Constitution - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition constitution

Definition :

Constitution, any regular form or system of government. Also a particular law, ordinance, or regulation made by the authority of any superior; as the Novel Constitutions of Justinian and his successors; the Constitutions of Clarendon; the Ecclesiastical Constitutions, etc.

Constitution and 'Organisation' as against jurisdiction and powers', words do not include words 'jurisdiction' and powers' within their scope and power of 'Constitution' and 'organisation' of the Supreme Court and High Court nests with Parliament alone, Jamshed N. Guzdar v. State of Maharashtra, (2005) 2 SCC 59.

Constitution is the mechanism under which the laws are to be made and not merely an Act which declares what the law is to be. A Constitution must not be construed in any narrow or pedantic sense, and that construction most beneficial to the widest possible amplitude of its power, must be adopted, India Cement Ltd. v. State of T.N., (1990) 1 SCC 12: AIR 1990 SC 85.

Means the Constitution of India. [Supreme Court Rules, 1966, s. 2 (1) (f)]

The Constitution is a document having a special legal sanctity which sets out the framework and the principal functions of the organs of the Government within the State and declares the principle which those organs must operate. The Constitution refers to the whole system of the governance of a country and the collection of rules which establish and regulate or govern the Government. In our country, we have a written Constitution, which has been given by the people of India to themselves. The said Constitution occupies the primary place, B.R. Kapur v. State of Tamil Nadu, (2001) 7 SCC 231 (310).

Is the laws and usages which govern its characteristic features, A Dictionary of Law, William C. Anderson, 1889, p. 236

Is a basic law defining and delimiting the principle organs of Government and their Jurisdiction as well as the basic rights of men and citizen, Dictionary of Political Science Joseph Dunner, 1965, p. 118

Indian Constitution consists of 395 articles incorporating among other things, fundamental rights, duties and directive principles of State policy. Constitution endows union Parliament the Constituent Power, i.e. Power to amend the Constitution, Practice and Procedure of Parliament, M.N. Kaul and S.L. Shakdher, 5th Edn., 2001, p. 5.

Indian Constitution is republican and federal in character; it embodies salient features of Parliamentary system providing for Parliament consisting of President and the two Houses of Parliament, Practice and Procedure of Parliament, M.N. Kaul and S.L. Shakdher, 5th Edn., 2001.

Constitution of India, Our Constitution is unique, apart from being the longest in the world. It is meant for the second largest population with diverse people speaking different languages and professing varying religious. It was chiselled and shaped by great political leaders and legal luminaries, most of whom had taken an active part in the struggle for freedom from the British yoke and who knew what domination of a foreign rule meant in the way of deprivation of basic freedoms and from the point of view of exploitation of the millions of Indians. The Constitution is an organic document which must grow and it must take stock of the vast socio-economic problems, particularly, of improving the lot of the common man consistent with his dignity and the unity of the nation, His Holiness Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalvaru v. State of Kerala, (1973) 4 SCC 225: AIR 1973 SC 1461: (1973) Supp SCR 1.