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By- DEVANSH MALHOTRA AND DR. KALYANI ABHYANKAR

This article provides a critical analysis of the substantive contribution made by B. Shiva Rao’s book, India’s Constitution in the Making, to document the historical, political and intellectual underpinnings of the Constitution of India. The article focuses on Rao’s reconstruction of the deliberative process of the Constituent Assembly especially in relation to fundamental rights; liberty; preventive detention; and the Article 21 & 22 procedural safeguards. Rao has extensively used archival records, committee minutes, and correspondence between constitutional framers to piece together a unique participant-observer account of how the Constitution was created, as well as the competing philosophical perspectives of the Constitution that influenced the final product. The review goes on to further explore Rao’s coverage of the work of Sir B.N. Rau and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, and the ways in which the technical process of drafting a Constitution and the transformative vision for creating a new society converged to actually produce the Indian Constitution. In addition to commending the documentary, methodological, and jurisprudential values of Rao’s work, the review also critiques its limited discussion of the socio-economic realities and post-colonial realities of how constitutional rights operate. Ultimately, it is the position of the review that Rao’s contribution represents one of the most important constitutional resource materials for thought about the philosophical commitments of the framers of the Constitution regarding liberty, due process, constitutional morality and democracy in India.

Keywords: Transformative Constitutionalism, Equality, Liberty, Justice, Constitutional Morality, Indian Supreme Court, Judicial Activism, Social Justice