New Delhi: On November 26 every year in India, Constitution Day is celebrated as it commemorates the adoption of the Indian Constitution. On November 26, 1949, the Constitution Assembly adopted the Constitution of India which came into effect on January 26, 1950. The Constitution transformed the Dominion of India into a Republic. In drafting the Constitution, the Assembly played a crucial role and one of the members who played an important part in drafting the Constitution is B. N. Rau. In this article, we will take a look at the life of this diplomat.
Who is BN Rau?
The full name of BN Rau is Sir Benegal Narsing Rau. He was an Indian civil servant, diplomat, statesman and jurist who played an important role in drafting the Constitution of India as he was the Constituent Assembly’s Constitutional Advisor. Also, he represented India to the United Nations Security Council from 1950 to 1952.
BN Rau: A successful jurist and bureaucrat
In 1909, BN Rau passed the Indian Civil Service Examination and came back to British India. He was posted in Bengal where he did well as an executive and was moved to the judiciary in 1909. He served in several districts in East Bengal as the judge. Later, he served in the Assam government in multiple roles and tried to gain financial support for the Simon Commission’s tour of India in 1928–29. In 1933, after the third Round Table Conference, he presented the Commission’s case before the Joint Select Committee of Parliament in London.
Rau played a key role in drafting the Government of India Act, of 1935 and later served as a judge on the Calcutta High Court. In 1938, he received the knighthood and retired from service in 1944. He was appointed Jammu and Kashmir’s Prime Minister and resigned from this position in 1945, following differences with the then-Maharaja of Kashmir.
Role in drafting the Indian Constitution
In 1946, BN Rau became the Constitutional Adviser to the Constituent Assembly which was entrusted to form the Constitution of India. He formed the general structure of the Constitution’s democratic framework and in February 1948 prepared its initial draft. The draft was revised and finally adopted on November 26, 1949, by the Constituent Assembly. Hence, Rau is also called the Pioneer of the Constitution of India.
To research for the Constitution draft, Rau went to the US, the United Kingdom, Canada and Ireland. Famously, US Supreme Court’s Justice Felix Frankfurter advised him against including a clause for ‘due process’ in the Indian Constitution. When BR Ambedkar gave his final speech on November 25, 1949, he said that the credit given to him belonged partly to BN Rau for preparing a rough draft of the Constitution.
In drafting the Constitution, the Assembly played a crucial role and one of the members who played an important part in drafting the Constitution is B. N. Rau. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
