Indian Polity Mixed Quiz: Set 51

The correct answer is A, respite. A respite is the award of a lesser sentence than the one originally passed, granted because of some special circumstance personal to the convict, such as pregnancy or serious physical disability, and it is one of the six forms of clemency listed in Article 72. Option B is wrong because a pardon is far wider: it wipes out both the sentence and the conviction, so the convict is treated as though never convicted and all disqualifications fall away. Option C is wrong because a suspension merely holds the operation of the sentence in abeyance for a time without reducing it. Option D is wrong because remission shortens the period of the sentence while keeping its character, and is not tied to any special personal fact of this kind.

The correct answer is B, Article 110. Article 110 lists the matters that make a Bill a Money Bill: taxation, borrowing by the Union, the custody of the Consolidated Fund and the Contingency Fund, appropriation of money from the Consolidated Fund, the declaring of expenditure charged on that Fund, and the receipt or audit of money on account of it. A Bill is a Money Bill only if it deals with nothing else. A, Article 109, is wrong because it does not define the Bill; it prescribes the special procedure a Money Bill follows, including introduction in the Lok Sabha alone and the fourteen-day limit on the Rajya Sabha. C, Article 112, is wrong because it deals with the annual financial statement, popularly called the Union Budget. D, Article 117, is wrong because it governs Financial Bills, which contain a matter of Article 110 along with other matters of general legislation.

The correct answer is A. The Public Accounts Committee and the Estimates Committee are called the twin sisters of financial control because together they cover both ends of the spending cycle. The Estimates Committee looks at money about to be spent, examining the Budget estimates and suggesting economies, which earns it the name of continuous economy committee. The Public Accounts Committee looks at money already spent, examining appropriation accounts and the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General, which is why its work is called a post-mortem of expenditure. Option B is wrong because the Business Advisory Committee only allots time for government business and is chaired by the Speaker. Option C is wrong because the Rules Committee frames and amends the rules of procedure and is not a financial committee, although the Committee on Public Undertakings is indeed the third financial committee. Option D is wrong because the Committee of Privileges and the Committee on Petitions deal with breaches of privilege and with citizens petitions respectively.

The correct answer is B, the first hour of the sitting. Question Hour is the first hour of every sitting of each House, normally from 11 a.m. to 12 noon, and it is set out in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business. During this hour members put questions to ministers on matters of public administration within their charge, and the minister is bound to reply. A, the last hour, is wrong because the last part of a sitting is given to the listed legislative or financial business, not to questions. C is wrong because the hour after Question Hour is Zero Hour, and the business after the recess is whatever the day's list carries; no device is tied to the lunch recess. D is wrong because no hour is reserved for questions before adjournment; once Question Hour is over, questions can be taken only through a short notice question that the Speaker specially admits.

The correct answer is B, Article 108. Article 108 allows the President to summon a joint sitting of the two Houses when the other House has rejected the Bill, when the Houses have finally disagreed on the amendments to be made, or when more than six months have passed without the other House passing it. A, Article 107, is wrong because it only states the general provisions for the introduction and passing of ordinary Bills in either House. C, Article 111, is wrong because it deals with the assent of the President after both Houses have passed a Bill, giving the President the power to assent, withhold assent, or return an ordinary Bill for reconsideration. D, Article 123, is wrong because it empowers the President to promulgate an ordinance when Parliament is not in session, which is a law-making power outside the ordinary legislative procedure.

The correct answer is B. The proviso to Article 94 states that the Speaker shall not vacate office on the dissolution of the House of the People but shall continue to hold it until immediately before the first meeting of the next Lok Sabha. The reason is practical: the office must survive so that someone can authenticate records, exercise the powers of the House in the interval and hand over an orderly House to the new Speaker. Option A is wrong precisely because of this proviso, which makes the Speaker an exception to the rule that the House and its members go with dissolution. Option C is wrong because the President appoints only a Speaker pro tem, and that is to swear in the members of the new House after it is constituted, not to fill a gap after dissolution. Option D is wrong because the Rajya Sabha is a permanent House that is never dissolved, and its Chairman has no role in Lok Sabha business except at a joint sitting in the Speaker absence.

The correct answer is C, 20. The rules permit a maximum of twenty starred questions to be listed for oral answer in the Lok Sabha on any one day, and the ballot decides which members' questions get a place. B, 15, is wrong for the Lok Sabha, though it is the corresponding limit in the Rajya Sabha, which makes it the commonest trap in this question. D, 230, is wrong because that is the maximum number of unstarred questions, answered in writing, that may be listed in the Lok Sabha in a day; the Rajya Sabha limit for unstarred questions is one hundred and sixty. A, 10, is wrong as a limit, but ten clear days is the ordinary notice period for a question, and candidates often confuse the notice period with the daily ceiling.

The correct answer is B, Mandal Commission. The Second Backward Classes Commission, headed by B. P. Mandal, recommended 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes in central government services and public undertakings. It was appointed in 1979 and submitted its report in 1980, listed 3,743 castes as backward and put the share of the OBCs in the population at about 52 per cent. The quota was fixed at 27 per cent so that total reservation would stay within the 50 per cent ceiling the courts had indicated. The recommendation was put into effect in 1990, and the Supreme Court upheld it in the Indra Sawhney case of 1992. A is wrong because the Sarkaria Commission of 1983 examined Centre-State relations. C is wrong because the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee of 1957 suggested the three-tier panchayati raj system. D is wrong because the Kothari Commission of 1964-66 dealt with education. Exam tip: Mandal Commission 1979, report 1980, 27 per cent OBC quota, upheld in Indra Sawhney 1992.

The correct answer is C, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. A joint sitting is summoned by the President but presided over by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha; if the Speaker is absent the Deputy Speaker presides, and in the absence of both the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha takes the chair. A, the President, is wrong because the President never presides over a sitting of Parliament and only addresses it under Article 86 or 87. B, the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, is a deliberate distractor: the Vice-President, as Chairman, does not preside over a joint sitting even though the Rajya Sabha is one of the two Houses meeting. D is wrong because the Constitution fixes an order of precedence among presiding officers and never falls back on seniority of members for a joint sitting.

The correct answer is B, 4:1, with Justice J. Chelameswar dissenting. A five-judge Constitution Bench held that the Ninety-ninth Amendment and the NJAC Act violated the independence of the judiciary, which is part of the basic structure, mainly because the Union Law Minister and two eminent persons would sit on a body selecting judges. Justice Chelameswar alone upheld the amendment, arguing that the collegium lacked transparency. Option A is wrong because the bench had five judges and the split was not three to two. Option C is wrong because the decision was not unanimous. Option D is wrong because a bench of five judges cannot divide four to three, and Justice Madan Lokur was in the majority that struck the amendment down. The bench also struck down Article 124C, which had allowed Parliament to regulate the procedure of appointment by law, and the judgment is now the leading authority on judicial independence as a facet of the basic structure.

The correct answer is A, the Lok Sabha only. The adjournment motion is admitted in the Lok Sabha alone, because it carries an element of censure against the government and only the Lok Sabha can censure the Council of Ministers under the collective responsibility laid down in Article 75. It draws the attention of the House to a definite matter of urgent public importance, needs the support of fifty members, and once admitted the discussion on it must last at least two hours and thirty minutes. B is wrong because the Rajya Sabha has no adjournment motion at all; a member there raises such a matter through a special mention or a calling attention notice. C is wrong for the same reason. D is wrong because a joint sitting is summoned under Article 108 only to resolve a deadlock over a Bill, and no motion of this kind is taken there.

The correct answer is B, Sarkaria Commission. The Inter-State Council was constituted in 1990 by a presidential order acting on this commission's report on centre-state relations. Article 263 empowers the President to set up such a council to inquire into disputes between states, discuss subjects of common interest and make recommendations. The Sarkaria Commission, headed by Justice R. S. Sarkaria, was appointed in 1983 and submitted its report in 1988; it asked that the council be made a permanent body. The Prime Minister chairs it, and the chief ministers of all states, the administrators of union territories and six union ministers are its members. Option A is wrong because the Punchhi Commission came much later, in 2007, and reported in 2010. Option C is wrong because the Rajamannar Committee of 1969 was set up by the Tamil Nadu government, not the Union. Option D is wrong because the Mungerilal Commission dealt with backward class reservation in Bihar. Exam tip: Article 263 plus Sarkaria Commission gives the Inter-State Council, 1990.

The correct answer is B, a Constitution Amendment Bill. Article 368 requires each House to pass such a Bill separately by a special majority, and the Constitution provides no joint sitting for it; a Money Bill is also outside the scope of Article 108. A is wrong because the rejection of an ordinary Bill by the other House is one of the three grounds on which Article 108 expressly allows a joint sitting. C is wrong because a Financial Bill of Category I, although introduced only in the Lok Sabha on the President's recommendation, is in every other respect an ordinary Bill, so the Rajya Sabha may amend or reject it and a joint sitting may follow. D is wrong because a final disagreement over amendments to an ordinary Bill is the second ground listed in Article 108, and the Dowry Prohibition Bill of 1961 reached a joint sitting in just this way.

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, two hours and thirty minutes. The rules provide that once the Speaker admits an adjournment motion, the House must give it not less than two hours and thirty minutes of discussion, so that a matter grave enough to set aside the listed business is actually examined. A, one hour, is wrong, though it may be confused with the half-an-hour discussion, which is a different device altogether and lasts thirty minutes. B, two hours, is wrong, but it is the trap in this question: the short duration discussion under Rule 193 is popularly called the two-hour discussion, and candidates transfer its length to the adjournment motion. D, three hours, is wrong; no rule fixes a three-hour minimum for any of these devices. In practice the Speaker takes up an admitted adjournment motion at four in the afternoon, after the day's listed business, and the discussion ends in a vote.

The correct answer is B, N.C.E.R.T. Section 29(1) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 says the curriculum and the evaluation procedure for elementary education shall be laid down by an academic authority notified by the appropriate government, and the Central Government notified the National Council of Educational Research and Training for the schools under it, while the states notified their own SCERTs. Section 29(2) then binds that authority to constitutional values, the all-round development of the child, learning through activity and discovery, teaching in the mother tongue as far as practicable, and continuous and comprehensive evaluation. A is wrong because the N.C.T.E. frames norms for teacher education and teacher eligibility, which the Act deals with in Section 23. C is wrong because N.I.E.P.A. works on educational planning and administration. D is wrong because N.I.O.S. runs open and distance schooling. Exam tip: in the RTE Act, Section 29 gives the academic authority, NCERT, and Section 23 the teacher qualifications through NCTE.

The correct answer is B, the Dowry Prohibition Bill. The two Houses disagreed over its amendments, a joint sitting was summoned in 1961, and the Bill became the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. A is wrong because the Banking Service Commission (Repeal) Bill went to the second joint sitting, held in 1978. C is wrong because the Prevention of Terrorism Bill was passed at the third joint sitting, held in 2002, and became POTA; it is a favourite distractor because it is the most recent of the three. D is wrong because the Hindu Succession Bill, part of the Hindu Code legislation of the 1950s, was passed by the ordinary procedure without any deadlock between the Houses. Remembering the three joint sittings in the order 1961, 1978 and 2002 answers most questions on Article 108.

The correct answer is C, Rule 198. A no-confidence motion against the Council of Ministers is moved in the Lok Sabha under Rule 198 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha. It needs the support of fifty members for admission, states no reasons, and if it is carried the whole Council of Ministers must resign, because Article 75 makes the Council collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. A, Rule 176, is wrong for the Lok Sabha; it is the Rajya Sabha rule for a short duration discussion. B, Rule 193, is wrong because that is the Lok Sabha rule for a short duration discussion, where no formal motion is moved and no vote is taken. D, Rule 377, is wrong because a mention under Rule 377 is the Lok Sabha device for raising a matter that fits under no other rule.

The correct answer is B, Article 111. Once both Houses pass a Bill it is presented to the President, who may declare assent, declare that assent is withheld, which is the absolute veto, or return an ordinary Bill once with a message for reconsideration, which is the suspensive veto; if the Houses pass it again the President must assent. A, Article 110, is wrong because it only defines a Money Bill. C, Article 200, is wrong because it is the parallel provision for a State Bill presented to the Governor, who may also reserve the Bill for the consideration of the President under that article. D, Article 368, is wrong because it deals with the procedure for amending the Constitution; since the 24th Amendment of 1971 the President has no choice there and must give assent to a Constitution Amendment Bill.

The correct answer is A, Acharya J. B. Kripalani. The first no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha after independence was moved in August 1963 by Acharya J. B. Kripalani against the government headed by Jawaharlal Nehru, in the atmosphere that followed the war of 1962, and the motion was defeated. B is wrong because Ram Manohar Lohia, though one of the sharpest critics of the government in that period, did not move the first such motion. C is wrong because Atal Bihari Vajpayee entered the Lok Sabha later and is remembered for a government that fell on a confidence motion in 1999, which is a different device moved by the government itself. D is wrong because C. Rajagopalachari was never a member of the Lok Sabha; he had been Governor-General and later founded the Swatantra Party outside Parliament.