The first draft of the Constitution of India was prepared in

Concept

A constitutional draft converts decisions already taken by a constituent body into a coherent legal text. The Constitutional Adviser’s initial draft is distinct from the later draft revised by the Drafting Committee and from the Constitution finally adopted by the Assembly.

These stages must be separated when identifying the date of the first draft.

Application

The Constituent Assembly appointed the Drafting Committee on 29 August 1947. Constitutional Adviser B. N. Rau then completed the first draft by October 1947; the Drafting Committee began examining it on 27 October 1947 and revised it before submitting its own draft on 21 February 1948. Therefore, the first draft referred to in the question was prepared in October 1947.

Cross-check and contrast

• August 1947 marks the appointment of the Drafting Committee, not the completion month of Rau’s first draft.

• October 1947 is the month identified on the parliamentary record for the Constitutional Adviser’s first draft.

• November 1947 falls within the Drafting Committee’s later scrutiny and revision period.

• December 1947 also falls within that later revision period, which continued until February 1948.

Result: the first draft was prepared in October 1947.