SSC
Which country has the lengthiest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world?
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Answer: Option A — India
Detailed Solution
The Constitution of India is the lengthiest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world.
Why the Indian Constitution is so long:
- Geographical and social diversity: India is a vast country, with many religions, languages, castes and cultures, and the Constitution includes special provisions for different groups and regions.
- One constitution for the Union and the States: Unlike the USA, where the states have their own constitutions, the Indian Constitution contains provisions for both the Union and the States.
- Detailed provisions: It contains detailed provisions on the Fundamental Rights, the Directive Principles, the Centre-State relations, the services, the elections, the emergency, and many other matters.
- Experience of the past: The makers of the Constitution drew on the long experience of British rule and the Government of India Acts.
- Contribution of legal experts: Many members of the Constituent Assembly were eminent lawyers, who wanted to make the provisions clear and complete.
- Special provisions: It contains special provisions for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, the backward classes, the minorities, the Anglo-Indians, and certain states and regions.
Comments on its size:
- Sir Ivor Jennings, a British constitutional expert, described it as "the longest and most detailed constitution in the world".
- Some critics called it an "elephantine" or "lawyer's paradise" constitution.
Amendments:
Over the years, the Constitution has been amended more than a hundred times, and many new articles, parts and schedules have been added.
Other constitutions:
- The Constitution of the USA (1787) is one of the shortest written constitutions, with only seven articles in its original form.
- The British Constitution is largely unwritten; it is based on statutes, conventions and judicial decisions.
Why not the other options?
- ✗The constitutions of the USA, Canada and Australia are much shorter than the Indian Constitution.
Quick tip
Remember: India has the lengthiest written constitution in the world (Ivor Jennings: "the longest and most detailed"); the US Constitution originally had only seven articles.
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Preamble & Salient Features — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Preamble & Salient Features, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the Preamble of the Indian Constitution, the meaning of its key words (sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic, republic, justice, liberty, equality and fraternity), and the salient features of the Constitution, such as its federal structure with a unitary bias and the parliamentary form of government. Remember that the words 'socialist', 'secular' and 'integrity' were added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976, the only time the Preamble has been amended. Questions also test landmark cases on the Preamble: the Supreme Court held in the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973) that the Preamble is part of the Constitution. Practise the Preamble and salient features questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.