Indian Polity Previous Year Questions (PYQ) with Answers – Page 2

The correct answer is Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. These are the exact words the Preamble uses for liberty, and they appear in it just as written here.

Each of the other options changes one word of the real text, which is exactly how this question catches people. The Preamble speaks of fraternity "assuring the dignity of the individual" and the unity and integrity of the Nation, not "human dignity". It promises equality "of status and of opportunity", not of status and employment. And justice in the Preamble is "social, economic and political"; the word "administrative" does not appear. When an option looks almost right, compare it word for word with the text: justice (social, economic, political), liberty (thought, expression, belief, faith, worship), equality (status, opportunity) and fraternity (dignity of the individual, unity and integrity of the Nation).

The correct answer is Socialist. The 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976 added three words to the Preamble: "Socialist" and "Secular" to the description of India, and "Integrity" to the phrase "unity and integrity of the Nation". It is the only amendment ever made to the Preamble.

Democratic, Republic and Sovereign were all in the Preamble from the start: as adopted on 26 November 1949, it described India as a "sovereign democratic republic". That is why they are wrong here. Questions on this amendment come in several forms: which word was added, which word was not added, or how many words were added. Keep all three in mind together: Socialist, Secular and Integrity, added in 1976. A related fact worth linking is the Kesavananda Bharati case of 1973, which had held three years earlier that the Preamble is part of the Constitution and can be amended without changing its basic features.

The correct answer is Ireland. The Directive Principles of State Policy in Part IV of the Constitution were modelled on the Irish Constitution. India also took two other features from Ireland: the nomination of members to the Rajya Sabha and the method of electing the President.

The other countries gave different features. The USSR is the source of the Fundamental Duties and of the ideal of social, economic and political justice in the Preamble. The United States gave the Fundamental Rights, judicial review, the independence of the judiciary and the impeachment of the President. China is not counted among the sources of the Indian Constitution at all. The pair most often confused is Rights and Principles: Fundamental Rights come from the USA, while the Directive Principles come from Ireland. A simple memory hook is "Rights from America, Directions from Ireland".

The correct answer is B.N. Rau. Sir Benegal Narsing Rau was appointed the constitutional (legal) adviser to the Constituent Assembly. He studied the constitutions of other countries and prepared the initial draft of the Constitution, which the Drafting Committee then worked on before publishing its own draft in February 1948.

B.R. Ambedkar is the most likely wrong pick: he chaired the Drafting Committee and steered the Constitution through the Assembly, but he was not the Assembly's adviser. H.V.R. Iyengar served as the Secretary of the Constituent Assembly, an administrative office, and S.N. Mukherjee was its chief draftsman. The distinction the question tests is between the adviser who prepared the first draft (Rau) and the committee chairman who guided the final text (Ambedkar). Questions sometimes use the words "legal adviser" and sometimes "constitutional adviser"; both point to B.N. Rau.

The correct answer is 1946. The Cabinet Mission came to India in 1946 to work out how power would be handed over, and its plan laid down how a Constituent Assembly would be formed: 389 seats in all, 296 for British India and 93 for the princely states, with the members from the provinces elected indirectly by the provincial legislative assemblies. Elections to the British Indian seats followed in July and August 1946, and the Assembly held its first meeting on 9 December 1946.

The other years cannot be right. The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950, so an Assembly formed in 1952, 1959 or 1962 would have had nothing left to write. A good way to fix this date is to tie it to two others from the same year: the elections of July and August 1946, and the first sitting in December 1946.

The correct answer is D, The People of India. The Preamble opens with the words WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, which declare that the Constitution draws its authority from the people, not from any king, court or legislature. It goes on to promise Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, and ends by recording that the Constituent Assembly adopted, enacted and gave the Constitution to ourselves on 26 November 1949. The Preamble is based on Nehru's Objectives Resolution of 1946; the words Socialist, Secular and Integrity were added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976; and in the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973) the Supreme Court held that the Preamble is a part of the Constitution. A is wrong because the Supreme Court is created by the Constitution and cannot be its author. B is wrong because Parliament too gets its powers from the Constitution. C is wrong because the Central Government is only an organ that works under the Constitution. Exam tip: Preamble begins We the People, adopted 26 November 1949, amended once in 1976.

The correct answer is C, Article 360. Article 360 lets the President proclaim a financial emergency when the financial stability or credit of India, or of any part of it, is threatened. Such a proclamation must be approved by both Houses of Parliament within two months, after which it continues indefinitely until revoked; there is no maximum period. During it the Union can direct states to follow canons of financial propriety, and salaries of government servants, including Supreme Court and High Court judges, can be reduced. No financial emergency has ever been declared in India, though it was discussed during the 1991 crisis. D is wrong because Article 352 is the national emergency on grounds of war, external aggression or armed rebellion, imposed in 1962, 1971 and 1975. A is wrong because Article 356 is President's rule, imposed when a state's constitutional machinery fails. B is wrong because Article 359 only suspends the enforcement of fundamental rights during a national emergency. Exam tip: 352 national, 356 state, 360 financial; only 360 has never been used.

The correct answer is B, 44th Constitutional Amendment 1978. The 44th Amendment, passed by the Janata Party government of Morarji Desai, took the right to property out of Part III of the Constitution. It deleted Article 19(1)(f) and Article 31, which had guaranteed the right to acquire, hold and dispose of property, and put in their place Article 300A, which says no person shall be deprived of property except by authority of law. Property thus became a legal or constitutional right, not a fundamental one, from 20 June 1979, so a citizen can no longer go straight to the Supreme Court under Article 32 for it. C is wrong because the 42nd Amendment of 1976 added the words Socialist, Secular and Integrity and the Fundamental Duties; it did not remove property. A is wrong because the 46th Amendment (actually of 1982) dealt with sales tax on goods. D is wrong because the 48th Amendment (1984) extended President's rule in Punjab. Exam tip: 42nd added Fundamental Duties, 44th removed the fundamental right to property (now Article 300A).

The correct answer is C, 30 May 1987. Goa became a full state on 30 May 1987 through the Constitution (56th Amendment) Act and the Goa, Daman and Diu Reorganisation Act, and the day is celebrated every year as Goa Statehood Day. Goa had been freed from Portuguese rule on 19 December 1961 in Operation Vijay and was then run as the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu. In 1987 Goa was separated and raised to statehood, while Daman and Diu stayed a union territory; Konkani was made the official language and Panaji the capital. Earlier the same year, on 20 February 1987, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh had become the 23rd and 24th states, so Goa took the 25th place. B is wrong because in 1986 Goa was still a union territory. D and A are wrong because by 1988 and 1990 Goa had already been a state for one and three years. Exam tip: liberated 1961, state 30 May 1987, 25th state after Mizoram (23rd) and Arunachal Pradesh (24th).

The correct answer is Article 25 to Article 28. The Right to Freedom of Religion has four Articles: Article 25 gives freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practise and propagate religion; Article 26 lets every religious denomination manage its own religious affairs; Article 27 says no one can be compelled to pay taxes for the promotion of a particular religion; and Article 28 bars religious instruction in educational institutions wholly maintained out of State funds.

Each wrong option is another group of Fundamental Rights: Articles 14 to 18 are the Right to Equality, Articles 19 to 22 the Right to Freedom, and Articles 29 and 30 the Cultural and Educational Rights. So this question really tests whether you know where each group begins and ends. If you remember the six starting points, 14, 19, 23, 25, 29 and 32, you can answer every question of this kind. Note too that these Articles were in the Constitution from 1950, long before the word "secular" was added to the Preamble in 1976.

The correct answer is 14. Article 24 says that no child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment. Together with Article 23, which bans human trafficking and forced labour, it forms the Right against Exploitation.

The number 14 links several parts of the Constitution, so it is worth tying them together. Article 21A guarantees free and compulsory education from six to fourteen, Article 45 now covers early childhood care below six, and Article 51A(k) makes it a duty of parents to educate children between six and fourteen. Parliament has gone further than Article 24 through the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986: after its 2016 amendment it bars children below 14 from almost all work, with narrow exceptions such as helping a family business after school hours, and bars adolescents aged 14 to 18 from hazardous work. Of the wrong options, 18 tempts the most because it is the age of majority and, since the 61st Amendment of 1988, the voting age.

The correct answer is 6. Article 19(1) gives every citizen six freedoms: speech and expression; to assemble peaceably and without arms; to form associations, unions or co-operative societies; to move freely throughout India; to reside and settle in any part of India; and to practise any profession or carry on any occupation, trade or business. There were seven when the Constitution began. The seventh, clause (f), the freedom to acquire, hold and dispose of property, was deleted by the 44th Amendment Act, 1978.

The 97th Amendment Act, 2011 added the words "co-operative societies" to clause (c), but that widened an existing freedom rather than creating a new one, so the count is still six. These freedoms belong only to citizens, and none of them is absolute: clauses (2) to (6) of Article 19 let the State impose reasonable restrictions. The wrong options are borrowed from nearby numbers in this topic, Article 13, Article 30 and the 44th Amendment, which is exactly why they look familiar and tempt you.

The correct answer is France. The ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity in the Preamble were taken from France, where they were the watchwords of the French Revolution. France is also the source of the idea of a republic.

The other options gave India different features. The United Kingdom is the source of parliamentary government, the rule of law, the cabinet system and single citizenship. Canada gave the idea of a federation with a strong Centre and residuary powers vested in the Centre. Ireland gave the Directive Principles of State Policy and the method of electing the President. The ideal of justice in the Preamble, the fourth of its objectives, has a different source again: the Russian Revolution. So of the four objectives, three (liberty, equality and fraternity) trace to France and one (justice) traces to the former USSR, a split that examiners like to test.

The correct answer is The People of India. The Preamble opens with the words "We, the people of India", which name the people as the source from which the Constitution draws its authority. The Constitution was not handed down by a government, a court or a legislature; the people, through their Constituent Assembly, adopted, enacted and gave it to themselves on 26 November 1949.

The Supreme Court, the Indian Parliament and the Central Government are all created by the Constitution, so none of them can be its source of authority. Each of them exercises only the powers the Constitution gives it. This is the first of the four things the Preamble tells us, the others being the nature of the Indian State (sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic, republic), its objectives (justice, liberty, equality and fraternity) and the date of adoption. A fill-in-the-blank question like this one tests whether you know the exact opening words, so learn the text as written.

The correct answer is Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution in the Constituent Assembly on 13 December 1946, and the Assembly adopted it on 22 January 1947. The resolution set out what the Constitution was meant to achieve: an independent, sovereign republic in which all people would have justice, equality and freedom, with safeguards for minorities and backward classes. Those ideas were later shaped into the Preamble.

Dr Rajendra Prasad was the President of the Assembly and presided over its debates; he did not move this resolution. J.B. Kripalani chaired the Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee. Dr B.R. Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee, which was set up only on 29 August 1947, months after the resolution had been adopted. A tidy way to remember the order: Nehru stated the objectives first, and Ambedkar's committee turned them into a draft later.

The correct answer is D, Article 72. This Article gives the President the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment, and to suspend, remit or commute a sentence. It applies in three cases: punishment by a court martial, an offence against a law made by the Union, and every sentence of death. The President alone can pardon a death sentence; the Governor, whose similar power is in Article 161, cannot. The five words to remember are pardon (wipes out the conviction), commutation (lighter kind of punishment), remission (shorter period), respite (lesser sentence for a special reason such as pregnancy) and reprieve (temporary stay). A is wrong because Article 55 describes the manner of electing the President. B is wrong because Article 81 gives the composition of the Lok Sabha. C is wrong because Article 63 says there shall be a Vice-President of India. Exam tip: pardon power is 72 for the President and 161 for the Governor; only the President can pardon a death sentence or a court-martial sentence.

The correct answer is B, Article 279A. It empowers the President to constitute the Goods and Services Tax Council, a joint forum of the Centre and the States. The Article was inserted by the Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016, the same amendment that brought GST, and the Council was set up in September 2016. The Union Finance Minister is its Chairperson, the Union Minister of State for Finance and the finance or taxation ministers of all States are its members, and decisions need a three-fourths weighted majority in which the Centre holds one-third of the votes and the States together two-thirds. A, Article 246A, gives Parliament and the State legislatures the power to make laws on GST. C, Article 269A, deals with the levy and collection of GST on inter-State trade, that is, IGST. D, Article 323A, provides for administrative tribunals and has nothing to do with tax. Exam tip: 246A power to tax, 269A inter-State GST, 279A GST Council; all three came with the 101st Amendment.

The correct answer is A, 1951. The Constitution (First Amendment) Act was passed by the provisional Parliament in June 1951, barely seventeen months after the Constitution came into force. Nehru's government brought it mainly to protect land-reform laws from court challenges and to allow reasonable restrictions on free speech. It added the Ninth Schedule along with Articles 31A and 31B, put new grounds such as public order in Article 19(2), and inserted Article 15(4) so the state could make special provisions for socially and educationally backward classes after the Champakam Dorairajan case. D is wrong because in 1950 the Constitution had only just come into force on 26 January and no amendment had been made. C is wrong because 1952 is the year of the first general elections and the first Lok Sabha. B is wrong because 1953 saw the creation of Andhra State, not the first amendment. Exam tip: Constitution enforced 1950, first amended 1951 (Ninth Schedule), first elections 1952.

The correct answer is Right to property. When the Constitution came into force, property was protected as a Fundamental Right in two places: Article 19(1)(f), the freedom to acquire, hold and dispose of property, and Article 31, protection against being deprived of property. The 44th Amendment Act, 1978 deleted both and inserted Article 300A in Part XII, which says that no person shall be deprived of property save by authority of law. Property is therefore still protected, but only as a constitutional or legal right, not as a Fundamental Right.

The practical difference is that a person whose property is taken can no longer go straight to the Supreme Court under Article 32, which is only for Fundamental Rights; they can still approach a High Court under Article 226 or an ordinary court. The other three options, the Right to Equality (Articles 14 to 18), the Right against Exploitation (Articles 23 and 24) and the Right to Freedom of Religion (Articles 25 to 28), all remain Fundamental Rights. The same 44th Amendment also made Articles 20 and 21 impossible to suspend during an emergency.

The correct answer is December 1946. The Constituent Assembly met for the first time on 9 December 1946. The Muslim League boycotted the sitting and pressed its demand for a separate Pakistan, and Dr Sachchidananda Sinha, the oldest member, presided as temporary President. Two days later, on 11 December 1946, Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected the permanent President of the Assembly.

The other options are dates from before or after the Assembly's work. August 1945 is more than a year before the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 created the Assembly. July 1948 falls in the middle of its work, after the Draft Constitution had been published in February 1948. January 1950 is the very end: the last session was held on 24 January 1950 and the Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950. Remember the pair that is asked most often: first meeting on 9 December 1946, and Rajendra Prasad elected on 11 December 1946.