Set 87 of the Indian Polity mixed quiz has 20 multiple-choice questions from 19 different topics of the subject: Making of the Constitution, Article 370 and the Reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir, Panchayati Raj and Municipalities and more. 13 of them were asked in real previous-year papers. A topic quiz checks one chapter; this set revises the whole subject at once, the way an exam paper does, where the next question can come from any chapter. Every question carries an explanation of why the correct option is right and why the others are wrong. Keep to the timer, read the explanations at the end, and go back to the notes of any topic where you slipped.
20 questions with answers and explanations
Who was the President of the Constituent Assembly ?
Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected the permanent President of the Constituent Assembly on 11 December 1946 and presided over it until the Constitution was adopted.
Read the full explanation →The Instrument of Accession of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir was signed by Maharaja Hari Singh on:
Tribal raiders backed by Pakistan entered the Kashmir valley in the third week of October 1947, and Maharaja Hari Singh of the Dogra dynasty signed the Instrument of Accession on 26 October 1947; Governor-General Lord Mountbatten accepted it the next day, after which Indian troops were airlifted to Srinagar.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements with regard to the functioning of the Panchayats is not correct?
Under Article 243F, the minimum age to become a member of a Panchayat is 21 years, not 25. Part IX of the Constitution, added by the 73rd Amendment Act, 1992 and in force from 24 April 1993, lays down the framework of Panchayati Raj.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following are regarded as the main features of the "Rule of Law"?
1. Limitation of powers
2. Equality before law
3. People's responsibility to the Government
4. Liberty and civil rights
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
The Rule of Law means that power is limited by law, everyone is equal before the law, and individual liberties are protected.
Read the full explanation →As per Article 371G of the Constitution of India, special provisions have been made with respect to the state of Mizoram. Accordingly, no Act of Parliament shall apply on certain matters unless the Legislative Assembly of Mizoram so decides by a resolution. Which one of the following matters is not covered under this Article ?
Article 371G protects the ownership and transfer of land in Mizoram, not of natural resources in general. Article 371G was added by the 53rd Amendment Act, 1986, when Mizoram became a state after the Mizo Peace Accord.
Read the full explanation →Which Article of the Constitution of India safeguards one's right to marry the person of one's choice?
The Supreme Court has held that choosing one's life partner is part of the right to life and personal liberty.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements with regard to pardoning power of the President of India : I. The exercise of this power by the President can be subjected to limited judicial review. II. The President can exercise this power without the advice of the Central Government. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Courts can review a pardon on limited grounds, but the President always acts on the advice of the Union Council of Ministers.
Read the full explanation →The High Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections recommended that elections to the panchayats and municipalities be held within how many days of the general election to the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies?
The committee proposed a synchronisation in two steps: first the Lok Sabha and all the state legislative assemblies would go to the polls together, and then elections to the local bodies, that is the panchayats and the municipalities, would be held within a hundred days of that poll.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements is/are correct ? 1. Committee on Estimates is an ad hoc committee of the Parliament. 2. Committee on Railway Convention is a standing committee of the Parliament. Select the correct answer using the code given below :
The two statements are reversed: the Estimates Committee is a standing committee, and the Railway Convention Committee is an ad hoc committee.
Read the full explanation →By which Constitutional Amendment was the size of the Council of Ministers limited to fifteen per cent of the strength of the Lok Sabha?
The Constitution (Ninety-first Amendment) Act of 2003 inserted Article 75(1A), which caps the total number of Ministers in the Union Council of Ministers, including the Prime Minister, at fifteen per cent of the total number of members of the Lok Sabha, and Article 164(1A) does the same for a State…
Read the full explanation →With reference to the Indian Parliament, consider the following statements : 1. A bill pending in the Lok Sabha lapses on its dissolution. 2. A bill passed by the Lok Sabha and pending in the Rajya Sabha lapses on the dissolution of the Lok Sabha. 3. A bill in regard to which the President of India notified his/her intention to summon the Houses to a joint sitting lapses on the dissolution of the Lok Sabha. Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Article 107 of the Constitution decides which bills die when the Lok Sabha is dissolved. A bill pending in the Lok Sabha lapses on its dissolution, whether it began there or came from the Rajya Sabha, so statement 1 is correct.
Read the full explanation →Who is the only Vice-President of India to have died while in office?
He became Vice-President on 21 August 1997 and died on 27 July 2002, a few days before his term was to end, the only holder of the office to die in harness.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements : I. If any question arises as to whether a Member of the House of the People has become subject to disqualification under the 10th Schedule, the President's decision in accordance with the opinion of the Council of Union Ministers shall be final. II. There is no mention of the word 'political party' in the Constitution of India. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Defection cases are decided by the Speaker or Chairman, not the President, and the Tenth Schedule itself uses the term 'political party'.
Read the full explanation →The President of India addresses his resignation to which of the following?
Article 56(1)(a) provides that the President may, by writing under his hand addressed to the Vice-President, resign his office, and the Vice-President must communicate the resignation forthwith to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements about Lokpal : I. The power of Lokpal applies to public servants of India, but not to the Indian public servants posted outside India. II. The Chairperson or a Member shall not be a Member of the Parliament or a Member of the Legislature of any State or Union Territory, and only the Chief Justice of India, whether incumbent or retired, has to be its Chairperson. III. The Chairperson or a Member shall not be a person of less than forty-five years of age on the date of assuming office as the Chairperson or Member, as the case may be. IV. Lokpal cannot inquire into the allegations of corruption against a sitting Prime Minister of India. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, only the age rule holds. Statement III is right: a Chairperson or Member must be at least 45 years old on the date of taking office.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements about Public Interest Litigation (PIL) is/are correct?
1. In India, it adheres to the strict requirements imposed by the doctrine of locus standi.
2. Letters to judges may be treated as petitions.
3. M. C. Mehta vs. Union of India was a PIL that expanded the scope of Article 21 and Article 32 of the Constitution of India.
Select the answer using the code given below.
PIL in India relaxes the rule of locus standi, so statement 1 is wrong, while statements 2 and 3 are correct.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following organizations challenged the constitutionality of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code in the Supreme Court of India?
This Delhi-based NGO, working on HIV/AIDS, led the long legal fight against Section 377 of the IPC. Section 377 punished "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" and was used against consensual same-sex relations.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following indexes is used to assess the state of governance across the States and UTs ?
The Good Governance Index (GGI) was designed by the Government of India to compare governance across States and Union Territories.
Read the full explanation →Under which Article may the President appoint a commission to investigate the conditions of backward classes?
It empowers the President to appoint a commission to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes, the difficulties they face and the steps that should be taken to remove them, and both the Kalelkar Commission of 1953 and the Mandal Commission of 1979 were appointed under it.
Read the full explanation →Which provisions of the Constitution of India applied to the State of Jammu and Kashmir directly, without the concurrence of the State government, while Article 370 was in force?
Article 370(1)(c) said that Article 1, which declares India a Union of States and lists its territory in the First Schedule, and Article 370 itself applied to the State; everything else could reach it only through a presidential order made with the concurrence of the State government.
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