Indian Polity Mixed Quiz: Set 31

The correct answer is A. Article 189 provides that the quorum to constitute a meeting of a House of the Legislature of a State shall be ten members or one-tenth of the total number of members of the House, whichever is greater. The rule is the same as the one Article 100 lays down for the Houses of Parliament, and it protects a small House from a handful of members transacting business. Option B, one-fourth, is the majority requirement in several removal and resolution procedures but never the quorum. Option C is wrong because the Constitution fixes no flat figure of twenty; the floor is ten and it rises with the size of the House. Option D, one-sixth, is the share of a Legislative Council nominated by the Governor under Article 171 and has nothing to do with quorum.

The correct answer is C, Police. The Seventh Schedule of the Constitution divides subjects into three lists, and public order and police are the first two entries of the State List, so each state makes its own laws on them and runs its own force. That is why policing is called a state subject, and why central armed police forces go into a state mainly at its request or in a Union Territory. A is wrong because banking is in the Union List, which is why the Reserve Bank and the regulation of banks rest with the Centre. B is wrong because defence is the first entry of the Union List. D is wrong because forests, which were once a State List subject, were moved to the Concurrent List by the 42nd Amendment of 1976, along with education, weights and measures, and the protection of wild animals and birds. Exam tip: police and public order are State List subjects; forests and education moved to the Concurrent List in 1976.

The correct answer is D, Municipalities. Part IXA of the Constitution, inserted by the 74th Amendment Act of 1992, is titled The Municipalities and covers every kind of urban local body. Article 243Q lists three of them: a Nagar Panchayat for an area in transition from rural to urban, a Municipal Council for a smaller urban area and a Municipal Corporation for a larger urban area.

Option A is wrong because the Council of States is the Rajya Sabha, the upper House of Parliament, and has nothing to do with local government. Option B is wrong because a Zilla Parishad is the district level body of the rural panchayat system under Part IX. Option C is wrong for the same reason: a Panchayat Samiti is the intermediate or block level rural body. Both B and C belong to the rural side, so only D names the urban bodies.

The correct answer is D, Tenth Schedule. The Tenth Schedule carries the anti-defection provisions, so a legislator who deserts the party on whose ticket he or she was elected can be disqualified under it. The schedule was inserted by the 52nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1985 and applies to members of Parliament and of the state legislatures alike. A member loses the seat for voluntarily giving up party membership or for voting against the party whip, and the presiding officer of the House decides such a case. A merger escapes disqualification only when at least two-thirds of the members of that legislature party agree to it. A is wrong because the Second Schedule fixes the salaries and allowances of the President, Governors, judges and other high offices. B is wrong because the Fifth Schedule deals with the administration of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes. C is wrong because the Eighth Schedule lists the recognised languages of India. Exam tip: link the pair - Tenth Schedule with the 52nd Amendment of 1985.

The correct answer is C, four months. When the Legislative Assembly passes an ordinary Bill and sends it to the Legislative Council, the Council may hold it up for a maximum of three months the first time. If the Assembly passes the Bill a second time and sends it again, the Council can delay it by only one month more. Three months and one month together give a total delay of four months, after which the Bill is deemed to have been passed. Option A, fourteen days, is the period for which a Council may keep a Money Bill under Article 198. Option B, one month, is only the second round of the ordinary Bill procedure. Option D, six months, is the maximum gap allowed between two sessions of a House under Article 174 and is not a delay period for Bills.

The correct answer is D, Puducherry. Puducherry is a Union Territory with a legislature of its own, which is why it is said to have partial statehood. Article 239A, added in 1962, allowed Parliament to create a legislature and a council of ministers for such a territory, and the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963 gave Puducherry an Assembly and a Chief Minister, while an administrator styled Lieutenant Governor still represents the President. Delhi has a similar arrangement under Article 239AA, and Jammu and Kashmir became a Union Territory with a legislature in 2019. A is wrong because Chandigarh is administered directly, with the Governor of Punjab acting as its administrator. B and C are wrong because Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, merged into a single Union Territory in 2020, have no legislature and are run by an administrator. Exam tip: the Union Territories with legislatures are Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir.

The correct answer is C, Municipal corporation and holding elections for it. The 74th Amendment Act of 1992 created Part IXA for urban local bodies, of which the municipal corporation is the largest form under Article 243Q. It also made regular elections compulsory by fixing a five-year term under Article 243U and by placing the conduct of municipal elections with the State Election Commission under Article 243ZA.

Option A is wrong because district councils in the tribal areas of the North East are governed by the Sixth Schedule, which was part of the original Constitution of 1950. Option B is wrong because panchayats were the subject of the companion 73rd Amendment, which inserted Part IX. Option D is wrong because the Gram Sabha is recognised by Article 243A of Part IX and is not an elected body at all; it is the assembly of all registered voters of a village.

The correct answer is B, Article 161. Article 161 lets the Governor grant pardons, reprieves, respites and remissions of punishment, and suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of an offence against a law on a matter to which the executive power of the state extends. His power is narrower than the President's under Article 72 in two ways: the Governor cannot pardon a death sentence and has no say in a sentence passed by a court martial, while the President can act in both cases. Like the President, the Governor exercises this power on the advice of the state Council of Ministers. Option A is wrong because Article 163 provides for the Council of Ministers to aid and advise the Governor. Option C is wrong because Article 55 lays down the manner of election of the President. Option D is wrong because Article 145 lets the Supreme Court frame rules of procedure. Exam tip: Article 72 for the President's pardon and Article 161 for the Governor's; only the President can pardon a death sentence or a court-martial sentence.

The correct answer is B. Article 198 lays down the special procedure for Money Bills in a State: such a Bill cannot be introduced in the Legislative Council, and it may be introduced in the Legislative Assembly only on the recommendation of the Governor. Once the Assembly passes it, the Bill goes to the Council, which must return it within fourteen days with its recommendations; the Assembly may accept or reject them, and if the Council does not return the Bill in time it is deemed to have been passed. Option A reverses the rule completely. Option C is wrong on both counts, since the Council cannot originate a Money Bill and the recommendation is the Governor's, not the Chief Minister's. Option D substitutes the President for the Governor; the President enters the picture only under Articles 200 and 201, when a Bill is reserved.

The correct answer is D, 86th amendment. The 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002 made free and compulsory education a fundamental right. It inserted Article 21A, under which the State shall provide free and compulsory education to every child between the ages of six and fourteen years. The same amendment rewrote Article 45 in the Directive Principles, asking the State to care for children below six years, and added Article 51A(k), which makes it a fundamental duty of a parent or guardian to send a child to school. Parliament gave the right its working shape through the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, in force from 1 April 2010. Option A is wrong because the 88th Amendment dealt with service tax. Option B is wrong because the 89th Amendment split the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission into two separate bodies. Option C is wrong because the 87th Amendment shifted the basis of delimitation to the 2001 census. Exam tip: remember the trio 86th Amendment, Article 21A and the RTE Act, 2009.

The correct answer is B, 29. The Eleventh Schedule was added by the 73rd Amendment Act of 1992 and lists twenty-nine subjects, from agriculture and minor irrigation to poverty alleviation and public distribution, which a State legislature may devolve on the panchayats under Article 243G. The Schedule itself does not transfer power; it only marks the field within which a State may empower panchayats.

Option A is wrong because eighteen is the number of subjects in the Twelfth Schedule, added by the 74th Amendment for the municipalities, and the two numbers are regularly swapped in the options. Option C is wrong because thirty-one matches no schedule of local government. Option D is wrong because twelve is the number of the Schedule, not the count of its subjects, and is offered to catch a hurried reader. Remember the pair: Eleventh with 29, Twelfth with 18.

The correct answer is A, Cognizable offences. In a cognizable offence the police may register a case, start an investigation and arrest a person without any order from a magistrate. These are the graver offences, such as murder, rape, dacoity, kidnapping and theft, and a First Information Report must be recorded for them. In a non-cognizable offence, such as simple hurt, defamation or public nuisance, the police need the permission of a magistrate before they investigate or arrest. Whether an offence is cognizable, and whether it is bailable, is listed offence by offence in the criminal procedure law, which since 2024 is the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita in place of the old Code of Criminal Procedure. Option B is wrong because there is no class of offences called detention offences. Option C is wrong because a non-cognizable offence is precisely the case where the magistrate's order is needed. Option D is wrong because cross offences is not a category of this kind. Exam tip: cognizable means FIR and arrest without a warrant, non-cognizable means the police must first get a magistrate's nod.

The correct answer is C. Article 200 gives the Governor three choices on an ordinary Bill and adds a fourth course for special cases: he may declare that he assents, that he withholds assent, or that he reserves the Bill for the consideration of the President, and he may return the Bill to the House with a message asking it to reconsider the Bill or any of its provisions. The power to return is expressly available only where the Bill is not a Money Bill, which is why option C is the exception the question is looking for. Options A, B and D are all stated in the Article itself. The Article also provides that if the House passes the returned Bill again, with or without amendment, the Governor shall not withhold assent from it.

The correct answer is D, A-iii, B-i, C-ii, D-iv. Each case tested an amendment against the basic structure of the Constitution. In Indira Gandhi vs Raj Narain (1975), the Supreme Court struck down the part of the 39th Amendment that put the Prime Minister's election beyond the courts, holding free and fair elections to be part of the basic structure. In Minerva Mills (1980), it struck down clauses of the 42nd Amendment that gave Parliament unlimited power to amend and let all Directive Principles override the rights in Articles 14 and 19. In Kihoto Hollohan (1992), it upheld the anti-defection law brought by the 52nd Amendment but kept the Speaker's decision open to judicial review. In P. Sambamurthy (1987), it struck down a clause of Article 371D, added by the 32nd Amendment, that let the state government overrule a tribunal. Option A is wrong because it links Raj Narain with the 42nd Amendment. Option B is wrong because it pairs Minerva Mills with the 52nd. Option C is wrong because it pairs Raj Narain with the 32nd. Exam tip: 39th–Raj Narain, 42nd–Minerva, 52nd–Kihoto, 32nd–Sambamurthy.

The correct answer is B, Article 243A. It says that a Gram Sabha may exercise such powers and perform such functions at the village level as the legislature of a State may by law provide. The Gram Sabha is defined in Article 243 as the body consisting of persons registered in the electoral rolls of a village within the area of a panchayat, which makes it the primary unit of direct democracy in the system.

Option A is wrong because Article 40 is a Directive Principle asking the State to organise village panchayats; it is the inspiration for Part IX but is not enforceable and does not mention the Gram Sabha. Option C is wrong because Article 243D deals with the reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and women. Option D is wrong because Article 243K establishes the State Election Commission for panchayat elections.

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 C, six years. Article 172 says that the Legislative Council of a State shall not be subject to dissolution, but that as nearly as possible one-third of its members shall retire on the expiration of every second year. A member therefore holds the seat for six years, exactly as a member of the Rajya Sabha does, and the chamber itself is permanent. Option A, four years, matches no constitutional term. Option B, five years, is the life of the Legislative Assembly, which runs for five years from the date of its first sitting unless dissolved sooner. Option D is wrong because the Council is deliberately insulated from the fortunes of the Assembly; when an Assembly is dissolved the Council continues, which is the whole point of a continuing chamber.

The correct answer is B, 21 years. Article 243F provides that a person who is less than twenty-five years of age shall not be disqualified on the ground of age if he has attained twenty-one years, which fixes twenty-one as the floor for membership of a panchayat. The same rule is carried into Article 243V for the municipalities, so both rural and urban local bodies use the age of twenty-one.

Option A is wrong because eighteen is the voting age fixed by Article 326 after the 61st Amendment of 1988; voting and contesting are different thresholds. Option C is wrong because twenty-five is the minimum age for membership of the Lok Sabha and of a State Legislative Assembly under Article 84 and Article 173. Option D is wrong because thirty is the minimum age for the Rajya Sabha and for a State Legislative Council.

The correct answer is B. Article 192 says that if a question arises whether a member of a House of the Legislature of a State has become subject to any of the disqualifications listed in Article 191, the question shall be referred for the decision of the Governor, and his decision shall be final. Before giving any decision the Governor shall obtain the opinion of the Election Commission and shall act according to that opinion, which makes the Commission the effective decision-maker. Option A is wrong for ordinary disqualifications, although the Speaker or Chairman does decide disqualification on the ground of defection under the Tenth Schedule, which is the trap in this question. Option C is wrong because a High Court hears an election petition, not a reference under Article 192. Option D substitutes the President, who performs the parallel role under Article 103 for members of Parliament.

The correct answer is C, ten lakh. Article 243P defines a metropolitan area as an area having a population of ten lakh or more, comprised in one or more districts and consisting of two or more municipalities or panchayats, which the Governor specifies by public notification. Article 243ZE then requires a Metropolitan Planning Committee in every such area to prepare a draft development plan for the whole metropolitan area.

Option A is wrong because three lakh is the population at which Wards Committees become compulsory in a municipality under Article 243S. Option B is wrong because five lakh is not a threshold used anywhere in Part IX or Part IXA. Option D is wrong because twenty lakh is the State population below which the intermediate tier of panchayat may be left out under Article 243B. These three figures, three, ten and twenty lakh, are the ones examiners interchange.