Indian Polity Mixed Quiz: Set 22

The correct answer is C, Article 23 - 24. The Right against Exploitation is given by Articles 23 and 24 in Part III of the Constitution. Article 23 forbids traffic in human beings, begar and other forms of forced labour, and lets the State impose compulsory service for a public purpose without discrimination. Article 24 forbids the employment of a child below fourteen years in any factory, mine or other hazardous work. Article 23 led to the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 and Article 24 to the child labour laws. Option A is wrong because Article 33 lets Parliament restrict the rights of the armed forces and Article 34 covers martial law. Option B is wrong because Articles 37 and 38 are in Part IV, the Directive Principles, and are not enforceable in court. Option D is wrong because Articles 27 and 28 belong to the Right to Freedom of Religion. Exam tip: 14-18 equality, 19-22 freedom, 23-24 exploitation, 25-28 religion, 29-30 cultural and educational rights.

The correct answer is D, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. The Eighty-ninth Amendment Act, 2003 split the old joint commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes into two separate bodies. It left the National Commission for Scheduled Castes under Article 338 and inserted a new Article 338A for the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, which began work on 19 February 2004. Each commission has a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and three other members appointed by the President, and each places its report before Parliament. Option A is wrong because the Competition Commission of India was set up under the Competition Act, 2002 and is a statutory, not a constitutional, body. Option B is wrong because the National Commission for Backward Classes became a constitutional body only through the 102nd Amendment, 2018, which added Article 338B. Option C is wrong because the National Commission for Women rests on an Act of 1990 and remains statutory. Exam tip: Article 338 SCs, 338A STs, 338B backward classes.

The correct answer is D, He/She should be qualified for election as a member of the Lok Sabha, because that is the one statement which is not correct. Article 66(3) of the Constitution says a person may be elected Vice-President only if he or she is a citizen of India, has completed 35 years of age and is qualified for election as a member of the Council of States, that is the Rajya Sabha. The qualification is tied to the Upper House because the Vice-President is the ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. A is not the answer because citizenship of India is indeed a required condition. B is not the answer because 35 years is the correct minimum age laid down in the same clause. C is not the answer because the bar on holding any office of profit under the Union, a state or a local authority is also a genuine condition. Exam tip: President - qualified for election to the Lok Sabha; Vice-President - qualified for election to the Rajya Sabha; both must be 35.

The correct answer is A, JS Khehar. Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar was the Chief Justice of India when the nine-judge bench delivered its verdict in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India on 24 August 2017, and he presided over it. The bench held unanimously that privacy is a fundamental right, protected mainly as part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and by the freedoms in Part III. It overruled the older rulings in M.P. Sharma (1954) and Kharak Singh (1962), which had said the Constitution gives no such right. The case grew out of a challenge to the Aadhaar scheme. Justice Khehar was also the first Sikh Chief Justice of India. Option B is wrong because Dipak Misra became Chief Justice a week later, and led the benches on Section 377 and adultery. Option C is wrong because H.J. Kania was India's first Chief Justice, in 1950. Option D is wrong because T.S. Thakur retired as Chief Justice in January 2017. Exam tip: Puttaswamy 2017, nine judges, Article 21, CJI Khehar.

The correct answer is 79. Article 79 says: "There shall be a Parliament for the Union which shall consist of the President and two Houses to be known respectively as the Council of States and the House of the People." The President is therefore part of Parliament even though he or she sits in neither House, because no bill passed by the two Houses can become law without the President's assent, and it is the President who summons and prorogues the Houses.

The other options are nearby Articles on other subjects. Article 70 deals with the discharge of the President's functions in other contingencies. Article 73 sets out the extent of the executive power of the Union. Article 82 provides for the readjustment of seats after each census. The chapter on Parliament runs from Article 79 to Article 122, so remember 79 as its opening Article, followed by 80 (Rajya Sabha) and 81 (Lok Sabha).

The correct answer is D, Governor of the State. Article 234 of the Constitution says that appointments of persons other than district judges to the judicial service of a state are made by the Governor, following rules framed after consulting the State Public Service Commission and the High Court of that state. District judges are covered separately by Article 233, and they too are appointed by the Governor, but in consultation with the High Court. Once these officers are in service, Article 235 places their posting, promotion and leave under the control of the High Court, which is how the subordinate judiciary is kept independent. Option A is wrong because the High Court as a body is consulted, but the Chief Justice does not make the appointment. Option B is wrong because the Prime Minister has no role at all in state judicial services. Option C is wrong because the President appoints judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts under Articles 124 and 217. Exam tip: 233 district judges, 234 other judicial officers, 235 High Court control.

The correct answer is C, Council of Ministers to aid and advise Governor. Article 163 says there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at its head to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his functions, except in the few matters where the Constitution requires him to act in his own discretion. Whether a matter falls in that discretion is decided by the Governor himself, and Article 163(3) bars any court from asking what advice the ministers gave. It is the state counterpart of Article 74, which makes the President's Council of Ministers binding at the Union level. Option A is wrong because the conduct of business of a state government is Article 166. Option B is wrong because the constitution of legislatures in states is Article 168. Option D is wrong because the Advocate-General for the State is appointed under Article 165. Exam tip: 163 aid and advise, 164 appointment of the Chief Minister and ministers, 165 Advocate-General, 166 conduct of business.

The correct answer is B, Article 239. Article 239 says every Union Territory is administered by the President, acting through an administrator appointed by him with such designation as he thinks fit. That is why some Union Territories, such as Delhi, Ladakh and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, have a Lieutenant Governor, while others have an Administrator. Article 239 opens Part VIII of the Constitution, which deals with Union Territories. Articles 239A and 239AA, added later, give legislatures to Puducherry and Delhi. Option A is wrong because Article 235 gives the High Court control over subordinate courts. Option C is wrong because Article 233 deals with the appointment of district judges by the Governor in consultation with the High Court. Option D is wrong because Article 234 deals with recruiting persons other than district judges to the judicial service of a state. Exam tip: Part VIII covers Union Territories in Articles 239 to 241, and Article 239AA is the special article for Delhi.

The correct answer is D, Article 168. Article 168 provides for the constitution of Legislatures in the states. It says every state shall have a Legislature made up of the Governor and either one House or two Houses. Where there are two, they are the Legislative Assembly or Vidhan Sabha and the Legislative Council or Vidhan Parishad; the other states have an Assembly alone. The Governor is counted as part of the Legislature even though he does not sit in either House, because a bill becomes law only after his assent. Article 169 allows Parliament to create or abolish a Council when the Assembly of that state passes a resolution by a special majority, which is how the number of states with a Council keeps changing. A is wrong because Article 167 lists the Chief Minister's duty to furnish information to the Governor. B is wrong because Article 165 provides for the Advocate General of a state. C is wrong because Article 163 deals with the Council of Ministers that aids and advises the Governor. Exam tip: 163 aid and advice, 165 Advocate General, 167 Chief Minister's duties, 168 constitution of the state Legislature.

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 A, Part IX-A. The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 inserted a new Part IX-A titled The Municipalities into the Constitution, and it came into force on 1 June 1993. This Part runs from Article 243P to Article 243ZG and gave urban local bodies a constitutional footing for the first time. It fixed three kinds of municipality: a Nagar Panchayat for an area moving from rural to urban, a Municipal Council for a smaller urban area and a Municipal Corporation for a larger urban area. The same Act added the Twelfth Schedule, which lists 18 subjects such as urban planning, water supply, slum improvement and public health that a state may hand over to these bodies. Elections every five years, seats reserved for women and Scheduled Castes, and a State Finance Commission also came with it. B is wrong because Part X covers Scheduled and Tribal Areas. C is wrong because Part XI deals with Centre-State relations. D is wrong because Part XIV covers services under the Union and the States. Exam tip: 73rd Amendment gives Part IX and the Eleventh Schedule for panchayats, 74th gives Part IX-A and the Twelfth Schedule for municipalities.

The correct answer is B, Karnataka. Karnataka has a two house legislature, the Legislative Assembly or Vidhan Sabha and the Legislative Council or Vidhan Parishad, so it is bicameral. Article 168 allows a state to have a Council, and Article 169 lets Parliament create or abolish one if the Assembly of that state passes a resolution by a special majority. The states with a Legislative Council today are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh; all the rest have only an Assembly. A Council can have at most one third of the strength of the Assembly and not fewer than forty members; it is a permanent house in which one third of the members retire every two years. Options A, C and D are wrong because Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Haryana are unicameral and have only a Legislative Assembly; Punjab and West Bengal abolished their Councils in 1969. Exam tip: remember the six Council states, and that Article 169 lets Parliament create or abolish one.

The correct answer is C, 1989. The Election Commission of India became a multi-member body for the first time on 16 October 1989, when two Election Commissioners were appointed alongside the Chief Election Commissioner just before the general election of that year. Article 324 leaves the number of Election Commissioners to the President, so the size of the Commission can be changed. The two posts were abolished in January 1990 and the Commission went back to being a single-member body; it was made multi-member again on 1 October 1993 and has remained a three-member body since. All members have equal say and matters are decided by majority. A is wrong because in 1995 the Supreme Court only upheld the multi-member structure that already existed. B is wrong because in 1985 the Commission was still headed by the Chief Election Commissioner alone. D is wrong because 1994 brought no change in the Commission's composition. Exam tip: multi-member first on 16 October 1989, single-member again in 1990, three-member since 1 October 1993.

The correct answer is C, Nyaya Panchayat. A Nyaya Panchayat is a village court for small civil and criminal disputes, a judicial body that some states created, so it is not a tier of local self-government. The Balwant Rai Mehta Committee was set up in 1957 to review the Community Development Programme and recommended ‘democratic decentralisation’ through three linked tiers. It wanted the block-level body to be the main executive body and the district body to guide and supervise. Rajasthan was the first state to adopt the scheme, at Nagaur on 2 October 1959, and Andhra Pradesh followed soon after. Option A is wrong because the Gram Panchayat is the first tier, at the village level. Option B is wrong because the Panchayat Samiti is the middle tier, at the block level. Option D is wrong because the Zila Panchayat, also called the Zila Parishad, is the top tier, at the district level. Exam tip: Balwant Rai Mehta 1957, three tiers, Nagaur 1959; the Ashok Mehta Committee of 1977 proposed two tiers.

The correct answer is C, Five. The Citizenship Act of 1955 lays down five ways of acquiring Indian citizenship: by birth, by descent, by registration, by naturalisation and by incorporation of territory. Citizenship by birth applies to those born in India within the periods the Act sets out, descent covers children born abroad to Indian parents, registration is for persons of Indian origin and spouses of Indian citizens who meet the conditions, naturalisation is for foreigners who have lived here for the required years, and incorporation of territory applies when new territory becomes part of India, as with Goa and Sikkim. The same Act provides three ways of losing citizenship: renunciation, termination and deprivation. A and B are wrong because three and four leave out modes the Act lists. D is wrong because there is no sixth mode. Exam tip: five ways in, three ways out, all under the Citizenship Act 1955.

The correct answer is B, The Keshavanand Bharati Case in 1973. On 24 April 1973 a 13-judge bench, the largest in the Court’s history, ruled by 7 to 6 that Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution under Article 368, including Fundamental Rights, but cannot alter or destroy its basic structure. The judges did not give a closed list; features such as the supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law, secularism, federalism, separation of powers and judicial review have since been treated as part of it. The case began as a challenge by the head of a Kerala math to land reform laws. Option A is wrong because the Golaknath case (1967) held that Parliament could not amend Fundamental Rights at all; Kesavananda overruled this. Option C is wrong because the Shankari Prasad case (1951) upheld the First Amendment and said Fundamental Rights could be amended. Option D is wrong because the Sajjan Singh case (1965) repeated that view while upholding the 17th Amendment. Exam tip: Shankari Prasad 1951, Sajjan Singh 1965, Golaknath 1967, Kesavananda 1973, Minerva Mills 1980.

The correct answer is A, Union Government and State Governments. The Seventh Schedule of the Constitution divides subjects into three lists. The Union List holds subjects only Parliament can legislate on, such as defence, foreign affairs, currency and railways. The State List holds subjects for the state legislatures, such as police, public health and agriculture. The Concurrent List holds subjects on which both Parliament and the state legislatures may make laws, among them education, forests, marriage and divorce, criminal law and the protection of wild animals and birds. If a central law and a state law on a concurrent subject clash, Article 254 says the central law prevails. B and D are wrong because local bodies such as panchayats and municipalities get their powers from the state legislature, not from the Concurrent List. C is wrong because Parliament legislates for Union Territories. Exam tip: Seventh Schedule, three lists, Concurrent means both Centre and states, Centre wins a clash.

The correct answer is B, Article 32. Article 32 gives every person the right to move the Supreme Court directly when a fundamental right is violated, and it is itself a fundamental right. Under it the Court may issue five writs: habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo warranto. Dr B. R. Ambedkar called Article 32 the heart and soul of the Constitution, because the rights in Part III would mean little without a way to enforce them. Article 226 gives High Courts a wider writ power, but that is not a fundamental right. Option A is wrong because Article 40 is a Directive Principle asking the state to organise village panchayats. Option C is wrong because Article 38 is a Directive Principle on securing a just social order. Option D is wrong because Article 36 only defines the word state for Part IV. Exam tip: Article 32 Supreme Court, Article 226 High Courts, and only 32 is a fundamental right.

The correct answer is C, 151. Article 151 deals with the audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. It provides that the CAG's reports on the accounts of the Union are given to the President, who has them laid before each House of Parliament, while the reports on a state's accounts go to the Governor, who lays them before the state legislature. Parliament's Public Accounts Committee then examines these reports, which is why the CAG is called the guardian of the public purse. Option A is wrong because Article 148 creates the office of the CAG and protects its independence through the manner of appointment, removal and service conditions. Option B is wrong because Article 150 deals with the form in which the accounts of the Union and the states are kept, prescribed by the President on the advice of the CAG. Option D is wrong because Article 149 lists the duties and powers of the CAG. Exam tip: 148 office, 149 duties, 150 form of accounts, 151 audit reports.

The correct answer is C, 6 years or the age of 62 years, whichever is earlier. Article 316 of the Constitution fixes this term for the chairman and members of a State Public Service Commission. The same article gives members of the Union Public Service Commission six years or the age of 65, so the six years is common and only the retiring age differs. The Governor appoints the chairman and members of a State Commission, but they can be removed only by the President, on a report of the Supreme Court, which protects their independence. At least half the members must be persons who have held office under the government for ten years or more. Option A is wrong because it mixes the state term with the Union retiring age of 65. Option B is wrong because the age for a State Commission is 62, not 60. Option D is wrong on both counts, as the term is six years and the age is 62. Exam tip: UPSC 6 years or 65, State PSC 6 years or 62.