Indian Polity Mixed Quiz: Set 33

The correct answer is D, Advocate-General. Article 165 of the Constitution provides for an Advocate General for each state as the first law officer of that state. The Governor appoints a person who is qualified to be a High Court judge, and the office holds during the pleasure of the Governor. The Advocate General advises the state government on legal questions, performs the other legal duties the Governor assigns, and appears for the state in the High Court. He may speak in either House of the state legislature and in its committees, but he cannot vote there. B is wrong because the Attorney General, under Article 76, is the first law officer of the Union and advises the central government. A is wrong because the Solicitor General of India is a central law officer who assists the Attorney General. C is wrong because the Comptroller and Auditor General, under Article 148, audits the accounts of the Union and the states. Exam tip: Article 76 Attorney General for the Union, Article 165 Advocate General for a state.

The correct answer is D, Dual Government. A dual government, one at the centre and one in the units, is the common feature of every federation, so India and the USA do not differ on this point. Both countries divide powers between a national government and state governments through a written constitution, and both let courts settle disputes about that division. The other three features are exactly where the two systems part company, because India has a federation with a strong unitary bias. Option A is wrong because every American state sends two members to the Senate regardless of size, while seats in the Rajya Sabha are allotted according to a state’s population, so representation is unequal. Option B is wrong because an American citizen is a citizen of both the Union and a state, while India gives only single citizenship. Option C is wrong because the USA has separate federal and state courts, while India has one integrated judiciary headed by the Supreme Court. Exam tip: India — single citizenship, integrated judiciary, unequal Rajya Sabha seats.

The correct answer is C, the Governor of the State. Article 243K vests the superintendence, direction and control of panchayat elections in a State Election Commission consisting of a State Election Commissioner appointed by the Governor. To protect the office, the same Article says that he shall not be removed from office except in the manner and on the grounds prescribed for the removal of a Judge of a High Court, and his conditions of service cannot be varied to his disadvantage after appointment.

Option A is wrong because the President appoints the Chief Election Commissioner of India, who handles parliamentary and Assembly elections, not local body polls. Option B is wrong because the Election Commission of India has no authority over panchayat and municipal elections. Option D is wrong because the Chief Minister has no constitutional power of appointment to this office, although the Council of Ministers advises the Governor.

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, Part XX. Part XX of the Constitution is a very short part, headed Amendment of the Constitution, and it contains Article 368 alone. Its position near the end of the Constitution, after the emergency and miscellaneous provisions, is what examiners test.

Option A is wrong because Part XVIII carries the emergency provisions, Articles 352 to 360. Option B is wrong because Part XIX is the miscellaneous part, with Articles 361 to 367. Option D is wrong because Part XXI holds the temporary, transitional and special provisions, which include Articles 369 to 392. Note how neatly the parts follow the article numbers here: if you remember that Article 368 sits alone in its own Part XX, the neighbouring parts fall into place on either side.

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 D, Sixth Schedule. It provides for Autonomous District Councils in the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, and is read with Article 244(2). These councils are elected bodies that can make laws on land, forests, village administration, inheritance, marriage and social custom, run their own courts for tribal disputes and levy certain taxes, which gives the four states a measure of self-rule unlike anywhere else in India. The Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam and the Khasi Hills council in Meghalaya are well-known examples. Option A is wrong because the Third Schedule only contains the forms of oath and affirmation for the President, ministers, judges and legislators. Option B is wrong because the Fourth Schedule allots Rajya Sabha seats to the states and union territories. Option C is wrong because the Fifth Schedule governs scheduled areas in the other states through a Governor and a Tribes Advisory Council, not elected district councils. Exam tip: Fifth Schedule for scheduled areas elsewhere, Sixth Schedule for the four north-eastern states.

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 C, 2004. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes began work as a separate body in 2004. The 89th Constitutional Amendment Act of 2003 divided the earlier joint National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes into two commissions, leaving Article 338 for the Scheduled Castes and inserting Article 338A for the Scheduled Tribes. The new commission has a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and three other members appointed by the President, inquires into complaints about the safeguards given to tribes, advises on their development and sends its reports to the President, who places them before Parliament. Option A is wrong because in 2000 the joint commission was still functioning. Option B is wrong because by 2006 the commission had already been at work for two years. Option D is wrong because the amendment that created it was passed only in 2003. Exam tip: 89th Amendment of 2003 brought Article 338A, and the commission started in 2004.

The correct answer is C, Repeal of the Indian Independence Act, 1947. Article 395, the last article of the Constitution, repeals the Indian Independence Act, 1947 and the Government of India Act, 1935, along with the laws that amended or added to the 1935 Act. By removing these British laws, the framers made the Constitution the only source of legal authority in India and ended the legal link with the British Parliament. The article makes one exception: the Abolition of Privy Council Jurisdiction Act, 1949 was not repealed. Article 395 sits in Part XXII with Article 393 (short title) and Article 394 (commencement), and it took effect on 26 January 1950. Option A is wrong because the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 is an ordinary law made by Parliament, not an article of the Constitution. Option B is wrong because new states are formed under Articles 2 and 3. Option D is wrong because a national emergency is proclaimed under Article 352. Exam tip: Article 395 repeals the Indian Independence Act 1947 and the Government of India Act 1935.

The correct answer is D, The Attorney General of India. Article 88 gives the Attorney General the right to speak in and otherwise take part in the proceedings of both Houses of Parliament, any joint sitting and any committee of which the office holder is named a member, but without the right to vote. The Attorney General is appointed by the President under Article 76, must be qualified to be a judge of the Supreme Court, is the chief legal adviser to the Government of India and is not a member of either House. Ministers enjoy the same right under Article 88. Option A is wrong because the Solicitor General is only a statutory law officer who assists the Attorney General and has no such constitutional right. Option B is wrong because the Vice-President presides over the Rajya Sabha alone, as its ex officio Chairman. Option C is wrong because the audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General reach Parliament through the President. Exam tip: Article 76 for appointment and Article 88 for the right to speak without a vote.

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 A, six years or the age of sixty-five, whichever is earlier. Article 316(2) says that a member of the Union Public Service Commission holds office for a term of six years from the date on which he enters upon his office, or until he attains the age of sixty-five years, whichever is earlier. Option B gives the right term but the wrong age: sixty-two is the age limit for a member of a State Public Service Commission or of a Joint Public Service Commission, and mixing the two is the commonest mistake in this question. Option C is wrong because the term is six years and not five. Option D is wrong on both counts, since neither a four-year term nor a combination of four years with sixty-two years appears anywhere in Article 316.

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 A, Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities. Article 350-B provides that there shall be a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities appointed by the President, and the post is known in practice as the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities. His work is to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards the Constitution gives linguistic minorities and to report to the President, who has the reports laid before Parliament and sent to the states concerned. A linguistic minority here means a group whose mother tongue differs from the principal language of the state, and the safeguards include teaching in the mother tongue at the primary stage under Article 350-A and the right to submit a representation to an authority in one's own language under Article 350. Option B is wrong because Scheduled Castes have the National Commission under Article 338. Option C is wrong because the Constitution provides no such special officer for women and children. Option D is wrong because Other Backward Classes have the National Commission under Article 338-B. Exam tip: Article 350-B, Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, appointed by the President, added by the Seventh Amendment.

The correct answer is A, 70 dB hearing loss in both ears. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 defines a deaf person in its schedule as one having 70 dB hearing loss in speech frequencies in both ears. A person with 60 to 70 dB loss in speech frequencies in both ears falls in the separate category of hard of hearing, so the two definitions must be read together. The Act replaced the Persons with Disabilities Act of 1995, widened the list of recognised disabilities from seven to twenty-one, and reserved four per cent of government posts for persons with benchmark disability. Options B and C set the bar higher than the schedule does; at 80 or 90 dB many deaf persons would fall outside the definition and lose the benefits the Act gives. Option D, 60 dB, is the lower end of the hard of hearing band, not deafness. Exam tip: 60 to 70 dB is hard of hearing, 70 dB and above is deaf.

The correct answer is C, Mizoram. Article 371G sits in Part XXI of the Constitution, which holds temporary, transitional and special provisions, and was inserted by the 53rd Amendment Act, 1986, when Mizoram was made a full state. It protects Mizo customary law and practice, social and religious usage, and the administration of civil and criminal justice based on that customary law: a law of Parliament on these subjects applies to Mizoram only if the Legislative Assembly of the state decides by resolution that it should. The Assembly is also fixed at a minimum of forty members. Option A is wrong because the special provision for Jammu and Kashmir was Article 370, whose operation was withdrawn in August 2019. Option B is wrong because Jharkhand has no such article; it was carved out of Bihar in 2000 by an ordinary reorganisation Act. Option D is wrong because Nagaland is covered by Article 371A, added by the 13th Amendment of 1962. Exam tip: 371A Nagaland, 371B Assam, 371C Manipur, 371F Sikkim, 371G Mizoram, 371H Arunachal Pradesh.

The correct answer is A, Land transfers. The Fifth Schedule lets the Governor make regulations for the peace and good government of a Scheduled Area, and it names three matters such a regulation may cover: it may prohibit or restrict the transfer of land by or among members of the Scheduled Tribes, regulate the allotment of land to them, and regulate money-lending to them. The purpose is to stop outsiders from buying up tribal land, so land alienation is the heart of the provision. A regulation of this kind needs the assent of the President, and the Governor must also report to the President every year on the administration of these areas, advised by a Tribes Advisory Council. Option B is wrong because taxation is settled by Parliament and the state legislature, not by such a regulation. Option C is wrong because freedom of speech is a fundamental right no Governor's regulation can curtail. Option D is wrong because water use is not one of the three listed matters. Exam tip: Fifth Schedule regulations cover land transfer, land allotment and money-lending.

The correct answer is C, they are appointed by the Governor in consultation with the High Court of the concerned State. This is the rule laid down in Article 233 of the Constitution. Appointment, posting and promotion of district judges in a state are made by the Governor, who must consult the High Court that exercises jurisdiction over that state. A person not already in government service can be appointed only if they have practised as an advocate or pleader for at least seven years and are recommended by the High Court. Article 234 covers other judicial officers, who are appointed by the Governor from the state judicial service as per rules framed after consulting the High Court and the State Public Service Commission. Option A is wrong because the High Court is only consulted; its Chief Justice does not appoint. Option B is wrong because the President appoints judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts, not district judges. Option D is wrong because the Supreme Court has no role here. Exam tip: Article 233 — Governor appoints, High Court is consulted.

The correct answer is D, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. Syama Prasad Mookerjee founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and is counted as its founder member and first president. The party was launched at Delhi in October 1951 as a nationalist alternative to the Congress. Mookerjee had resigned from Nehru's cabinet in 1950 over the Nehru-Liaquat pact, and he had earlier led the Hindu Mahasabha and served as Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University. He died in 1953 in detention in Kashmir while agitating against the state's special status, after which Deendayal Upadhyaya built up the party's organisation; it was reorganised as the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980. A is wrong because K M Munshi was a Constituent Assembly member and Congress leader who later joined the Swatantra Party. B is wrong because Baldev Singh was independent India's first Defence Minister. C is wrong because Minoo Masani was a founder of the Swatantra Party. Exam tip: Bharatiya Jana Sangh 1951 with Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Swatantra Party 1959 with C Rajagopalachari and Minoo Masani.