The Constitution of India has borrowed quite a few of its provisions from the constitutions of various other countries as well as from the Government of India Act 1935. It is acclaimed by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar that the Constitution of India has been framed after ransacking all the known Constitutions of the world as highlighted below:

• The part of the Constitution related to rights and duties of people i.e., the Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSPs) derive their inspiration from the American and Irish Constitution respectively.
• The parts of the Constitution related to structure and functions of the State i.e., the principle of the Cabinet Government and relation between the executive and the legislature have largely been drawn from the British Constitution.
• The other provisions of the Constitution have been drawn from the Constitutions of Canada, Australia, Germany, USSR, France, South Africa, Japan and so on.

Despite being an amalgamation of various constitutions from across the world, the Indian Constitution imbibes social justice, pluralism, and equality through its various provisions given below:

• Social Justice: Social justice denotes the equal treatment of all citizens without any social distinction based on caste, colour, race, religion, sex etc. It has been envisioned through the following provisions:
  • Equal protection of the laws under Article 14 and equality of opportunity under Article 16(4) requires affirmative action by the State towards the underprivileged by providing additional opportunities to them.
  • The DPSPs (Part IV, Article 36 to 51) constitute a very comprehensive economic, social and political programme for a modern democratic state, which aim at realizing the socialist and the high Gandhian ideals.
  • They embody the concept of a welfare state and seek to establish economic and social democracy.
• Pluralism: Pluralism serves as a model of democracy, where different groups can voice their opinions and ideas. Pluralism is ensured through the following provisions:
  • The Constitution provides for a federal system of government where it shares a considerable amount of power with states, thus providing room for fulfilment of regional aspirations.
  • It provides for a secular state as it does not hold any particular religion as the official religion of India. For example, Right to freedom of religion is guaranteed to all Indians by the Constitution under Articles 25 to 28.
• Equality: It means the absence of special privileges to any section of the society and the provision of adequate opportunities for all individuals without any discrimination. It has been the core philosophy of the Indian Constitution, which is reflected through the following provisions:
• The Preamble secures to all citizens of India equality of status and opportunity. This provision embraces three dimensions of equality- civic, political and economic.
• The chapter on Fundamental Rights contained in Part III of the Constitution (Article 14-18) ensures civic equality.
• Political equality is ensured through provisions like no person is to be declared ineligible for inclusion in electoral rolls on grounds of religion, race, caste or sex (Article 325) and adult suffrage (Article 326).
• Economic equality is guaranteed by DPSPs (Article 39), which secure to men and women equal right to an adequate means of livelihood and equal pay for equal work.

These unique characteristics of the Indian Constitution make it distinct and it is this uniqueness, which has guided India over the last seven decades on the path of development while preserving her unity and fraternity.