# The Constitution of India (Original Calligraphed and Illuminated Version)

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One of 1,000 photolithographic reproductions of the Constitution of the Republic of India, original of which is kept in a special nitrogen-filled hermetically sealed case in the Library of the Parliament of India. The illustrations represent styles from different civilizations of the subcontinent, ranging from the prehistoric Mohenjodaro, in the Indus Valley, to the present. The calligraphy in the book was done by Prem Behari Narain Raizada, using a holder and nib (No. 303 nib). It was illuminated by Nandalal Bose, known as the artist laureate of India, and his students, from Kala Bhavan (Institute of Fine Arts), Visvabharati University, including Beohar Rammanohar Sinha (credited, among other items, for the Preamble page), Dinanath Bhargava (credited for the emblem of India), Kripal Singh Shekhawat, A. Perumal, Vinayak Sivram Masoji and other artists, which included Bose's three children: Biswarup Bose (and his wife Nibedita), Gauri Bhanja (and her daughter, Bani Patel) and Jamuna Sen. Amala Bose, later wife of ABP Group chairman Kanailal Sarkar, Jagdish Mittal , Rajniti Singh and Dhirendra Krishna Deb Barman were also in the team of illustrators. The illustrations were done in indigenous methods, using gold-leaf and stone colors. The name of the calligrapher is signed as Prem at bottom left of the text window on each page; the name of the illustrator is signed at bottom left of each illustrated page frame. Pictures are separately signed. The manuscript was written on microbe-resistant parchment sheets measuring 45.7 cm × 58.4 cm with a shelf life of a thousand years. The finished manuscript consisted of 234 pages and weighed ~13 kg. This manuscript was signed by the members of the Constituent Assembly on 24th January 1950. The glass cases for preservation of the English and Hindi manuscripts in the Parliament library were developed jointly by National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi and Getty Conservation Institute, USA, and installed in March 1994.
Contents
| Preamble | |
| Part 1 | The Union and its Territory (Art. 1-4) |
| Part 2 | Citizenship (Art. 5-11) |
| Part 3 | Fundamental Rights (Art. 12-35) |
| Part 4 | Directive Principles of State Policy (Art. 36-51) |
| Part 5 | The Union |
| Chapter 1 | The Executive (Art. 52-78) |
| Chapter 2 | Parliament (Art. 79-122) |
| Chapter 3 | Legislative Powers of the President (Art. 123) |
| Chapter 4 | The Union Judiciary (Art. 124-147) |
| Chapter 5 | Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (Art. 148-151) |
| Part 6 | The States in Part A of the First Schedule |
| Chapters 1 and 2 | General; The Executive (Art. 152-167) |
| Chapter 3 | The State Legislature (Art. 168-212) |
| Chapter 4 | Legislative Power of the Governor (Art. 213) |
| Chapter 5 | The High Courts in the States (Art. 214-232) |
| Chapter 6 | Subordinate Courts (Art. 233-237) |
| Part 7 | The States in Part B of the First Schedule (Art. 238) |
| Part 8 | The States in Part C of the First Schedule (Art. 239-242) |
| Part 9 | The Territories in Part D of the First Schedule and other Territories not specified in that Schedule (Art. 243) |
| Part 10 | The Scheduled and Tribal Areas (Art. 244) |
| Part 11 | Relations between the Union and the States |
| Chapter 1 | Legislative Relations (Art. 245-255) |
| Chapter 2 | Administrative Relations (Art. 256-263) |
| Part 12 | Finance, Property, Contracts and Suits |
| Chapter 1 | Finance (Art. 264-291) |
| Chapter 2 | Borrowing (Art. 292-293) |
| Chapter 3 | Property, Contracts, Rights, Liabilities, Obligations and Suits (Art. 294-300) |
| Part 13 | Trade, Commerce and Intercourse within the territory of India (Art. 301-307) |
| Part 14 | Services under the Union and the States |
| Chapter 1 | Services (Art. 308-314) |
| Chapter 2 | Public Service Commissions (Art. 315-323) |
| Part 15 | Elections (Art. 324-329) |
| Part 16 | Special Provisions relating to Certain Classes (Art. 330-342) |
| Part 17 | Official Language |
| Chapter 1 | Language of the Union (Art. 343-344) |
| Chapter 2 | Regional Languages (Art. 345-347) |
| Chapter 3 | Language of the Supreme Court, High Courts, etc. (Art. 348-349) |
| Chapter 4 | Special Directives (Art. 350-351) |
| Part 18 | Emergency Provisions (Art. 352-360) |
| Part 19 | Miscellaneous (Art. 361-367) |
| Part 20 | Amendment of the Constitution (Art. 368) |
| Part 21 | Temporary and Transitional Provisions (Art. 369-392) |
| Part 22 | Short Title, Commencement and Repeals (Art. 393-395) |
| Schedules | |
| First Schedule | The States and the territories of India |
| Second Schedule | Emoluments, allowances and privileges |
| Third Schedule | Forms of Oaths or Affirmations |
| Fourth Schedule | Allocation of seats in the Council of States |
| Fifth Schedule | Provisions as to the Administration and Control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes |
| Sixth Schedule | Provisions as to the Administration of Tribal Areas in Assam |
| Seventh Schedule | Union List, State List and Concurrent List |
| Eighth Schedule | Languages |
| Signatures | Constituent Assembly Members |
Calligraphed by Prem Behari Narain Raizada (Saxena), s/o Shree Brij Behari Narain Raizada of Delhi. c/o Messrs. Govan Bros. (Rampur) Ltd. Rampur.
Illuminated by Shri Nandalal Bose and other artists of Santiniketan, Viswabharati.
Photolithographed at the Survey of India Offices, Hathibarkala, Dehra Dun.
List of Illustrations
This work is the work of Government of India. Section 52(1)(q) of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 allows for the reproduction or publication of
* any matter which has been published in any Official Gazette except an Act of a Legislature;
* any Act of a Legislature subject to the condition that such Act is reproduced or published together with any commentary thereon or any other original matter;
* the report of any committee, commission, council, board or other like body appointed by the government if such report has been laid on the Table of the Legislature, unless the reproduction or publication of such report is prohibited by the government;
* any judgement or order of a court, Tribunal or other judicial authority, unless the reproduction or publication of such judgement or order is prohibited by the court, the Tribunal or other judicial authority, as the case may be.
The decision of the Supreme Court of India in "Eastern Book Company & Ors vs D.B. Modak & Anr" on 12 December, 2007 interpreted this section of the Act as making the material public domain.
This work is also in the public domain in the U.S. because it is an edict of a government, local or foreign. See § 313.6(C)(2) of the Compendium II: Copyright Office Practices. Such documents include "legislative enactments, judicial decisions, administrative rulings, public ordinances, or similar types of official legal materials" as well as "any translation prepared by a government employee acting within the course of his or her official duties."
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