SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PREAMBLE‌

The Preamble embodies the basic philosophy and fundamental values-political, moral and religious-on which the Constitution is based. It contains the grand and noble vision of the Constituent Assembly, and reflects the dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the Constitution. In the words of Sir Alladi Krishnaswami Iyer, a member of the Constituent Assembly who played a significant role in making the Constitution, 'The Preamble to our Constitution expresses what we had thought or dreamt so long’.

According to K.M. Munshi, a member of the Drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly, the Preamble is the 'horoscope of our sovereign democratic republic’.

Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava, another member of the Constituent Assembly, summed up the importance of the Preamble in the following words: 'The Preamble is the most precious part of the Constitution. It is the soul of the Constitution. It is a key to the Constitution. It is a jewel set in the Constitution. It is a proper yardstick with which one can measure the worth of the Constitution’.

Sir Ernest Barker, a distinguished English political scientist, paid a glowing tribute to the political wisdom of the authors of the Preamble. He described the Preamble as the 'key-note’13 to the Constitution. He was so moved by the text of the preamble that he quoted14 it at the opening of his popular book, Principles of Social and Political Theory (1951).‌

M. Hidayatullah, a former Chief Justice of India, observed, 'Preamble resembles the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, but is more than a declaration. It is the soul of our Constitution, which lays down the pattern of our political society. It contains a solemn resolve, which nothing but a revolution can alter15 .