If nation is a building, Constitution is the substratum. If people are free, Constitution is the fountainhead and if laws are made, Constitution is the authority. Having languished for a century and a half under the British, India needed to break free from the shackles of subjugation, chaos and despondency. The leaders of the freedom movement believed that India’s political destiny should be determined by Indians themselves. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Swaraj will not be a free gift of the British Parliament. It will be a declaration of India’s full expression. That it will be expressed through the Act of Parliament is true, but it will be merely a courteous ratification of the declared wish of the people of India...” This led to a demand from various quarters for a Constituent Assembly with the widest franchise to frame a home-spun Constitution. This demand became a part of the Indian National Congress’s policy too. Thus, the grand Constituent Assembly of In ....