Study material

Constitutional Law I 22 topics

Past question papers for this subject

Unit I

• Constitution: meaning, kinds and constitutionalismWhat a Constitution is, the forms it takes, where India sits among them, and why having a Constitution is not the same thing as constitutionalism.
• Constitutional history, drafting and the Constituent AssemblyHow the Constitution was made: the colonial statutes it grew out of, the Constituent Assembly that framed it, and why the borrowings are not a weakness.
• Salient features of the Indian ConstitutionThe distinguishing characteristics of the Constitution, and the two that carry the most marks: quasi-federalism and the balance between rights and directive principles.
• The Preamble: meaning, scope and importanceWhat the Preamble says, whether it is part of the Constitution, whether it can be amended, and how far a court may use it.
• Citizenship: acquisition, termination and allied lawsArticles 5 to 11, the five modes of acquiring citizenship under the Citizenship Act 1955, the three modes of losing it, and why India has single citizenship.
• State under Article 12 and the meaning of 'other authorities'Who can a fundamental right be enforced against: the definition in Article 12, and the long line of cases expanding and then disciplining 'other authorities'.

Unit II

• Article 13: pre- and post-constitutional laws, severability, eclipse and waiverWhat 'law' means in Article 13, how it treats laws made before and after the Constitution, and the three doctrines the courts built to work it: severability, eclipse and waiver.
• Judicial reviewThe power of the courts to test legislative and executive action against the Constitution: its basis, its grounds, its limits, and why it cannot be taken away.
• Article 14: equality before law and the new doctrine of arbitrarinessEquality before law and equal protection of the laws, the test of reasonable classification, and the shift to arbitrariness after Royappa and Maneka Gandhi.

Unit III

• Articles 15 and 16: protective discrimination and social justiceProhibition of discrimination, equality of opportunity in public employment, and the reservation jurisprudence from Champakam to the economic criterion.
• Article 17: abolition of untouchabilityA short Article with unusual features: absolute, without exception, enforceable against private persons, and backed by penal legislation.
• Article 19(1)(a): freedom of speech and expressionThe dimensions the courts have read into free speech, the eight grounds on which it may be restricted, and the cases that define both.
• Article 19: assembly, association, movement, residence and professionThe other five freedoms in Article 19(1), the grounds on which each may be restricted, and the test of reasonableness that runs through all of them.

Unit IV

• Article 20: rights of the accusedEx post facto law, double jeopardy and the right against self-incrimination: three protections, each with a precise scope that examiners test.
• Article 22: rights of the arrested person and preventive detentionThe two halves of Article 22: safeguards on ordinary arrest, and the far weaker safeguards that apply to detention without trial.
• Article 21: right to life and personal libertyThe most expansively interpreted Article in the Constitution: from a narrow procedural guarantee in Gopalan to the source of most modern rights.
• Articles 23 and 24: right against exploitationTraffic in human beings, begar and forced labour, and the prohibition on employing children in hazardous work — two Articles enforceable against private persons.
• Articles 25 to 28: freedom of religion and secularismThe four religion Articles, the essential religious practices test, the limits on religious freedom, and what Indian secularism actually means.

Unit V

• Articles 29 and 30: cultural and educational rights of minoritiesProtection of language, script and culture, the right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions, and how far the State may regulate them.
• Articles 32 and 226: constitutional remedies, the writs and PILThe right to a remedy, the differences between Article 32 and Article 226, the five writs and when each lies, and the rise of public interest litigation.
• Right to property before and after 1978The one fundamental right that was taken away: the conflict over land reform, the amendments it produced, and the position of Article 300-A today.
• Directive principles, fundamental duties, and their relation to fundamental rightsPart IV and Part IV-A: what the directive principles are, why they are unenforceable, the long conflict with Part III, and how the courts settled it.