Write approximately 150 words on Objective Resolution of the Constituent Assembly. (2024, 10 Marks)
The Objectives Resolution, moved by Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 December 1946 and adopted unanimously on 22 January 1947, was the Constituent Assembly’s statement of purpose. Before any article was drafted, it fixed the principles the Constitution would serve. Nehru called it “a firm resolve”, “a pledge and an undertaking” and “something higher than the law.”
Its eight clauses
- A resolve to proclaim India an Independent Sovereign Republic and to frame its constitution.
- A Union of British India, the princely states and other territories willing to join.
- Autonomous units holding residuary powers, except for powers vested in the Union.
- All power and authority derived from the people.
- Justice (social, economic and political), equality of status, of opportunity and before the law, and freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation, association and action.
- Adequate safeguards for minorities, backward and tribal areas, and depressed and other backward classes.
- The integrity of the territory and sovereign rights on land, sea and air.
- A rightful place in the world and a contribution to world peace and human welfare.
Debate in the House
- M. R. Jayakar moved to defer adoption until the Muslim League and the princely states took their seats, arguing that a united India’s charter needed them.
- B. R. Ambedkar (17 December 1946) backed the deferral. He objected that the resolution stated rights but “does not speak of remedies,” and that it said nothing of the economic means, such as nationalisation of land and industry, by which social justice could be achieved. He still expressed confidence that India, however divided, would in time become one.
- Discussion was carried over to the January session, but the League never came.
Relation to the Preamble
| Objectives Resolution | Preamble (1949) |
|---|---|
| Independent Sovereign Republic | Sovereign Democratic Republic |
| Power derived from the people | “We, the people of India” |
| Justice, equality, freedom | Justice, liberty, equality, fraternity |
| Residuary powers with units | Dropped after partition |
The residuary-powers clause was a concession meant to keep the League inside a united India. After partition, the Union Powers Committee reversed it. The Supreme Court has since used the resolution as an interpretive aid, including in Kesavananda Bharati (1973). The Preamble it produced is still contested: in Dr. Balram Singh v. Union of India (November 2024) the Court upheld the 1976 insertion of “socialist” and “secular”.
Conclusion
The Resolution settled the republic and popular sovereignty three years before the text did. It also deferred the federal question, the one it was least able to decide while the country’s partition was unresolved. It was more than a first draft of the Preamble: it was the commitment that held the Assembly together.