It confers constitutional supremacy (rather than parliamentary supremacy, as it was enacted by a regional parliament instead of Parliament) and was ratified by the people through a preamble statement. The constitution cannot be overridden by the legislature.

The All Parties Conference organized a committee in Lucknow in 1928 to draught the Indian Constitution, which became recognized as the Nehru Report.

From 1857 until 1947, the British ruled over the majority of colonial India. For the three years that India was a British dominion, the same legislation was enforced, as each princely state was persuaded by Sardar Patel and V.P.Menon to accept the articles of merger with India, and the British government was accountable for the country's foreign protection. When the Indian constitution took effect on January 26, 1950, it abolished the Indian Independence Act 1947 and the Indian government Act 1935. With the constitution, India ceased to be a British Crown dominion and became an independent representative democracy. The constitution's first provisions went into effect on November 26, 1949, while the rest went into effect on January 26, 1950.