an absolute federal constitution, the Indian constitution itself provides for the dilution of this principle of federalism during the times of emergency. India remains a federal country during normal times but attains a very strong unitary tendency at the time of emergency arising due to war, armed rebellion or external aggression. The provisions contained in the constitution for dealing with the emergency situations are inspired from the Wiemar Constitution of Germany.
The constitution is not a concrete document but a fusion of rigidity and flexibility. The amendment provisions provided in the constitution of India is an appropriate illustration of the constitution being a living and evolving document. These provisions contained in article 368, providing flexibility to the constitution to adjust or mold according to the needs of the society is inspired from article 74 of the constitution of South Africa.
The Indian constitution is not an original document in its true and absolute sense. It rather is a product of the best inspirations available. The constitutions of various countries and the constitution of the United Nations have many outstanding features suitable for Indian society but none of these constitutions were elaborate enough to be applied to India in its original form. The framers of the constitution of India performed the task of extracting the best from the available constitutions and making necessary modifications to best suit the conditions of India. The making of the Indian constitution was an art which was performed in a very meticulous manner by the founding fathers of the constitution and they perfectly distinguished between a mere copy-paste approach and the drawing of actual inspiration from other constitutions.