Historical Overview of Duties of Sovereign and Its Reflection in The Constitution of India

Abstract

Development of any nation depends heavily on the role played by the sovereign, whether that is an individual or a group of people, such as the government. This research paper analyses the ancient Indian literature that outlines the king's responsibilities and then provides an overview of how the same is reflected in the Indian Constitution and the contemporary Indian democratic system. Author has applied doctrinal methodology to conduct qualitative analysis of existing literature on the research problem.

The outcome of this research is that it has identified several common features between ancient Indian literature and the Modern-day Constitution of India. This research provides an overview of how the ancient concepts of danda i.e. punishment for maintaining law and order finds place in form of different penal laws and is being observed by the administrative forces under the vigil of judiciary. It finds the nexus between ancient concept of ‘Dharma’ in modern day principle of ‘Rule of Law,’ recognised by the Supreme Court of India and protected under the Constitution of India.