The Constitution of India, whose protection has become an important issue in the Lok Sabha elections, has returned as a political debate in poll-bound Maharashtra. BJP attacked Congress Distributing blank page copies of the ‘Constitution’ At India’s Rahul Gandhi event. In the midst of all this political war of words, the question arises as to who actually published the Constitution.

The latest controversy started after Rahul Gandhi’s Samvidhan Samman Sammelan convention in Nagpur. A video posted by the Maharashtra BJP on social media went viral after it showed books with ‘Constitution of India’ written on the front but containing only blank pages except for the introduction on the front page.

The Congress was also accused of destroying the original Constitution, which contained images of Lord Ram, Lord Krishna and Chhatrapati Shivaji, besides distributing copies of the ‘Constitution’ with blank pages.

“This said copy of the Constitution was distributed at Rahul Gandhi’s rally/meeting. It turned out to be as empty as the Congress’s guarantees. Justice like Nakli Gandhi, this too is Nakli. It is an insult to Sanvidhan and Babasaheb Ambedkar by the Congress. They were punished by the people for this ” said BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on X.

Congress said it was a notebook.

WHO PUBLISHES THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS?

So who actually publishes the copies of the Constitution of India that can be purchased and distributed? Can private publishers also publish copies?

Survey of India, Dehradun, publishes copies of the Constitution on behalf of the Lok Sabha.

These copies are published in 22 programmed languages, updated with the latest changes. These can be accessed on the website of the Official Languages ​​Wing of the Legislative Department of the Ministry of Law and Justice.

The latest copy of the Constitution was last updated on May 1, 2024.

The 106th amendment, the last amendment to the Constitution, was made on September 28, 2023.

In the latest amendment, one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha (330A), state legislatures (332A) and the Delhi Legislative Assembly (239AA) are held by women (334A) for 15 years after it came into force.

THE STATE ALSO PUBLISHES A PRINTED POCKET EDITION

According to the RTI response, the government from time to time publishes mobile and A4 size editions of the Constitution of India with updated amendments, The Times of India reported.

According to the TOI report, this was on the request and request of the Controller-Publications and Legal Literature Publication, Legislative Department and bodies working under the Ministry of Law and Justice in New Delhi.

It is also stated that the Ministry of Law and Justice has not given any specific directives or guidelines for private broadcasters.

“There are no specific guidelines and policies regarding paper and printing quality,” reads the response to RTI’s question.

THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON KINDLE

Copies from both public and private publishers are offered for sale.

The official copy of the Constitution is available for Kindle on Amazon for Rs 65.

Various copies printed by private publishers are also available. PDF versions of the Constitutions are also available for download.

You can find the paperback issue of Samyak Prakashan here for Rs 500. Several other copies are also available online and in bookstores.

While the people of India are the sole custodians of the Constitution, its updated publication is being received by the Survey of India. Once the original copy is published and uploaded, private publishers are free to produce and sell the copy, making it easy for anyone to purchase and distribute it.