Changes in Constituent Assembly by India Independence Act
Q. Which of the following changes took place in the Constituent Assembly due to the India Independence Act of 1947?
1) Assembly became fully sovereign body.
2) Assembly as a legislative body was chaired by Jawaharlal Nehru.
3) Muslim league members (hailing from Pakistan) withdrew from the Assembly.- Published on 13 Feb 17a. 1, 2
b. 2, 3
c. 1, 3
d. All of the above
ANSWER: 1, 3
- After the acceptance of the Mountbatten Plan of June 3, 1947 for a partition of the country, the representatives of most of the other princely states joined the Assembly.
- The members of the Muslim League from the Indian Dominion also entered the Assembly.
The Indian Independence Act of 1947 made the following three changes in the position of the Assembly :
1. The Assembly was made a fully sovereign body, which could frame any Constitution it wanted as well as remove or alter any law made by the British Parliament in relation to India.
2. The Assembly also became a legislative body. Thus Assembly was making the constitution for free India and also enacting ordinary laws for the country.
3. These two tasks were to be performed on separate days. Thus,the Assembly became the first Parliament of free India (Dominion Legislature).
4. Whenever the Assembly met as the Constituent body it was chaired by Dr. Rajendra Prasad and when it met as the legislative body, it was chaired by G. V. Mavlankar.
5. This continued till November 26, 1949, when the Constitution was adopted.
6. The Muslim League members (from the areas in Pakistan) withdrew from the Constituent Assembly for India.
7. So, the total strength of the Assembly came down to 299 from 389.The strength of the Indian provinces (formerly British Provinces) was reduced from 296 to 229 and those of the princely states from 93 to 70.
