Article 375 created new courts and offices when the Constitution began.

It did not create anything new; it simply allowed already-existing courts, authorities, and officers to continue functioning, now subject to the Constitution.

This Article gives courts and officers permanent immunity from constitutional review.

The opposite is true: it explicitly makes their continued functioning 'subject to the provisions of this Constitution,' meaning they must comply with it, including fundamental rights.

The Constitution of India

Article 375

Courts, authorities and officers to continue to function subject to the provisions of the Constitution

All courts of civil, criminal and revenue jurisdiction, all authorities and all officers, judicial, executive and ministerial, throughout the territory of India, shall continue to exercise their respective functions subject to the provisions of this Constitution.§

Why this exists

When the Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950, India already had a functioning system of courts, government departments, and officials inherited from British colonial rule and princely states. Article 375 ensured continuity of governance by allowing these existing institutions and personnel to keep working immediately, without needing fresh appointments or new laws to recreate them from scratch. This avoided administrative chaos and a legal vacuum during the transition to the new constitutional order, while making clear that going forward, everyone must operate within the Constitution's framework rather than under the old colonial legal supremacy.

How courts read it

Indian courts have generally treated Article 375 as a transitional and saving provision, similar in spirit to Articles 372 and 374, which deal with continuance of existing laws and judges. Courts have used such provisions to confirm that pre-Constitution laws, institutions, and officeholders retained validity unless and until changed under the new constitutional scheme, ensuring a smooth legal transition rather than a rupture.

Common misconceptions

Myth: Article 375 created new courts and offices when the Constitution began.
Fact: It did not create anything new; it simply allowed already-existing courts, authorities, and officers to continue functioning, now subject to the Constitution.
Myth: This Article gives courts and officers permanent immunity from constitutional review.
Fact: The opposite is true: it explicitly makes their continued functioning 'subject to the provisions of this Constitution,' meaning they must comply with it, including fundamental rights.