Indian Polity Mixed Quiz: Set 57

The correct answer is B, fifteen days. Paragraph 2(1)(b) of the Tenth Schedule disqualifies a member who votes or abstains from voting contrary to any direction issued by the party, but the proviso saves the member in two situations: where prior permission was obtained, and where the party condones the act within fifteen days from the date of the vote or abstention.

Option A, seven days, option C, thirty days, and option D, three months, are not in the Schedule. Three months is the period the Supreme Court suggested in Keisham Meghachandra Singh versus the Speaker of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, 2020, for a Speaker to decide a defection petition, which is a different matter altogether and the reason that figure is offered here as a distractor. The fifteen-day window is what makes a whip violation forgivable, so it is a standard one-line question in prelims papers.

The correct answer is D, Santhanam Committee. The Central Vigilance Commission was created in 1964 by a government resolution, on the advice of the Committee on Prevention of Corruption headed by K. Santhanam.

The Santhanam Committee worked from 1962 to 1964 and recommended an independent body to oversee vigilance in central government offices. The CVC began as an executive body and received statutory status first by an ordinance in 1998 and then through the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003. It has a Central Vigilance Commissioner and up to two Vigilance Commissioners, appointed by the President on the advice of a committee of the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

A is wrong: the First Administrative Reforms Commission of 1966 recommended the Lokpal and Lokayukta, not the CVC.

B is wrong: the Gorwala report of 1951 dealt with public administration in general.

C is wrong: the Kripalani Committee of 1949 examined the working of the railways.

Exam tip: Santhanam Committee → CVC (1964) and also the CBI (1963).

The correct answer is B, Puducherry, by the 14th Amendment of 1962. The Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment) Act, 1962 absorbed the former French settlements into India and inserted Article 239A so that Parliament could give such a territory a legislature and a Council of Ministers; Parliament then passed the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, under which the Puducherry assembly of thirty elected members works. Option A is wrong because Delhi's assembly comes from Article 239AA, inserted by the 69th Amendment. Option C is wrong because the Seventh Amendment of 1956 created the category of Union Territories but gave none of them a legislature, and Lakshadweep has no assembly even today. Option D is wrong because the assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir rests on the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, an ordinary law of Parliament, and the 103rd Amendment dealt with reservation for the economically weaker sections.

The correct answer is C, the President of India. Article 267(1) allows Parliament by law to establish a Contingency Fund of India in the nature of an imprest, placed at the disposal of the President, out of which he may make advances to meet unforeseen expenditure pending authorisation by Parliament; the fund is held on his behalf by the Finance Secretary and is recouped once Parliament votes the money. A is wrong because the Prime Minister has no separate constitutional custody of any fund of India. B is wrong because the Speaker presides over the Lok Sabha and certifies money bills but holds no fund. D is wrong because the Comptroller and Auditor General audits spending after it happens and is deliberately kept out of the custody and sanction of money, since an auditor cannot audit his own payments.

The correct answer is B, six months. Paragraph 2(3) provides that a nominated member who joins a political party after the expiry of six months from the date on which the member takes the seat is disqualified. Joining within those six months is allowed, so a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha has a window of half a year in which to take a party label.

Option A, three months, and option C, one year, are not periods used in the Schedule. Option D is wrong because the Schedule plainly permits the nominated member to join a party inside the six-month window. The rule for an independent member elected to the House is stricter: under Paragraph 2(2) an independent who joins any political party after the election is disqualified at once, with no window at all. Examiners frequently place the two rules side by side to see whether the candidate has mixed them up.

The correct answer is C, the Prime Minister. The selection committee has six members: the Prime Minister as its head, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and the Union Home Minister; the President then makes the appointment on its recommendation. Option A is wrong, though the Chief Justice of India must be consulted when a sitting judge of the Supreme Court or a sitting Chief Justice of a High Court is to be appointed. Option B is wrong because the President appoints but does not recommend; the same pattern appears in the appointment of the Lokpal and the Central Information Commissioner. Option D is wrong because the Union Home Minister is only a member of the committee, not its head.

The correct answer is C, 31 October 2019. The Act was passed in August 2019 but the appointed day on which the former state was reorganised into the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, with a legislative assembly, and the Union Territory of Ladakh, without one, was 31 October 2019. Option A is wrong because 5 August 2019 is the date of the Presidential Order and the resolution on Article 370; the reorganisation itself took effect later. Option B is wrong because 9 August 2019 is the date the Act received the President's assent, which is not the same as the appointed day named in the Act. Option D is wrong because 26 January 2020 is the day the merger of Dadra and Nagar Haveli with Daman and Diu into a single Union Territory took effect, a separate reorganisation under its own Act of 2019.

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 B, Article 361B. It provides that a member of either House of Parliament or of a State Legislature who is disqualified on the ground of defection is also disqualified from holding any remunerative political post, from the date of disqualification until the date on which the term of office would expire or until the member is re-elected, whichever is earlier.

Option A, Article 361A, inserted by the Forty-fourth Amendment, 1978, protects the publication of substantially true reports of the proceedings of Parliament and State Legislatures. Option C, Article 371J, added in 2012, provides special status for the Hyderabad-Karnataka region of Karnataka. Option D, Article 350B, created the office of the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities. The Ninety-first Amendment also inserted Articles 75(1B) and 164(1B), which keep a defector out of ministerial office for the same period.

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 C, Chandigarh. Article 240(1) names the territories for which the President may make regulations for peace, progress and good government: the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and Puducherry, the last only while its assembly stands dissolved or suspended. Chandigarh is not in that list, so laws for it are made by Parliament and by notifications extending Punjab and Haryana laws to it. Options A, B and D are therefore wrong as answers to a question asking which is left out, because all three are expressly named in the article. A regulation made under Article 240 has the same force as an Act of Parliament and may even repeal a parliamentary law that applies to the territory, which makes this power unusually wide.

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 C, fifteen per cent. Article 75(1A) says that the total number of ministers, including the Prime Minister, shall not exceed fifteen per cent of the total number of members of the Lok Sabha, and Article 164(1A) lays down the same ceiling for a state with reference to the Legislative Assembly, with a floor of twelve ministers including the Chief Minister.

Option A, ten per cent, and option D, twenty per cent, are not used in the Constitution for this purpose. Option B, twelve per cent, confuses the percentage with the number twelve, which is the minimum size of a state Council of Ministers under the same clause, and is therefore the most tempting wrong answer. The cap was introduced along with the anti-defection changes because oversized ministries, with offices for the asking, had themselves become a means of encouraging defection.

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 B, the 7th Amendment, 1956. Acting on the report of the States Reorganisation Commission, Parliament passed the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 and the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, which ended the four-fold classification of Part A, B, C and D states and left a single class of states together with a new class called Union Territories. Option A is wrong because the First Amendment of 1951 added the Ninth Schedule and reasonable restrictions on free speech. Option C is wrong because the Fourteenth Amendment of 1962 inserted Article 239A and brought the French settlements in as a Union Territory, which came after the category already existed. Option D is wrong because the Forty-second Amendment of 1976 added the Fundamental Duties and the words socialist, secular and integrity to the Preamble.

The correct answer is B, State Government. Section 16 of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 extends the collective-fine provision of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 to atrocities, and the power to impose and recover a collective fine on the inhabitants of an area rests with the State Government. The purpose is to make a whole locality answerable when its people abet an atrocity or shield the offenders, and the inhabitants must be given a chance to be heard before the fine is fixed and apportioned among them. A is wrong because the District Magistrate carries out such orders but is not the authority that imposes the fine. C is wrong because the Special Court tries offences under the Act and punishes individual offenders. D is wrong because the High Court hears appeals and does not levy collective fines. Exam tip: remember the pair - collective fine under Section 16, imposed by the State Government.

The correct answer is A, Articles 101, 102, 190 and 191. Articles 101 and 102 deal with the vacation of seats and the disqualifications for membership of Parliament, and Articles 190 and 191 do the same for the State Legislatures. The Fifty-second Amendment added a clause to each of them so that a member disqualified under the Tenth Schedule vacates the seat.

Option B wrongly brings in Articles 103 and 192, which lay down who decides questions of disqualification under the earlier grounds, the President and the Governor respectively on the opinion of the Election Commission. Option C brings in Articles 100 and 189, which deal with voting in the Houses and the quorum. Option D names Articles 105, 106, 194 and 195, which deal with the powers, privileges and salaries of members. Only the first group concerns disqualification and vacation of seats.

The correct answer is C, Article 241. It provides that Parliament may by law constitute a High Court for a Union Territory or declare any court in such a territory to be a High Court, and it is under this article that the Delhi High Court Act, 1966 set up the only High Court a Union Territory has of its own. Option A is wrong because Article 214 says there shall be a High Court for each state, which is the general provision for states and not for Union Territories. Option B is wrong because Article 231 allows Parliament to establish a common High Court for two or more states, as with the Punjab and Haryana High Court or the Gauhati High Court. Option D is wrong because Article 247 lets Parliament establish additional courts for the better administration of Union laws, a different power altogether.

The correct answer is D. Paragraph 5 of the Tenth Schedule expressly exempts a person who, on being elected Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha or of a Legislative Assembly, or Chairman or Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha or of a Legislative Council, gives up membership of the party, and the exemption continues if the person rejoins that party after ceasing to hold the office. The rule protects the neutrality of the chair.

Option A is the first ground in Paragraph 2(1)(a), and the Supreme Court held in Ravi S. Naik versus Union of India, 1994, that giving up may be inferred from conduct. Option B is the whip ground in Paragraph 2(1)(b), subject to prior permission or condonation within fifteen days. Option C is the rule in Paragraph 2(2) for an independent member, who loses the seat on joining any party after the election. All three are grounds; only the Speaker's case is an exemption.

The correct answer is A, the Kerala High Court. Lakshadweep lies off the Malabar coast and is within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Kerala, whose seat is at Ernakulam. Option B is wrong because the Madras High Court has jurisdiction over Puducherry, the former French territory on the Coromandel coast, and not over Lakshadweep. Option C is wrong because the Karnataka High Court has no Union Territory within its jurisdiction, even though the islands lie in the Arabian Sea off the western coast. Option D is wrong because the Bombay High Court covers Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Candidates should also remember that the Andaman and Nicobar Islands come under the Calcutta High Court through its circuit bench at Port Blair, and Chandigarh under the Punjab and Haryana High Court.